East Coast: Day 11 and Day 12

Day 11 of the my east coast trip was a long and busy day. I started the day by driving from my hotel in Oxon Hill, MD to the nearby Metro station. I took the Metro, the subway for the greater Washington D.C. area, to the National Mall in the heart of Washington D.C. I first walked around the U.S. Capitol Building. I then decided to walk across the National Mall to get my bearings, find a map, and see many of the historic memorials and monuments. From the Washington Monument, I walked around the tidal basin to the Jefferson, FDR, and MLK Jr. Memorials. I then walked through the Korean War, Lincoln, and Vietnam Memorials. I then completed my trek around the National Mall by going through the Constitution Gardens and the World War II Memorial. At each of the monuments and memorials, I got a cancelation stamp in my national parks passport. I then walked toward the White House. I stopped at the White House visitor center and watch a video on the history of the building.

At this point I needed to find a FedEx Office to print the ticket for the Nationals game that I had bought on Stubhub the night before. The nearest FedEx Office was right next to the Old Post Office Tower and Ford's Theater. After I printed off my ticket, I went to the top of the Old Post Office Tower. The view from the top of the tower was pretty awesome as you could see the entire National Mall. I also went through the museum at Ford's Theater and kind of relearned the events that lead up to Lincoln's assassination.

I only had time to go to one of the many Smithsonian's museums. It was a pretty easy decision to go to the National Air and Space Museum. I made sure I went through the exhibit on jet engines in my limited time. It was also cool that there was a autonomous drone at the museum that was powered by a Williams International engine. I could have spent an entire day at the Air and Space Museum but I only ended up spending 2 hours at the museum before I took off for Nationals Park. I have previously blogged about my experience at this ballpark. After the game, I took the Metro back to my car and drove to my hotel.

The last day of the trip (Day 12) was purely a travel day. I drove from my hotel in Oxon Hill, MD back to Ann Arbor. Despite the internet prediction of a 8.5 hour drive, the drive ended up taking me almost 11 hours thanks to heavy traffic around D.C. and Toledo, OH. Even though I had a blast on the trip, traveling was exhausting and it was good to finally relax.