Days 63, 64, 65 Washington DC

We left North Carolina in the FOG -- "as thick as pea soup", my mom would say!  We stopped in Staunton, Virginia at Woodrow Wilson's Presidential Library and continued to Washington, DC for a few days of sightseeing.  We had visited the U.S. capital in 2007 so we tried to make this visit different by visiting new sights.

Our first stop was the International Spy Museum.  We spent hours reading about real spies and their covert operations.  There was lots of information about the Cold War -- a new term for Max and Simon to understand.  We tested our own skills of observation and surveillance.  There was a gallery of real spy technology -- tiny bugs, button cameras, and a real spy car that rivals James Bond's tricks.  There was an interesting display on how the secret of the atom bomb was lost.  But the most fascinating display was on "Weapons of Mass DISRUPTION"  -- how the Cyber War is being fought today.  This is an amazing museum with lots of variety in media and lots of secret information now revealed.

Two other places that we visited for the first time were the Library of Congress and the National Archives.  Both of these facilities have historical significance and present day usefulness.  The Library of Congress has 145 million items and is the copyright center for the United States.  Any book requiring copyright needs to come to the Library of Congress for processing. There are also displays of President Jefferson's library collection, and maps dating back to 1400s.

The National Archives has three important documents on display in the building's Rotunda -- some of you may remember this from the "National Treasure" movie staring Nicholas Cage.  There is a copy of the American Declaration of Independence (the original from 1776), the U.S. Constitution (original from 1787), and the Bill of Rights (original 1785).  And there is one copy of the (original 1297) Magna Carta -- really!! There are also copies of top secret documents and hand written notes from various Presidents (such as Jimmy Carter's draft of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty, and Ronald Reagan's letter to Mikhail Gorbachev concerning his personal thoughts of ending of the Cold War ).

We also took a stroll down The Mall past a few of our favourites:  the Lincoln Memorial, the White House, the Washington Monument, the Capitol Building.  One thing we had not noticed before was the spot on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial where Martin Luther King Jr gave his "I Have a Dream" speech.  After visiting the  Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, this had more significance to us all.




In keeping with our goal of touring factories on this trip, we visited the Bureau of Engraving and Printing where U.S. paper currency is made.  We saw sheets of 100 dollar bills being made the day we toured.  We literally saw millions of dollars in sheets, bundles, and stacks.  The Bureau makes about 900 million dollars daily.  95% of this is to replace worn out bills currently in circulation.  Most of the bills produced in America are one dollar value.  We were surprised to learn that paper currency is actually a blend of cotton and linen -- that is why it survives the laundry.  We also learned about the security enhancements that are being made to further protect from counterfeiting -- this includes colour just like Canada!  There is also a move to produce one dollar coins, but Americans aren't going for it!  Max measured himself against a stack of 100 dollar bills and discovered that he reaches almost to 1.5 million dollars.

Our last stop in Washington was the ZOO.  We go to see the Giant Pandas.

Just before leaving Washington we spent the evening with some more friends that we met in Kenya who are now living in Washington.  Thanks David, Margaret, and David for a lovely evening!