Today was much better. Although it rained all day. (This was really the only rainy day I had the whole trip).
Caught a bus into town and found a street vendor to get a $2 hot dog for breakfast.
National Archives building
First stop was the Museum of Natural History. Lots of really cool stuff in here, I think I enjoyed this more than the Air and Space Museum. Spent four hours there.
Petrified wood outside Natural History Museum
Sliced meteorite showing crystalline structure
Mesolite
Cool crystals
Big quartz crystal
Beautifully cut quartz crystal
Green Dresden Diamond
Hope Diamond
Rear leg bones of an elephant
Marsupial skeletons
Man and man-like ape skeletons
Edentate skeletons
Tiny rodent skeleton
Cloven hoof animal skeletons
More cloven hoof skeletons
Running bird skeletons
Secretary bird and ostrich
Water bird skeletons
Pelican and stork
Boa snake skeleton
Fish skeletons
Tarantula
Prehistoric moose skeleton
Woolly mammoth skeleton
T-rex skull
Stegosaurus skeleton
More dinosaurs
Diplodocus and other dinosaurs
Huge shark jaws
Had lunch in the cafeteria there, which was really crowded, so sat down at a table where this guy, Paul, was already sitting but was going to be leaving soon. We got to talking - he was from Cincinati Ohio, and would do weekend trips on his motorbike. He offered to keep me company to the Pentagon, so we caught the train over there (they have the same ticketing machines as Sydney).
The Pentagon has its own station and you take the escalator straight up into the building. I asked if I could take a photo in the lobby, and they said that was fine, just you're not allowed to take photos of any people there. They also have tours but being a Saturday they did not have any running.
Foyer of Pentagon
Went outside and took some pictures of the Pentagon, although you don't really get a good view of it from the outside - just one of the walls at a time.
Pentagon
Then we walked up to a shopping centre at Pentagon City.
Christmas lights in Pentagon City mall
Then we headed back into town (caught the train). The dude was staying at the Quality Hotel where we'd just been, and he very nicely paid for me to use the internet room for an hour!
Ice sculpture outside a hotel near White House
Then it was dark, so caught a cab back to the motel (although accidentally doubled the tip I was meaning to give).
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