Double-Decker

Rachelle bought tickets for one of the hop on/hop off open-top bus tours for July 6. They picked us up at our campground at 6:45 AM. Keiko and Amaya were not amused. We were at Union Station by 8:00, but the sightseeing buses didn't start running until 9:00. Coffee and an enormous doughnut helped kill the time.

Just imagine how big the coffee was

Riding on the open-top double-decker tour buses was quite pleasant. You get to see the city from a pretty nice vantage point. We mostly just sat back and enjoyed the ride, but we did stop at a few places along the way. We arrived at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing at about 9:30 AM, but the only tour remaining started at 5:00 (apparently you have to be in line at 7:00 to pick up  tickets for earlier tours and they only issue same-day tour tickets). Drat. We still enjoyed the visitors' center.

Show me the money!

Later, we stopped at the National Aquarium. Perhaps we've been spoiled by our experiences in Hawaii and the Monterrey Aquarium, but it was extremely disappointing. I did learn something about the location of National Marine Preserves around the country, but the exhibit itself was very small and was located in a strange underground location in the basement of the Department of Agriculture. I wish we had spent our limited time elsewhere, but c'est la vie. The best part of the bus tour was in the Georgetown area where the trees and wires over the streets were only a few inches over our heads. Amaya said that it felt more like a roller coaster ride than a bus tour.

Low hanging trees (and some dude's combover) in Georgetown

The tour included an hour-long scenic boat tour from Georgetown Harbor and we enjoyed that very much. it was neat to see Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials from the water, and the tour was just the right duration.

Washington Monument from the Potomac

After the boat tour, we met up with Mark Schofield (inorganic chemist at Williams from 1998-2005) and his wife, Heather Pierce (a Williams alum). Dinner at a place called Mr. Smith's was very nice and we ended the evening with some decadent cupcakes at Sprinkles. I monitored happiness levels at the start of our meal. After the cupcakes, frosting-induce amplification had pushed everyone's happiness index to "10."

Happiness Check: July 6, 5:30 PM  (start of dinner)

Keiko: 2

Amaya: 7

Rachelle: 10

Tom: 8
Mark: 9
Heather: 9

Schoburgi

It was really nice to see Mark. Our offices were across the hall from each other at Williams and we shared lots of conversations over the years about chemistry (and completely unrelated topics) over lunch and jogs around the Ide Road loop. Keiko and Amaya were a wee bit shy with him at first, but they had lost all inhibitions by the time the buffalo wings and cupcakes had been consumed. 

Keiko the Carnivore

We had a nice day in Washington, DC. It was a bit of a bummer that we didn't have time to go to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum or walk into the Lincoln Monument, but we're already talking about making a separate trip back to Washington—perhaps next spring when the cherry blossoms are blooming.