What a day!

We left the kids with my sister-in-law and had lunch with her husband.  After lunch, we enjoyed a great drive around D.C.  It's amazing how large some of the monuments and buildings are once you get up close to them (especially the Washington and Lincoln monuments).  After our drive, our brother-in-law gave us a private tour of the West Wing of the White House. ;-)  Did I mention that he works there (and no, I won't say exactly what he does)?

Anyway, it was great, although I was surprised at how small it was.  I can tell you that I haven't seen a movie or TV show that has gotten it right. :-)  Many of the walls in the area we toured were covered with pictures of President Bush during recent events (after hurricane Katrina, etc.)    All of the rooms were roped off, so we could only stand in the doorways and look in.  We were able to see into the Cabinet room, the Oval office, the Roosevelt room and the receiving room.  The Oval Office, at least from our vantage point, seemed quite small, although our brother-in-law said it really opens up and feels big when you're in it.

 Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed in the West Wing itself, but we did get on some of the rose garden, some in the press room (standing behind the podium of course), one outside the entrance where guests and dignitaries enter and one in front of the White House (from a distance).  Overall, it was a great experience and one that I won't soon forget. 

Luckily, the major protests occurred yesterday, so we didn't have much trouble getting around.  I did manage to snap one picture of the hippies on our way out.  When we get home, I'll post some of the pictures (I don't have an xD card reader on this laptop).

For dinner, we all decided to do something none of us has done before: go to Medieval Times (the website has audio, so be prepared). :-)  Holy freakin' cow!, what an experience (expensive, but very cool)!  If you've never been there, it's basically eating with your hands while watching knights fight it out. Our kids LOVED IT!  The horses, the sword fights, the jousting!  It was all cool.  Of course, the food was good, but when all you have are your hands, it tends to get just a bit messy. ;-)  I would definitely recommend it if you're in a town that has one.

Tomorrow, we're gonna go to Annapolis so we can see Chesapeake Bay (and hopefully some of the other sights as well).  Tuesday we're gonna get back into D.C. so we can actually walk around and see the sights.  I'm not leaving for home UNTIL I've been to Arlington National Cemetary, the Vietnam Wall and the Jefferson Monument.  We had hoped to get to Gettysburg on this trip, but it doesn't look like we'll have time.  We're gonna stay here until Wednesday afternoon and then head to a small town just south of Pittsburgh to visit my wife's other sister.  We'll be heading home on Friday.

Updated on Monday, September 26 @ 8:10am (EST): added link about the protests that happened on Saturday.