12:30 PM Entered National Air and Space Museum ONE MORE TIME. This time, I actually finished seeing everything!
11:45 AM Huntington METRO parking.
12:30 PM Entered National Air and Space Museum ONE MORE TIME. This time, I actually finished seeing everything!
5:00 PM <not talking, but thinking...> "WOW! This was magnificent! Superb! Muy excellente! Better than anything I have seen so far on this trip! Giving this museum a 
rating would be unfair to the museum. Giving it anything less than would be unthinkable, so I won't think about it. My system is based on a 5- scale. I did not count on seeing anything BETTER than the "Best of the Best". But this is certainly better than all of the attractions so far. So I'll break my own rule and give this a rating that I have never given anything before."
Rating for National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC =
That's 6!
This was the first, but not the last, attraction on this trip to receive a rating.
Ate another ice cream sandwich to celebrate the first attraction on this trip, then went to Union Station to see a movie.
5:30 PM - 7:30 PM Movie "While You Were Sleeping".
8:15 PM Back to car at Huntington Station.
9:30 PM Back to hotel at Fredericksburg, VA. Went to dinner at Hardees.
License Plates:
| FICK 62 | VA | Ford Aerostar |
| MAYO 13 | VA | Mercury Sable |
| CHRTWEL | VA | Jeep Chrerokee |
| REDCRD | VA | Volvo (blue -- not red) |
| TWEETY 3 | VA | Mazda 323 |
| I SIGN | VA | Nissan Sentra |
| MR-TNT1 | VA | Toyota |
| JAMMAIR | VA | Honda Accord |
| $1 | Cash | Mr. Pibb -- McDonalds | Fredericksburg, VA |
| $7 | Cash | Lunch -- Flight Line restaurant, National Air and Space Museum | Washington, DC |
| $2 | Cash | Ice cream sandwich -- Mall vendor | Washington, DC |
| $4 | Cash | Movie at Union Station | Washington, DC |
| $13 | Cash | Snacks-n-stuff at 7-11 | Alexandria, VA |
| $2 | Cash | Dinner -- Hardees | Fredericksburg, VA |
Had free breakfast at motel in the morning (tasted terrible).
Had lunch at McDonalds in the afternoon (tasted miserable).
Had dinner at McDonalds at night (tasted horrible).
Watched television in the motel all day (the shows and movies were all really, really, really bad).
Expenses:
| $5 | Cash | Lunch -- McDonalds | Fredericksburg, VA |
| $5 | Cash | Dinner -- McDonalds | Fredericksburg, VA |
Did not eat free breakfast. Checked out of the motel at 10:00 AM.
11:05 AM After buying breakfast-to-go at a Taco Bell along the way, arrived at Huntington METRO parking.
Took the train to the Smithsonian station, then walked to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
Excerpt from postcard written to Perry about Bureau of Engraving and Printing:
"How time flies when you are having fun! It seems like only yesterday that today was tomorrow. Soon, tomorrow will be today and today will be yesterday. I went to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing yesterday tomorrow today. Now I am confused! It was today. Yes -- today. Never before, INCLUDING YESTERDAY, have I seen so much cash at the same time. I'm talking in the Billions (that's "B"). I'll write to you again yesterday. I mean today tomorrow. Whatever! OKBUBYE."
At the B.E.P., I saw $1 dollar bills being printed. In another room, I saw the quality control process. Finally, there were the stacks of uncut sheets of $1, $5 and $10 bills. Like I wrote to Perry, never before, including yesterday, had I seen so much cash at the same time. So close, yet so far away! Rating for Bureau of Engraving and Printing = .
Next, I went to the National Museum of American History (again) and finished seeing the entire museum. Rating = .
Next was the East Building of the National Gallery of Art -- one which Sachin had told me NOT to go to. I went there. I had given the West Wing . Rating for East Wing = . I should have followed Sachin's advice.
After seeing the East Wing, I crossed the Mall to the National Air and Space Museum and had lunch at the Flight Line Restaurant, with a fantastic view of the Capitol dome, even more beautiful since the golden setting sun was shining on it.
5:50 PM - 7:50 PM Movie at Union Station: "The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill But Came Down A Mountain".
8:30 PM At Memorial to the Signers of the Declaration of Independence = .
9:00 PM - 9:30 PM Back to the Lincoln Memorial. This time I counted the total number of steps from the base to the top. There are a total of 87 steps from the Reflecting Pool to Abe's statue.
10:30 PM Back to car at Huntington station.
11:30 PM Dinner at McDonalds in Manassas, VA.
11:35 PM Went to sleep at rest area near I-66 exit 47 in Virginia.
11:40 PM "Here comes the rain again...". Woke up. The wet stuff was falling from the sky. The loud stuff was heard overhead. The lightning stuff was striking.
12:30 AM Checked in at Holiday Inn in Manassas, VA. This was the most expensive hotel in Manassas. This was also the only hotel in Manassas that had a vacancy.
License Plates:
| OOH BOB | VA | Chevrolet truck |
| M8 AN ELK | VA | Ford Truck |
| RU4FUN | VA | Corvette (red) -- "YESIM!" |
| PATSYGO | VA | Chrysler LeBaron |
| RED D4IT | VA | Sports car (red) -- possibly Ford Mustang |
| PHISH | VA | Ford Explorer |
| DOT MAC | VA | Pontiac Grand Am |
| GE TARZ | VA | Camaro |
| MR IH | VA | Hyundai Excel |
| KALTI | VA | Toyota |
| HEACHY | VA | Mazda MX6 |
| FTR AV8R | VA | Chevrolet Beretta |
| TEE 2 | VA | Toyota |
| H PLAYER | VA | Lincoln |
| HI HO X | VA | Toyota 4Runner |
| MOMZ 626 | VA | Mazda 626 |
| JAZZ MUS | VA | Volkswagen Jetta |
| 3GD BOYS | VA | Dodge minivan |
| $133.97 | Chase | Days Inn -- total for 4 nights | Fredericksburg, VA |
| $1 | Cash | Breakfast -- Taco Bell | Dumfries, VA |
| $27.50 | Chase | Souvenirs -- uncut & uncirculated currency -- Bureau of Engraving and Printing | Washington, DC |
| $1 | Cash | Postcard -- Bureau of Engraving and Printing | Washington, DC |
| $1 | Cash | Postcard -- National Museum of American History | Washington, DC |
| $8 | Cash | Lunch -- Flight Line -- National Air and Space Museum | Washington, DC |
| $3 | Cash | Movie at Union Station | Washington, DC |
| $12 | Discover | Gas -- Exxon | Alexandria, VA |
| $5 | Cash | Dinner -- McDonalds | Manassas, VA |
12:30 PM Arrived at Vienna METRO parking. Still raining, so I decided to catch a movie at Union Station.
1:50 PM - 3:50 PM Movie "Forget Paris" at Union Station. Fell asleep twenty minutes into the movie, and did not wake up until the end credits were over and everyone had left (the theater usher woke me up when she came in to prepare the theater hall for the next show).
I was getting hungry again, so I went to the National Air and Space Museum for lunch. Still raining, but lightly now.
By the time I was finished with lunch, the rain had stopped. It was already after 5:00 PM, and the only place that was open which I did not mind spending some time in was the National Zoo. This was not in my plan, but I went there anyway.
5:35 PM - 7:35 PM Sightseeing at the zoo. . Most of the animals were inside the various buildings. The highlight of the zoo is a Chinese Panda bear, but its "home" was locked by the time I got there. But I did see several kangaroos (I had never seen kangaroos before), African and Indian elephants, endangered bird species, different kinds of monkeys (chimps, gorillas, etc), a rhinoceros, a few sleeping cheetahs, and most interesting of all -- an ostrich chick.
When I approached the ostrich cage, the chick came running up to the fence, as if it recognized me! There was a cement block just behind the fence, and the ostrich would tap its leg repeatedly on the cement block, as if trying to tell me something. Before I realized what was going on, it tried to "poke" me -- several times. I took a couple of pictures and left, still a little confused.
8:35 PM Came back to the car in Vienna. I drove to Manassas and ate dinner at the same Burger King as that morning, then drove to the usual rest area at I-66 Exit 47 and went to sleep, still thinking about the ostrich's unusual behavior.
License Plates:
| EYEFULL | VA | Honda |
| LVTOSNG | VA | Dodge Colt |
| WSH CAPZ | VA | Toyota Paseo |
| $69.22 | Chase | Holiday Inn | Manassas, VA |
| $4 | Cash | Breakfast -- Burger King | Manassas, VA |
| $3 | Cash | Parking -- Vienna METRO | Vienna, VA |
| $5 | Cash | Movie at Union Station | Washington, DC |
| $20 | Cash | METRO farecard -- Metro Center station | Washington, DC |
| $100 | Discover | Cash Withdrawal -- National Air and Space Museum | Washington, DC |
| $4 | Cash | Lunch -- Flight Line -- National Air and Space Museum | Washington, DC |
| $5 | Cash | Dinner -- Burger King | Manassas, VA |
At the crack of dawn, I woke up. I left the rest area two hours later at 6:30 AM, then ate breakfast at a McDonalds in Gainesville.
7:20 AM Huntington METRO Parking.
8:30 AM Got in the long line in front of the Department of Commerce.
The line was not for the Commerce Department, but for the White House tour. The tours are free, but during the summer months, because of the crowds, tickets are required. This line was for the White House tour ticket. By the time I got to the end of the line, the first tour that was available was the 12:00 PM tour. I got a ticket for that one. Next, I went to the Ellipse and sat in a waiting area for the tour. There was a snack shop nearby, and I got some chips, then went back to the waiting area. Wrote White House postcard to Perry -- unusual because I had not even been there yet!
Finally, the tour started. It was not a "conventional" tour. There was no tour guide. We all formed one long line and went in, saw, and came back out of the White House. No photographs were allowed inside, but I liked it very much. . I had some pictures of myself taken outside the house.
Today -- Saturday, May 20, 1995 -- was the first day that the section of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House was closed permanently to all motor traffic. This was for "security reasons" (ha ha). Tourists were allowed to ENTER and ROAM around INSIDE the house, but no cars were allowed to drive on Pennsylvania Avenue, more than fifty feet from the mansion! I had a picture taken of me standing in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue directly in front of the White House -- as a reminder that I came here on a historic day.
After seeing the White House, I walked across Pennsylvania Avenue to Lafayette Square and saw all the statues there. .
With the White House and Lafayette Square completed, I had now finished seeing everything in Washington DC that I had wanted to see. It was 1:00 PM.
I could have left, but instead I decided to go to the one place in this city which had dazzled me the most -- as "icing on the cake".
The "cake" was Washington DC. The "icing" was the National Air and Space Museum.
I saw the IMAX movie "To Fly" inside the museum's IMAX theater. I had already seen the movie twice before (once at Huntsville Space & Rocket Center, then again at Kennedy Space Center). I also had pictures taken of myself standing in front of some of the more famous aircraft in the "Pioneers Of Flight" gallery.
This was a good way to end my sightseeing at the most impressive city in this country.
Excerpt from the White House card written to Perry while I was waiting for the White House tour to start:
"Today will be my last sightseeing day in this, the most beautiful of all cities. I'll be leaving either this afternoon or first thing tomorrow morning. Me much sad to go. Me don't want to go. But me realize me gotta go, so me go."
6:10 PM Back to car at Huntington.
7:00 PM Gave pictures for developing at Annapolis Mall in Annapolis, MD.
8:30 PM Picked up photos.
9:10 PM Checked in at Days Inn in College Park, MD.
License Plates:
| 6IZENUF | VA | Ford van (six children in the back) |
| TRIGG R | VA | Ford truck |
| FREE JAC | VA | Honda Accord |
| UZAFUZ | VA | Toyota Truck |
| IGLANCE | MD | Toyota Camry |
| 84 NAVY | MD | BMW |
| KTSKIDS | MD | Plymouth Voyager (No Katy; No Kids: One lone male driver) |
| $3 | Cash | Breakfast -- McDonalds | Gainesville, VA |
| $3 | Cash | Snack -- Ellipse | Washington, DC |
| $2 | Cash | Two bumper stickers -- Mall vendor | Washington, DC |
| $3 | Cash | IMAX movie "To Fly" -- National Air and Space Museum | Washington, DC |
| $11 | Cash | Lunch -- Flight Line, National Air and Space Museum | Washington, DC |
| $26.57 | Discover | Film Developing -- Annapolis Mall | Annapolis, MD |
[24] Manassas has that unique quality of being a small town and yet having all the conveniences of a large city -- major restaurants, gas stations, and motel chains.