This was our last day of our vacation, so we made the best of it.

First off we visited the White House. The pictures you see are of the presidential Christmas tree, some of the white house -- and of course the presidential family garden.

Next we went on a drive and ended up at the Lincoln Memorial. Took pictures inside and out (as well as a little video) as well as a picture of the mall toward the Washington Memorial.

There's a picture of an engraved stone where Martin Luther King gave his, "I have a dream" speech, at the Lincoln Memorial. It's not easy to read, but that's what it is.

The last pictures of in the theme of "Where's Waldo?" except they are "Where's Vicki & Corey?"

There were lots of other places we'd hoped to get to, but just wasn't able to make the time. On future visits we'll be able to take in different things.

We then went to the airport and came back to Seattle. It felt great to be home!

Took a couple pictures of the apartment we're living in while in DC. Yup, that's the "lived in" look. :)

Vicki and I took off to check out some of the Smithsonian museums. We started at the Smithsonian Castle. Mainly took pictures of the grounds outside.

We then moved onto the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. There were some amazing Cambodian exhibits downstairs, but they were not owned by the Smithsonian -- merely on loan from Cambodia. This means no photos were allowed (this is why there's just a couple pictures of a piece of art in the stairwell). No one said, "No videos!" so I took the liberty in one of them. ;)

Next was the National Museum of The American Indian. Some interesting stuff in this one. Took a few pictures and watched an interesting multi-media presentation in a special film room.

The main museum we were interested in (which was at the end of the street of museums we were on), was the United States Botanic Garden Conservatory. This place was incredible. More varieties of plants than you would imagine. There were different sections of the conservatory; some indoors, some outdoors.

We then went to Silver Spring, Maryland to meet up with Kristi -- one of Vicki's oldest friends. After meeting her cats and going out to dinner it was off again to Baltimore.

In Baltimore we had a couple quests. One of them was visiting the Hard Rock Cafe to pick up a souvenir. The city at night was really nice and the area where the Hard Rock is looks very lively -- a recommended destination.

Woo hoo! Today we got out and toured DC. :)

Started out at Union Station for lunch and then went all over the city. We got off at The Spy Museum and did the full tour. Unfortunately we weren't able to photograph anything inside.

While it was hotter than hades (low 90's) it started to rain off and on near the end of the day. It dired up shortly after sprinkling but there were a couple of good, hard rains as well. As you can imagine, it was somewhat difficult to get good shot from a moving bus -- but did my best. :)

After the tour we went to Blockbuster to rent some movies and then went for food. Spent the rest of the evening indoors, beating the heat.

Okay, the heat is starting to get to us. I'd say it's closest to the Carribean; hot, humid and hot!

That being said, we had a somewhat eventful day. Started out with going to the Eastern Market, which is within walking distance of our apartment. Ordinarily it's all indoors, but on Sunday it opens up to both indoor and outdoor. So we got a nice walk through the neighborhood and a bit of shopping time. Wish we could have stayed at the market longer.

We then headed out to catch our tour. Unfortunately I didn't know they were having a festival of some sort right in the middle of everything -- this means streets were closed and parking was difficult. By the time I found parking we'd missed our tour time.

Off to The Old Post Office (see pictures below). It's been converted into something like the Center House at Seattle Center. Looks like they put a roof on what was the original court yard. Not the liveliest of places but it was cooler than outside. :)

Headed out to the Hard Rock cafe after leaving there. Didn't eat but picked up some shirts (acquiring quite a collection of them -- getting one in each city we travel to).

Headed out of Delaware after some shopping & lunch we were on our way.

No pictures of Maryland, maybe another day.

Got into DC around dinner time, got unpacked and took a quick drive-around of the sights before heading to the grocery store. You can almost "feel" the history in the air here -- even moreso than the New England states.

There were police all over the place though, very odd. We got stopped and checked for seat belts and to see if we were talking on our cell phones! As we got closer to the monuments there were police stationed at all of the intersections.

Did a bus tour of Philadelphia (difficult to get good pictures while riding this bus).

At one point in the tour we got off at the Reading Terminal Market for lunch. It's a big market with all sorts of food, produce, coffee, deserts, goods, books, ets. Sort of like the Pike Place Market in Seattle, but all indoors.

We then continued on with the tour, culminating with seeing the Liberty Bell.

After that it was off to Gino's & Pat's to try the original (Pat's) and the contender's (Gino's) Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches. They're across the street from each other. And of course I got a shot of the plaque showing where Rocky stood (at Pat's). I gotta say, I think I like Geno's better. Pat's was a bigger sandwich but Geno's seemed to have a bit more flavor and softer bread. Both were good though. :)

Then it was off to Delaware. Just pictures of the hotel at this point. :)

Got some pictures of the hotel and the Atlantic City boardwalk today.

Then it was off to Pennsylvania, Philadelphia to be exact. Only have some pictures of the hotel room and the view at this point. Tomorrow we'll go on a tour.

Today was pretty much a vacation from the vacation day. There was a lot of eating and sleeping -- and that's about it. :)

We purchased all-day buffet bracelets, we dubbed them "Pig Pass" bracelets, which allowed us to eat at the buffet all day, morning, noon & night. Surprisingly, the food was quite tasty and of good quality. But so were the naps after eating. :D

As it was overcast/rainy the whole day, we didn't get out much. But we got a couple shots from the boardwalk.

Packed up and headed out of New York this morning on the way to Atlantic City.

On the way we stopped off in the country to shoot Corey's airsoft rifle. Very fun! Although I wouldn't be too anxious to be on the business end of it. With the "hop up" features and the upgraded battery it has, that thing will hurt! Just check out the damage it did to a tree below.

We arrived in Atlantic City and after eating at the Hard Rock Corey went back to the room and Vicki and I went for a little walk on the boardwalk. Got a few pics of the room and that's about it. More tomorrow. :)

What a great way to wrap up our time in New York! The weather was about 20 degrees less than yesterday, so at 75 degrees and a light breeze, it was perfect.

Started off taking the subway downtown and heading over to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty. Very cool! We then took the ferry to Staten Island (but didn't get off). This is where the immigrants of yesteryear were processed when coming to America. Sounds like a great tour/museum, but we were ready for lunch by this point and overheated.

Then it was to Wall Street for some good luck from the bull (you can look up the story on this one).

After a subway ride back to Times Square, we hopped into a taxi (check out the vids) and headed over to the Empire State Building. A great day to take some pictures -- loved it up there!

Afterwards we went to the Taste of Times Square (a food festival that happened to land on my birthday). We ate wonderful food/desert until stuffed, then walked a bit of it off. Oh, and check out the vid of the guy playing he saw!

Our destination? An off-broadway show called "Avenue Q". It was an awesome show! Very fun, very adult (reminded me of an uncensored Family Guy movie). Then it was off to home for a bit of relaxation before bedtime. :)