Washington, DC

The Humans in this place: (l-r) Marie Westhaver and I mug while the camera wheels and deals.

Marie and Gail Defendorf waiting for a train in the Metro subway.

The Capitol Building (so this is where Congress does #$&@!^&).

The truth is out there (and I'm behind the sign).

It was so typical for a federal department to be closed on weekends.......

At the Korean War monument.

It was indeed very heart-warming to see official American recognition of Australia's support.

Gail and Marie at the Lincoln Memorial.

I actually have a famous connection to this part of history :

Abraham Lincoln was assassinated from a balcony, and in the process the assassin fell off and broke his leg. He somehow escaped capture by fleeing into the countryside on horse and found a doctor, a Dr Mudd, to help mend his leg. Dr. Mudd had no idea who he was helping, and even if he did he was under a Hippocratic oath to help the sick and injured. He is believed to be the descendant of my (paternal) granddad's grandparents (or possibly great grandparents), who we know emigrated to the USA in the early 19th century. Anyway, Dr. Mudd was incarcerated for years despite not having committed a crime. While in jail, he setup a prison hospital and worked tirelessly on helping sick and injured prisoners get better in the apalling prisons of the 19th century. Eventually he was set free but with no pardon nor apology. It took his family and next of kin nearly 80 years to win official recognition of his wrong treatment and good old John F. Kennedy finally granted a full reprieve and pardon to Dr. Mudd and his whole family.
(My knowledge of this is based on an official film made in the mid 1980's, based upon the true story).

The White House (before the 4th of July and Independence Day or ID4).
Earlier, we saw a helicopter take off from the roof...

...and fly past the Washington Monument. Hi Bill! Good Luck!

The icon of the tour: the No Hamburgers sign.

I did have my first North American Hot Dog though, strictly to sample the local cuisine of course.

A squirrel, checking out the nuts on the Mall - US!

Leroy B. Mudd on the Vietnam Memorial wall (no direct relation, only very distant I imagine). You can see my reflection in the wall as I'm taking the picture.

From the Air and Space Museum: the ticket stub for Cosmic Voyage, the IMAX film we saw.

More information about Cosmic Voyage.

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Last updated: 29-Oct-96