Day 3, Sat: Touring Washington, D.C. by bicycle - 9 miles

We started our day with a casual ride down Pennsylvania Avenue and stopped at the White House.  We did not go in; Mr. President was too busy to meet with us today.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed a very educational tour of Ford's Theater, where Abraham Lincoln crossed paths with John Wilkes Booth.  

Ford's Theatre, which is still used as a theatre.

We were amazed at how much more we learned about Lincoln that we did not know.  Did you know that Acts were passed during his presidency that: created the first military draft, established colleges in every state, established a national currency, created the first income tax, chartered the first continental railroad, and designated Thanksgiving to be on the last Thursday of November?

In 1863 the Lincolns attended a Ford's Theatre performance starring the authentic matinee idol John Wilkes Booth, who was from a theatrical family.  Booth, who was fervently pro-Southern, had a growing hatred for Lincoln and glanced up at the president as he delivered some of the plays most threatening lines.   That hatred continued to grow.  Booth shot Lincoln in 1865.


The flag draped Presidential Box where Lincoln sat the night he was shot.
The blue areas are stage props for an upcoming performance.

On April 14, 1865 at 10:15 p.m., as Mary and the President watched a performance, John Wilkes Booth stood just a few feet behind Lincoln as he shot him.  Booth dropped his gun and jumped from the balcony to the floor below.  He left the theatre by this means because he had wedged shut the door to the Presidential Box, with the leg of a wooden music stand.

The actual Philadelphia Deringer pistol used to murder President Lincoln.

We then toured the Peterson House, directly across the street from the theatre, where Mr. Lincoln was taken after he was shot.  He died in the Peterson House the following morning, April 15, 1865.

Peterson House

We spent the afternoon at the National Crime & Punishment Museum. 



This is a privately owned museum dedicated to the history of criminology and penology in the United States.  More than 700 artifacts in 28,000 square feet of exhibition space relate the history of crime and its consequences.  The museum features exhibits on colonial crime, pirates, Wild West outlaws, gangsters, the Mob, mass murderers, and white collar criminals.  The museum also served as the television studio for America's Most Wanted.

As we returned to Fort Myer military base, after yet another very enjoyable day, we were rained upon.  It did not bother us, since we have had two weeks of amazingly good weather.

Thank you for viewing our blog.  We hope you enjoyed following us on our bicycling adventure.

Tomorrow we will be shuttled back to Pittsburgh.  Happy trails to you.

Day 2, Fri: Touring Washington, D.C. by bicycle - 12 miles

We started out our day touring the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.  Their mission is to securely and efficiently produce United States currency and other government securities that satisfy the current and future needs of the American public and the government agencies which serve them.

Ever wonder what a million dollars in cash would look like?

 

A folding tester from the 1920s is pictured above.  It was designed to test the endurance of paper by repeated folding.  United States currency notes can be folded back and forth on the same crease about 4,000 times before tearing.

If you happen to have a $4,000 bill or a $100,000 bill lying around, it is worth three times that amount today.

From there we bicycled to the Capitol Building for a tour and it definitely is on a hill.

The Capitol rotunda.



The American Statue of Freedom.  This same statue is also on top of the Capitol dome.






We did not realize that the Capitol complex is this long and this big.

 

This afternoon we visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.  We did not realize how long it is.  The wall begins by the small sign on the ground by the bottom left of this picture.  It goes straight, then turns right and goes to the edge of this picture on the right. 

From there we went to the Einstein Memorial.  We will come home smarter since we rubbed Albert's nose. 


The finale to our day was a visit from our great-niece, Hadley, and her parents, who drove down from Crofton, MD to have dinner with us.

It's never too early to start encouraging interest in cross-country bicycling.

Day 1, Thurs: Touring Washington, D.C. by bicycle - 10.5 miles

We started out our day with a visit to Arlington National Cemetery and the John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame.  The Arlington House, in the background, is a memorial to Robert E. Lee.

 

Memorials and markers precisely aligned span over more than 600 acres.  On May 30, 1868 -- the first Decoration Day -- the graves of fallen soldiers were decorated with flowers.  In 1971 the day was renamed to Memorial Day and became a federal holiday to remember the fallen of all of America's wars.

Abraham Lincoln Memorial.



The Reflecting Pool and Washington Monument.

The Washington Monument is both the world's tallest stone structure and the world's tallest obelisk, standing at 555' 5 1/8 ".  On August 23, 2011, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake occurred 84 miles southwest of Washington, D.C.  Although the monument remains structurally sound, internal and external stone damage was discovered in many areas.  Most occurred in the top 50 feet of the monument.  It is currently being repaired. 

World War II Memorial

World War II Memorial

We continued on to the National Mall to visit a few of the Smithsonian Museums.  Eleven of the 19 Smithsonian museums and galleries are located here.

American History Museum
Archie Bunker's chair from All in the Family, 1971 - 79. 

 

Bobby Dylan's leather jacket, 1965.

Dorothy's ruby slippers, 1938.  Wizard of Oz 1939.

National Museum of Natural History
The Hope Diamond, 45.52 carats, is one of the world's most famous gems -- renowned for its flawless clarity, rare deep blue color, and its eventful history.  It is surrounded by 16 white diamonds and suspended by a platinum chain bearing 46 more diamonds.  Since it was found in the 1600's it has been recut and reduced in size twice, but has steadily increased in value.



The National Air & Space Museum
The Voyager is known for its successful nonstop around the world flight in December 1986.



This Apollo command module is identical to those used during the Apollo Program.  It was used to ferry the crew of the last Skylab mission to the Skylab Orbital Workshop and back to Earth again. 

On May 21, 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh completed the first solo nonstop, transatlantic flight in history flying his Spirit of St. Louis from Long Island, NY to Paris, France.

The Smithsonian Castle
This building is made out of the same red sandstone as the Seneca Creek Aqueduct which was on the C&O Canal Towpath.   A selection of objects from each museum's vast collection is displayed here.  This museum featured two items from Decatur, IL.

Fence rail spilt by Abraham Lincoln and John Hanks.



Punch marks of railroad conductors from around the world.

Returning by bicycle to Ft. Myer, VA from Washington, D.C. via the Arlington Memorial Bridge.  It really is easy to tour D.C. by bicycle.

Day 10, Wed: Leesburg, VA to Washington, D.C. - 37 miles

Our day started out quite brisk, but sunny, and turned pleasantly warm by midday.  We started our morning by going from VA back to MD via the ferry.



White's Ferry convenience store.  Note the river in the distance
and down a very steep hill, and the second story windows.

Potomac flood level marks on second level.



 We continued to shake, rattle and roll all day, on the trail.



We had to walk around 5 piles of clay and rock that were soon to be spread across the trail.



The beautiful Potomac.



 

The canal continues on the left and the Potomac on the right, with the towpath in the middle.

Built with three 33 foot span arches.  One arch collapsed in the 1971 flood.  It is constructed from stone from a nearby quarry.  It is the same red sandstone used to build the Smithsonian Castle on the National Mall. 

Seneca Creek Aqueduct

 





Not the kind of fishing clothes we wear today.



If walls could talk, Lockhouse 22 could tell some tales.  President Glover Cleveland, pictured above, sought refuge from the pressures of the White House by coming here on fishing trips.  One lockkeeper had too much to drink and let the water out of the lock too quickly, sinking a canal boat and its 113 tons of coal.

Lockkeepers and their wives supplemented their income by selling fresh baked goods and farm produce to the canal boatmen.  Since there was no plumbing in lockhouses in 1880, water was carried from the canal and heated on the stove for washing clothes and dishes.  Making sure the children didn't fall into the canal was a constant concern of the lockkeeper's wife, who frequently helped her husband operate the locks.

 Lock gates.

 

The Great Falls Tavern began as a small lockhouse and was added onto twice.  The area around the tavern bustled with a community of over 100 people, including a post office.

 

 .

Great Falls, MD has the largest falls of any river on the Eastern seaboard.





The Potomac was wide, flat, and slow moving about 2 million years ago.  Then came the Ice Age.  Sea level fell forcing the Potomac to carve a deeper channel to reach the ocean.  Because of the difficulty in cutting through bedrock, the Potomac created waterfalls and rapids.  The most dramatic drop occurs here at Great Falls.  The Potomac River drops some 60 feet.  In a series of rapids, it falls an additional 85 feet to tidewater at Washington, D.C., 10 miles downstream.





Great Falls, also, has the largest praying mantis.  We have never seen one so big.
Definitely much bigger than our hummingbirds.

Mile marker 0!  WE DID IT!  This is awesome! 

We are sooooo proud of ourselves! 

We bicycled a total of 361 miles!

Now we will spend the next 3 days touring our wonderful Capital of the United States of America - Washington, D.C.

For the remainder of our visit, our home base will be on the military base at Ft. Myer, VA, which is just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.  Our accommodations are wonderful!  It is a small apartment.

We will have 3 more postings to this blog, as we tour Washington, D.C.