October 2012. While in the D.C. area, some of the out of town guests who had not been to D.C. in decades decided to venture to the National Mall on Saturday morning and early afternoon before the Saturday night birthday celebration began. So Chris Deaton and his wife Jody and his sister Lelie Abraham along with his cousins Teresa Rowe and Larry Wilson (sister and brother) all hopped the subway Orange Line to go. They rode 13 stops to the Smithsonial station and the National Mall. They walked west to the Lincoln Memorial, stopping along the way at the Washington Monument, Vietnam Memorial, Korean War Memorial and the reflecting pool.

Lunch was in the Bell Tower (former post office) and the group was surprised to have to go through security just to get into the Food Court area. Hmmmm...

After lunch (and the sitting down after all the walking) the gang was getting tired and it was getting late. They wanted to at least visit one of the Smithsonian Museums and chose the Natural History, mostly because it was the closest one and Lelie really wanted to see the Hope Diamond again.

After that, the fivesome took photos of the Capitol Building to the east then watched all of the people playing games on the Mall. Then it was back onto the subway to do the reverse ride. Back to the hotel for some clean up and emergency naps.