Today was another travel day. Other than taking a couple of quick snapshots out the window, the camera stayed in the bag.

Start: Alexandria, VA
Finish: Cheltham, MA
Miles Driven: 460

States traversed across: Virginia, DC, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Mass., New Hampshire

Spending the evening with a friend from graduate school and his family. Very adorable daughters.

Today started off with an early wake-up call of 4:30 to get to DC in time for sunrise. Sky was pretty much overcast and, hence, the shooting left something to be desired. At least I only drove 5 miles today (used Metro in/out of DC).

Most of the day was spent doing various museums. Visited the Art Gallery, Natural History, American History, and the Air & Space Museums in the span of 4 hours or so. Interesting to see what has changed and what hasn’t since the last time I visited 6 years ago. Kinda of a tough day, though, as they were all packed with school kids from the DC area. Shooting the monuments early on and only have deal with joggers was much more enjoyable…

Also went to the Newseum, which is just off of the National Mall. Pretty decent museum and a pretty fair view of journalism up to the present day. I’d recommend it for most other cities, but given the quality of the Smithsonian’s and their price (free), it’s hard to say that it is a must see here. (Admission is $20). Saw a few representatives from the Nascar Hall of Fame checking out the place. Hope Nascar is more reasonable.

Didn’t bother trying to shoot in the evening. A pretty decent thunderstorm headed through the area starting at 4:30 and I was already exhausted.

Start: Charlotte, NC
End: Washington DC
Miles Driven: 425
Photos Taken: 632

Today was the first day of my summer “vacation” after my last day of work yesterday. I spent last night packing and making final arrangements for the trip this morning.

Finally got out of the house around 8:45 and headed to Salisbury to visit my son and my in-laws who are watching him for the next week while Tina has work and guard duty. It really was nice seeing him and the toughest part of this trip will be away from him and Tina. He’s doing well with the grandparents and they are keeping him busy. I didn’t tell him “exactly” how long I’m planing on being gone, other than saying “I’ll see you son.” Probably not completely honest, but I’m not really sure how much/what a 3 1/2 year old can understand and comprehend.

I then drove up to Quantico and visit the US Marine National Museum. Extremely impressive facility. They had a couple of rooms centered around the Korean and Vietnam wars to simulate the experience of being there. Very sobering.

Next, I drove up to Arlington National Cemetary. Visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and saw the changing of the guard. Large veteran group was also on hand to witness the ceremony and that’s always a good experience to see that. Few people can really comprehend the sacrifice of those that came before us.

Then, I went over to the Marine Corp National Monument (Iwo Jima) statue for the Tuesday Sunset Parade. I had intentionally moved the start of the trip up a day to attend. Very impressive display from the marines stationed here in D.C. Afterwards, headed back through Arlington to the parking lot – very nice experience as the place was devoid of visitors and I could just soak in the experience of what it really means to be there.

Finally – headed back to DC to scout a parking spot for tomorrow morning near the monuments. The earliest spots open up around the monuments is 6:00 AM, which is a bit late for sunrise. I’ll just take the metro over in the morning instead.

I’ll post pictures as I get a chance.