Washington, DC (USA)

[as planned, we (Aunt Judy, Uncle Jim, the kids and I) got another early start (0730) - this time, we drove straight into the city on I-395 and tried to park in the same place (near the Tidal Basin) as we had the previous day - but the police had cordoned off almost the entire Mall west of the Washington Monument and north of I-395 - luckily, I remembered a side street near the Holocaust Museum (our ultimate goal) and we were able to get there without a problem - it was still early, so we walked down the hill to the Jefferson Memorial and got some more great photos - our walk back was also pleasant because the weather was awesome again - by the time we headed back up the hill, the Rolling Thunder event was in full force (almost every street was filled with loud motorcycles) - the implication was that all veterans are bikers (or vice versa) - after some delays, we reached the Holocaust Museum, the line was pretty big - up until today, I had just walked in the front door - but the normal process, I guess, is to wait in a queue to get a "fast pass" for entry - Aunt Judy found a friendly young couple to chat with while we waited - fortunately, our 45 minute "delay" yielded an almost immediate entry once we had the tickets - after getting inside, we visited the exhibit about Daniel's family (geared towards younger people) when our "fast pass" allowed (1030), we headed into the main exhibit - it was VERY crowded inside and we weren't able to stay together - we made our way slowly down the several floors and I found some new things (multimedia) that brought home the impact of the terrible genocide - when I met up with Uncle Jim and Aunt Judy again in the lobby, it was close to 1330 - they chatted with a Holocaust survivor for a bit before we departed - the walk to the car was quick - they said they were tired and wanted to head back, so we drove to where we typically get on the I-395 but found it blocked - we used I-295, instead - crossed the Potomac on I-95 and then used US-1 to find a restaurant near South Kings Highway - we started in Applebees, but their grill was broken and several other menu items were unavailable, so we moved next door to El Pollo Ranchero (Mexican food) and had a nice lunch - when we got home, Uncle Jim and I watched the last part of the Indianapolis 500 and, later, the Coca-Cola 600 - Nicky made a big meal and everyone had fun talking for several hours - Uncle Jim and I tried to see the end of the race but there were so many cautions that we gave up and headed off to bed (tired)]