BEP: Tuesday begin with a visit to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. During 'peak' season, you have to get tickets in advance....since the Hutsell's avoid peak season anywhere like it's the plague, we just arrived, waited 10 minutes, and the tour begins. Not surprising for an assembly-line process like the BEP, but, the tour runs like a swiss watch...watch the video, head into the plant, watch the money get printed on one side, printed on another, cut, diced, sliced, etc and so on. Was closer to more money than I'll ever be again in my life.....actually, that's not true, it's not money until the Federal Reserve accepts the money into the system, but, still, something neat about watching sheet after sheet of $100 bills go buy..uh, bye.
BBS you ask? A 7.....about as good as it will ever get I guess.
White House: There's things that the federal government has done well on the touristy front here....we like that the museums are free (as opposed to the high price of tourism we encountered in Europe) and the Capitol was done well and the BEP was done very well.
But the White House? For all of the run-a-round to get in (you can't bring any type of bag on to the grounds, never mind having to arrange a time and submitting you name, birthdate, and SSN) you only get to see about 5 rooms of the building and that's it, you're done. I understand security, I understand it's a 'working' building, but, man, that's it, the center of the free world is walking through the blue room, the red room, the green room, and the dining room, and getting to stand outside three others and look in? Only thing that would have made it worse would have been being charged for it.....
BBS: 5. Still wonder how far Matthew would have made it if he would have taken off down one of those hallways. Would have been higher except for the the Matthew "I need to use the bathroom" five minutes after we had just asked and he said 'no'......and, well, the White House has no public bathrooms.
Bolt: Drove to Alexandria Tuesday night for dinner and to see 'Bolt'. The movie's very good, enjoyed by all....I think Mom gets more of a kick watching Dad enjoy the animated humor movies than from watching the movie itself. Too much Looney Tunes I guess....
Wednesday:
Mount Vernon: At the start of the trip, we had planned on Wednesday being the go-to-Williamsburg-for-the-day day....but, upon reflection of the drive (3 hours with no traffic) and the prediction for traffic (horrible), we decided to save Williamsburg and points south for another trip. So, we moved up our schedule and went out to Mount Vernon. The land and buildings are all owned by the "Mount Vernon Ladies Association", and, if they deserve all of the credit and the feds none, fine, but, the whole complex and the center and the museum are really well done.
BBS: 3 Back to the Monday's issues; Matthew and Christopher playing hide-and-go-irritate your parents by fighting with each other on the guided part of the tour, Kevin with teenage angst I guess.
One of the very nice stained glass windows in the visitors center.
The mansion from the Potomac side. 
Mansion from the front. Bowling Green directly in front of the mansion.
Dead PresidentWashington: Oh yeah, I should mention that well, anybody would have some reservations about coming to Wash DC....and I'm sure that there are parts that I wouldn't want to be in after dark (or even during the day) in a million years. But....I've been pleasantly surprised with what I've seen...especially with Paris and London as recent memories. The Metro has been extremely clean and pleasant, the sidewalks in the city and around the Mall have been clean and friendly, no begging, no strange people walking up.....really, two thumbs up.
