Washington DC - Part 3

We originally planned to use the DC bike share on Saturday, but it was not going to be fun in the rain.  We started by walking to the US Marine Corps War memorial.  It is right next to Arlington Cemetery and overlooks the Potomac.

We had reserved a Capitol tour in advance and headed there next.

We had some time to burn so we walked the US Botanical Garden.  It was refreshing to see some tropical flowers!

The Capitol dome is tall enough to fit the Statue of Liberty with 30' to spare.  It does not look that tall from the ground.  They are starting huge dome renovation this month so we came at a great time.

Every state is represented by at least 2 statues.  Below is one of Minnesota's.

We went to Tune Inn for lunch.  They were featured on Food Network's Diners Drive-Ins and Dives.  Jimmy had a crab cake sandwich and I had the signature beer-battered burger!

We went to the Crime Museum for the afternoon.  It chronicled the long history of crime and punishment in the US.  Everything from the Salem witch trials to 9/11 was included.

#4 is the perp!

The basement of the museum was the studio for America's Most Wanted.  That was one of Jimmy's favorite shows until its run ended in 2011.

The former studio is now home to a variety of hands on labs.  We did a forensic lab.  We got to read the details of the case, including suspect alibis.  We also looked at DNA evidence, handwriting samples and phone records.  

For the interactive portions, we created and analyzed blood spatter.

Dusted for and lifted latent finger prints

And examined trace evidence in a microscope.

They did an overview at the end and we got to figure out if we chose the right person.

We went back to the hotel for a couple hours, then walked to Georgetown.  This is one of the only areas of DC not serviced by the metro.  Luckily it was just over a mile across the river.

We had to stop at the famous Georgetown Cupcakes!  They were definitely worth the 30 minute wait,

We Facetime chatted with my parents and Parker a few times.  He was especially snugly this night so we got to see a lot of him.  We sang "Jesus Loves Me" and even got a little clap.  We were really starting to miss him by Saturday night, so I was nice to see his happy face.