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Check off another state for the Aslaksons
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Most of these folks waiting for the Metro are from the RV park
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Some graffiti is quite good . . .
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Washington's Union Station is beautifully restored
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That's real gold leaf up there
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Our first view of the US Capitol building
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That person in red at the bottom is Judy, looking petite
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The Lincoln Memorial, from the base of the Washington Monument
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That's the World War II Memorial in the foreground
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Tickets to the top of the obelisk are free, but the line is long
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A flock of military helecopters headed up the Potomac
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Impressive statue of George inside his monument
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US Seal in the floor of the monument
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500 ft up in the Washington Monument, looking at the White House
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Looking west, the Pentagon
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South across the Tidal Basin is the Jefferson Memorial
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The Jefferson Memorial is probably the most graceful
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Lincoln Memorial beyond the reflecting pool, Virginia across the river
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The US Capitol at the other end of the Mall
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The US Capitol, with RFK Stadium in the distance
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The White House was built during Washington's presidency, but he never lived there
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Note the price for water - $2.50! Must be government water
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Inside the rotunda of the Natural Science Museum. When alive, 8 tons.
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We liked this sign near the dinosaur exhibits
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Dinosaur eggs with extinct Ostrich egg in rear
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Beautiful colors in petrified tree section
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An amphibian-like reptile with mamalian features. Quite rare
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Some fish fossils are extremely complete
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That's a fossil beaver with its corkscrew-shaped burrow
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Most fossils displayed are the real thing. Reproductions are labeled
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Fossil of a giant sea turtle. So that's what's inside a shell!
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It's been recently discovered that this stegosaurous is assembled wrong
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Predator & prey?
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A fossil fish with another fossil fish in its stomach!
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A sheet of copper, exactly as found in the rock - 600+ pounds
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The famous Hope Diamond - world's largest blue diamond
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There are lots of crystals of various types on display
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Calcite and water can make some wonderful things
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Sometimes crystals are embedded in other rocks
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Quartz crystals can be very beautiful
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Some crystals are extremely delicate
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Absolutely beautiful
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6 ft long crystals from Mexico's "Cave of Swords"
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Jefferson's statue faces the Capitol - keeping an eye on the scallywags
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By law, only the monument can be taller than the Capitol Building
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One of many ways to tour the DC area. Looks like fun
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Marvelous sculptures on the Memorial Bridge across the Potomac
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Monument to John Ericsson, inventor of the screw propeller for ships
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Some folks take tours on the double-decker bus
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The Reagan Office Building is the largest in the city
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Union Station, center of all things transportation
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We waited for a lot of subways, some above ground, some below
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One of our tour guides on the Tourmobile
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Taking a nap in Columbus Circle . . .
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We think they think we build these things just for them
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Not everybody in DC is a tourist . . .
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We didn't go in. No free samples . . .
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The grave of President Kennedy remains a major attraction
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JFK, Jackie and their two infant children are buried here
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The view of DC from the JFK gravesite
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Arlington has thousands of these gravestones
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In Memory of means the bodies were never found
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There are memorials to many groups
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Both space shuttle disasters are marked
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There's an amphitheater around the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers
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Most of the fatalities of the battlehip Maine are buried near the ship's mast
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A music connection - Paderewski was buried here, then reinterred in Poland when it became free
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This where the President speaks on Memorial Day
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Guards at The Tomb of the Unknowns change every half hour
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Several hundred people view the changing of the guard
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The change ceremony takes about 12 minutes
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An Army Sergeant directs the change
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It involves a ceremonial weapon inspection
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And some well-synchronized maneuvers
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The three smaller stones are for unknowns from the Korean, Vietnam and Desert Storm wars
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These guys have to be counting cadence in their heads
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There were lots of veterans there. A VFW ceremony was planned
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The home of Confederate General Robert E Lee in Arlington Cemetary
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The Lee mansion is undergoing a major renovation
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The mansion grounds house many unmarked Civil War graves
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We toured two days on the TourMobile
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Some folks toured on the DC Ducks. Different strokes . . .
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Washington's most luxurious hotel - The Willard
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The Smithsonian "Castle" is the original Smithsonian building
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It housed an exhibit of monetary curiosities
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This is a Roman coin - considered one of the world's most beautiful
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There are only a few of these 50 dollar gold pieces in existance
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Currency? It was in Pismo Beach, California, once upon a time
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The ceiling inside the Castle
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A set of dinnerware designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
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The first Harp Sighting for this slide show
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An interesting artifact from NASA - a "crib sheet" Velcroed to the astronaut's sleeve cuff
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Lots of students doing whatever they do
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Life mask of Lincon made shortly before his death
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Some amazing ivory carvings from China
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Another view of the castle turrets
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The mall carousel was made by Herschell in North Tonawanda NY
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Outside the Herschhorn Sculpture Garden
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Modern sculptors must have very interesting minds
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It's beautiful - and basically a weathervane
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These folks have a curious view of the human body
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Maybe they didn't like their mothers
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We don't understand it - but it's remarkably beautiful
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Balzac, as sculpted by Rodin
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Now that's powerful
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Whatever it is, we like it.
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The Washington Monument dominates the mall area
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An ice cream stand and a carousel - who could ask for more?
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These birds would catch the popcorn on the fly
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This guy was very intent, and also looked quite comfortable
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Inside the subway station below the Washington Mall
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Our first attempt at a self-portrait
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And then our reflection in the subway window. Way too much spare time
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The spires of the Mormon Temple outside Washington
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The Observation Tower at the Smithsonian's air museum near Dulles
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This museum holds about 40% of the Smithsonian's air-space collection
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The SR77 Blackbird gets a special place
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An unmanned observation drone
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Many warbirds are hung from the rafters
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Many individual aircraft have historical significance
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Many are illustrative of major developments in aircraft evolution
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Guess who built this one?
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Neat artwork on the landing gear
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Almost all planes have been fully restored
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A Dr Langley once tried to make this thing fly. It didn't.
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Our tour guide works for NASA - and really knows his stuff
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An early PanAm clipper
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Yep - the actual plane that dropped "The Bomb"
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So that's what a communications satellite looks like
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One of the components of the Space Station
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The noisy end of the Space Shuttle
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A duplicate of one of the first Mars rovers
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This Gemini capsule never flew, so still has the retro rocket pack
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This thing would float equally well upside down, thus the balloons on top
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Fitting to display the acrobats acrobatically
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There were walkways 30 feet off the floor to view the planes
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A stagger-wing biplane
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There's that Langley crasher again - he never got the propellers right
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An authentic reproduction of Wright's first production machine
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The P54 Lightning was critical in WW-II
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The first Concorde flown by Air France
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Another acrobatic plane
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It's a WW-II German glider much like a flying wing
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One of the most successful pre-war German aircraft
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The BD is one of the smallest airplanes ever built
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A Rutan kit-built Vari Eze - thousands of these airplane kits were sold
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Now that's a little plane - and it did really fly
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Remember the auto-plane? Take off the wing and drive away
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The famous (to some of us) Pepsi Cola sky-writing plane
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There's a ton of aviation history here
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Oh, my. The shuttle Enterprise was the first one ever built
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The Enterprise never went to space - it was a test bed prototype
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The jet fighters were so much bigger than their prop predecessors
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There were several gliders displayed
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Sweet
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A single-seater rotary wing. Talk about exposed
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The only known jet-powered Kamakazi plane in existance
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There's only one of these in the world - and it's not all there
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The very first Flying Wing, built by Lockheed as an experiment
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The museum's observation tower overlooks Dulles Airport
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That's the Dulles airport terminal
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Planes landing at Dulles approach on either side of the museum
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A great sculpture at the museum entrance - "Ascent"
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The sign at the International Spy Museum. No pictures allowed inside
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Well, you can snap the skulker on the restroom door
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The rotunda ceiling at the Museum of American Art
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It's titled "Will of the Wisp"
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Harp sighting 2 - "Mrs John Quincy Adams"
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There are many beautiful sculptures
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Much of this dates from the 19th century.
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The piano is a Steinway. But it's the decoration that the museum likes.
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Mother and Child - a more modern work
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The museum is said to be the city's finest Greek Revival building
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Beautiful old church - Calvary Baptist
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At Mt Vernon, President & Mrs Washington and their grandkids
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We bet George had to duck going in here as well
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The big house at Mt Vernon, viewed from the river side
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This walkway connected the kitchen to the home
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Inside the kitchen building
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Most of the implements are authentic
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The plantation has been undergoing restoration for 175 years.
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Called a chair cart, it was an easy way to get around
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Not Washington's carriage, but built by the same firm
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George's actual manure pit, with original cobblestone floor. They're proud of it
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George and Martha's "New Tomb" also holds 25 Washington family members
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Rolling period atmosphere
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Lanolin on the hoof
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Main gates to the manor house . . .
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Inside the very impressive Mt Vernon Museum
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Reverse forensic aging shows Washington as surveyor at age 19
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Some beautiful jewelry worn by Martha
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As he probably looked at Valley Forge
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Being sworn in for his second term at the capitol in New York City
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Judy wasn't allowed to take this picture. Found out afterwards
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This inlaid US seal in the floor is her other forbidden picture
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And finally, some whimsey in the Mt Vernon parking lot