Washington DC

I'm in DC, or was today. I wandered around the mall for a while, saw some buildings, and learned a bit about history. And about government. Government by the people for the people... Unfortunately, I ran into a whole lot of fences and police officers, telling me that I don't belong there, that I'm not allowed in. But still, I had a good time walking around. I threw a disc across the reflecting pool, I went into the Air and Space museum, and saw a saturn 5 engine, which is amazingly huge. I still need to see a saturn 5 whole sheebang, but I'll see one later, I think. The monument is cool looking, and the Capitol is on a hill, so it kind of looms.
My favorite was Lincoln. He's a kindly sort, with his big chair and open faced building, and though sort of aloof, he wasn't that far off, so it was an easy walk over to him. There are two speeches on the walls of his building, one is his second term inagurational speech, the other the Gettysburg Address. Both are focused on slavery, which seems to be a focus of mine right now as well. In "Lies my teacher told me", the author goes through the Gettysburg Address a little, to show that it is a speech both about revering the dead who fought there, but also to garner support and give reason for the need to fight the war, such as the ideals of freedom.
So I ended up sitting on Lincoln's doorstep as the sun set, and it was very nice. I guess having Abe around is comforting.
I'll be heading south tomorrow, not quite sure where to yet, but for sure I need to end up in Florida by tuesday night.