My older brother went to American University here in Washington and when I was in high school, I visited a lot. I mainly went to dance at wild parties, to learn to drink beer and kiss boys, but Jon made sure we did some creative sightseeing too. The Washington Monument, for instance. Nice during the day, amazing at midnight, a dozen of us lying at its base, our feet pressed against the stone, the white, tapering monolith forming a path straight into the sky.

You can't do that any more, of course, so this time I've settled for something more conventional. Sorry about the cell phone pix but for the second day in a row, I managed to leave my camera behind. (One of my favorite things in the National Archive, which didn't photograph well, was a note from 12-year-old Fidel Castro to FDR, asking the president to please send him ten bucks.)

The Constitution of the United States.
(A note in the guest book suggests our current president might actually try reading the document sometime.)

The Zapruder camera, which filmed the Kennedy assassination.

Capitol Dome in daylight

And at night