I was out on the “mall” by 8am, and it was a beautiful day!  There was hardly anyone out yet, only a few other tourists and joggers.  You can see this in some of my earlier photos – later in the day it became much more crowded.  I walked all around the mall from one end to the other – it’s a lot further than it looks!

The museums opened at 10am and by that time I needed a break from the walking anyway.  I visited the Air & Space Museum first.  It’s huge and there’s a lot of really cool things to see – a lunar module, hubble telescope, Wright Brother’s airplane, Amelia Earhart’s airplane, etc.  I could have spent a lot more time there, but I went through fairly quickly (~1 hour) so I could see more.  Next I went to the Natural History Museum (by the way, the American History Museum was closed for renovation).  This museum was very cool too, and again I could have spent a lot more time there.  Next time I guess!  By then I had a little over an hour before heading back for my flight, so I decided to visit the Holocaust Museum.  Wow.  I thought I already knew a lot about the Holocaust, but nothing prepares you for this.  I don’t really think I can describe it, you would just have to go yourself.  And you definitely should – it’s a must see.  Unfortunately it left me leaving DC feeling kind of depressed…

Anyway, it was really fun to spend a day in DC.  I kind of like traveling by myself, it makes me feel independent.  But, I think it would have been even nicer to have someone with me – to comment and discuss things with, and especially so they could take photos of me!

Early Morning in DC

Washington Monument

Washington Monument

Washington Monument

WWII Memorial - Stars

Washington Monument & WWII Memorial

WWII Memorial

WWII Memorial

WWII Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Alonna & Lincoln Statue

Alonna - Washington DC

Washington Monument

Korean War Memorial

Reflection of the American Flag

Vietnam War Memorial

Washington Monument

White House

Washington Monument

Natural History Museum

Capitol & Darfur "Tents of Hope"

Tents of Hope for Darfur

US Capitol

Air & Space Museum

Lunar Module

Dinosaur Fossils - Natural History Museum

Albertosaurus!

Natural History Museum

Natural History Museum

 

HP Recruiting on Thursday night:

During a break from workshops and SWE meetings, my new HP friend Amy and I wandered the career fair.  I gathered a bunch of goodies to give away at SWE events.  Oh, we also found the Microsoft booth and played guitar hero

The HP group went to a formal SWE Awards Banquet on Friday night, where we cheered on a fellow HP employee who won an award.

I attended SWE meetings as my section representative – we voted on important issues regarding how SWE is run.  This group is like the legislative branch of SWE and it was a really interesting experience.  Especially because there was a couple very controversial issues at stake!  Here’s me taking notes and everyone holding up their green voting cards.

Finally, here’s some other random photos of Baltimore and the conference…