Well I have just left Washington and after a 10hr bus trip am now in North Carolina visiting some good friends from Lifeway. So what was Washington like? Hmmm, not as I expected to be... and very much under the paranoia of security. Every government building swarmed with security guards, requiring scanning of all items and bags on entry. Stopping near any building was immediate cause for alarm and prompted immediate interference from nearby security who wanted you to move on, as was moving too close to any doors not intended for tourist or public entry. Cars were inspected underneath with mirrors before solid barriers would be lowered for entry. Police situated on virtually every corner of the city and driving in cars were visible at all times. Helicopters circled overhead just above the tree level. And "Homeland Security" had cameras positioned on every corner and from every height to keep a watch on everything that was happening. It felt like a war zone... and I felt like the enemy. So aside from this I got to see many interesting things. Of course with this sort of security in the city, most things were only viewable from the outside. The thing I most remember about this city is how many monuments can be found there. After walking all around town I had seen monuments for Washington, Jefferson, Franklin Roosevelt, Lincoln (more of a shrine than monument), Korean War, Vietnam War, Signers of the Constitution, Theodore Roosevelt, and more. One of the things I learned while in Washington DC was how inconvenient snow can be once it turns into ice. Staying upright became the main focus of my walks with a quick glance towards the monuments to be sure they hadn't moved. I became an avid tree and pole hugger during photos to ensure my camera remained horizontal during the shot. Good thing about a digital camera is you can delete those vertical shots. The White House was off limits to those who had not been through a three month wait and a full background security check. We could wander around to view the house from the outer limits of their fences, which is what I did. Viewing the place from the North was made more difficult by roadworks, guarded by an 8ft high fence with the occasional peep hole. Moving to the Capitol building I found security less verbal but more obviously threatening as guards moved about in the doorways with their machine guns in hand. When one guy started watching me carefully I thought I was about to become target practice, but to my delight someone burst from his door and distracted him enough to let me get out of there. Instead I focused my attention on the monuments that lay outside the buildings grounds. Amazingly, with such levels of security around, it is still possible to enter the building. I discovered that you simply register for the next business day... but it was Friday night. There were lots of great things about Washington, but unfortunately this was overshadowed by the treatment of the security staff around the city. I was never so glad to be gone as when I left that place, but it was great to have been there just to see what it was like. Check the photos out at http://samafas.com