Tuesday – Second day at parks

We’re still slow movers in the morning and took our time getting up and moving.   The agenda for the day is the water rides.  We put one phone in the water proof case and headed for the park.  Started the day at Universal Studios back at Harry Potter.

We went on the Escape from Gringotts ride.  The walk leading up to the ride ended up being the best part of the whole ride.  They did a fabulous job with the sets.  It really looks like you are in the movie.  So we get into where the ride is finally at and get in the cart and get all wedged in there.  Instead of it being a single lap bar that comes down across everyone’s lap there is an individual lap bar for each of the four people in that row.  Along with the lap bar there is a bar that your shins rest on and then to top it off going from the lap bar to the shin bar there is a piece of metal that connects the two on each side of your legs.  Once it’s down you can’t move at all.  This would not normally be bad if the ride runs like it’s supposed to.  The ride goes by so fast you don’t have time to think about that fact that you can’t move at all.

 

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The ride started to go and as soon as we were around the first corner the ride stopped.  We sat there for almost 5 minutes without moving.  I get claustrophobic after a while and I have to say when it finally hit my brain that i couldn’t move I started to panic a little.  Luckily for me Dwayne was there with me and got me started talking to take my mind off of it.  Finally the ride started to move and it’s really a good thing for the shin bar because at one point they point the cart almost straight down and down you go before you get to the next spot on the ride.  We weren’t impressed with the ride at all.  It stopped too many times and lost it’s continuity.   Today they shut down the ride to work on it.

I waited while Dwayne rode the Dragon Challenge.  No way in hell was i getting on that one.  They park you in a seat and there is nothing under you and they flip you up on your head for one of the loops.  Even Dwayne said he would only do that one the one time.  No repeats on that one.

We re-rode the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride.  Second time around I think was the best because you know what to expect.

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Up next was the Jurassic Park River ride.  We ended up in the second row from the front.  We had a woman in front of us that had never ridden it before and of course Dwayne had to mess with her the entire ride.  We got to the end just before they drop you down out of the ride.  I don’t remember it being as steep of a drop as it was but we came down the ramp and hit the bottom with enough force that I got a face full of water and looked like a drowned rat when we stopped.  LOL….the poor woman in front of us got hit with enough water in the face that it knocked the shower cap she had on her head almost off.

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We rode the Dudley Do-Right log ride after that.  That ride is deceiving.  It looks like a kid ride but after having gone down it I don’t think it’s a kids ride anymore.  Hope you don’t mind getting soaking wet either because you are not coming off that ride dry.   Dwayne got the front seat and i was right behind him.  We got started and it takes you on a winding path for a while, you get splashed every once in a while and I swear every time we got splashed it ended up in my lap.  LOL….we got around one corner and saw the track going up just before the big drop.  We got over the top edge and went down.  When we hit the bottom Dwayne got enough water in his face it knocked his glasses of his face.  Thankfully they landed in his lap and didn’t fall out of the boat.  Then someone standing on the walkway above decided we weren’t wet enough and sprayed us some more.  LOL….it was really a fun ride.

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We roamed around the rest of the park and went on some more rides.  Dwayne rode rode all the rides he wanted to go on.  I went on all but three with him.

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We closed down the park and decided to go over to the Portofino Hotel for dinner then called it a night.  It was a lot of walking and i have to say my feet were tired when we got back.

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Universal Studios – Orlando Fl

We had grand plans of getting into the Islands of Adventure park early today but since yesterday was such a long travel day we decided to sleep in and get some rest instead.

We left our room around 10 or so and took the water taxi over to the main part of the park.

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It was 80 degrees at 10 am this morning.  We started in Islands of Adventure and decided we would just walk around, check out the park and take pictures.  Tomorrow we are going to go back and ride some of the water rides.  We’ll leave our cameras so we don’t have to worry about them getting wet.

According to my pedometer we walked about 7 miles in what turned out to be 90 degrees and very humid.  We worked our way around to the new Harry Potter section.  They did a great job making it look like the movies.  The first ride we did was Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey.  It’s a 3D ride set in the Hogwarts Castle and holy cow does it ever move.  You really feel like you are flying and right there in the middle of everything.  You fly past a dragon and can actually feel the heat from the fire it breaths at you.  It was a very cool ride that I think we’ll do again.  🙂

We rode the Hogwarts Express from Islands of Adventure over to Universal Studios.  Once in Universal Studios they have created Diagon Alley and what a job they did.  The even put in Nocturn Alley and it was nice and dark.

Hogwarts Express

Hogwarts Express

 

Diagon Alley

Diagon Alley

Nocturn Alley

Nocturn Alley

 

We walked a lot of miles today and our feet and legs are sore.  Tomorrow we go back and do the Jurassic Park ride, the Dudley Do Right log ride and the Escape from Gringotts ride.  I think after that we are going to go back and do the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride.

 

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National Archives and the Capitol building

There’s quite a lot to post for the day.  However, being the ballerina that I am I took a face plant  and torn up my left hand a little.  I couldn’t  take a face plant just anywhere, oh know not Margo.  I fell by the reflecting pool in front of the Capitol  building.  talk about embarassing.  So, I’ll do a full post when we get home later.

 

Hand is finally feeling better so here is the update.

We got into the National Archives.  You can’t take any pictures inside but I have to say it’s really kind of cool to see be able to walk up to the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of  Rights.  The Magna Carta is also there but sadly it was out for restoration when we were there.  We got up to look at the Declaration and it’s pretty faded.  You can make out John Hancocks signature at the bottom.  Apparantly the Declaration hung next to a window in US Customs Office from 1841 – 1876.

Our next stop was the National Museum of Natural History.  This is not one of my favorite museums but I have to say it was pretty amazing.

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We got some lunch at the musuem.   The museums might all be free to get into but the food certainly isn’t cheap.  I think Dwayne and I spent easily $45.00 for lunch each day that we did lunch in the museums.

We walked up towards the Capitol Building so we could walk through and get a look.  As we were walking around the reflecting pool in front of the Capitol this is where Margo did her ballerina move and fell on my face.  I seriously hate when I do stuff like that.  I don’t bounce back like I used to.  Needless to say my hand hurt like crazy but we continued on to the Capitol.

Got inside and it’s amazing.  We did a tour and got to see the Rotunda.  The Capitol is pretty impresive.

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Statue of Freedom

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Rotunda dome

Rotunda dome

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Statues of Presidents in the Rotunda

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Paintings in the Rotunda

Paintings in the Rotunda

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Statues in Statuary hall

Statues in Statuary hall

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After we got done with our tour of the Capitol we went through the underground tunnel to the Library of Congress.

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Underground tunnel from Capitol to the Library of Congress

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Glass room you can stand in to look into the library

Glass room you can stand in to look into the library

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That was our last stop for the day.  We got on the subway and went back to our apartment so we could pack for our flight home.

subway tunnel at Metro Station

subway tunnel at Capitol South station

 

 

 

 

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Finally we get to see a museum

Went down this morning to the National Archives early this morning.  I was on a quest to see the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.  At ten after ten we were starting to wonder if they were going to open or not and they didn’t.  Apparently they didn’t have enough people show up for work that they couldn’t open today.  So, we go again tomorrow instead.

Since the National Archives wasn’t open we went to the Museum of American History.  I’ve been conditioned to not take pictures in museums so unfortunately there are no pictures.  If you like history (like I do) then the museum is full of interesting stuff.  We started at the upper level the exhibits started with the Civil war and went through the Vietnam war.  There is also an exhibit for the First Ladies.  They displayed the inaugeration dress from each of the first ladies as well as china.

The second level has an exhibit for The Star Spangled Banner (this is the first flag made for the US)  the flag flew over Fort McHenry in Baltimore harbor when ships attacked on September 2 1814.  The flag measures 30 x 42 with 15 stripes and 15 stars.  The stripes are 2feet wide and the stars are 2 feet in diameter.  Pictures were not allowed in this exhibit but here is a picture from outside and the flag is roughly the same size.

Star Spangled Banner

Star Spangled Banner

This is the very flag that inspired Francis Scot Key to write the Star Spangled Banner song because it was still flying after the battle was over.

We spent a good 3 hours in the museum.  Got us some lunch and then walked over to the Air and Space musuem.  We did take pictures here.  =)

The Air and Space museum is pretty self explanatory so here are a bunch of pictures we took.  We spent about 4 hours here and were able to see everything.

Gemini VI capsule

Gemini VI capsule

Mercury Friendship 7 capsule

Mercury Friendship 7 capsule

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Model of USS Enterprise air craft carrier

Model of USS Enterprise air craft carrier

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By the time we left our feet were sore from standing so long today.  We sat on a bench on the Mall before we went back to our apartment.  You wouldn’t be able to tell that just yesterday everthing was shut down and it was pretty much a ghost town and we didn’t have to look for traffic on the Mall.  Today however was a different story.

Yesterday:

no traffic on national mall

no traffic on national mall

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Today:

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buses lined up in front of air and space museum for tour groups

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Tomorrow is the National Archives as we were told it would be open.

 

 

 

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A day of walking around

We couldn’t think of anything else to go and see today so we  just got out of the apartment and went out walking.

We  got off the Metro around the Capitol Building.  Walked past the Library of Congress and past the Supreme Court.  Took a stroll around the Capitol Building.  There were a bunch of tv trucks set up on both the back side and front of the building.

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Sat outside the Capitol building for a while and watched people come and go.  There were some people out with picket signs trying to get the attention of any politician that would come out.

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Out front tourists were asking the security guys if they could take a picture with them.  I have to say the guys were really nice when people asked if they could have their pictures taken with them.  They had nothing else to do except stand there and keep people from trying to get in.

We walked down the mall for a little bit and then went back to the apartment.  Since we had been hearing that the Senate had come up with a deal to stop the shutdown and that the House had finally said they wouldn’t fight the deal we thought it would be a good night to deal with laundry.

Here’s hoping we can get into something tomorrow.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed because the main thing I want to see is The National Archives – constitution, declaration of independence and the bill of rights.

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