A Morning on the Mall

This morning we drove into the city with the intention of visiting the Smithsonian Castle!  We usually have really good luck with parking but today we drove around for about 20 minutes before we found a spot.  It happened to be right in front of the National Archives so we took a quick tour.  It was pretty cool but it was fast.  Since we have a military ID, we didn't have to wait in line and got to go in a side entrance. It wasn't a big deal today but normally there is a LONG wait!  We were in and out in about 20 minutes!  Afterwards we walked over to the Smithsonian Castle. When they finally open up the paths across the mall it won't be a long walk but as of now, you have to walk all the way around.  It took a while and it was really hot.  We were ready to rest in the air conditioning when we got to the castle!  Unfortunately I didn't realize that the castle isn't a museum - it's a visitor center!!  There is at least a small room with a few things to look at so we did that and then got popscicles.  We sat and ate them in the garden and then walked through the Sculpture Garden on the way back to the car.  It felt really nice to soak our feet in the fountain after all of that walking!!!