Washington

Another great but long day in Washington. Making full use of our hop on hop off tickets again we went to the Crime and Punishment  Museum which was fascinating. Some of the methods of punishment were almost too descriptive but its very hard not to read to the end and then be very grateful for not being born in the era of hung drawn and quartered!
The museum described crime and punishment from the earliest to the most recent and we were impressed with all the meticulous displays. There was even a section on the art and craft some long term prisoners undertake to pass their time. As Maxwell Smart would say " if only they had used their skills for good not evil!"
The museum is also the set from which the Americas Most Wanted is filmed and the statistics of the crimes they have assisted in solving are staggering.
After two hours at the museum we went on to Madame Toussards  and could have very easily mistaken many of the figures for real people. It is really somewhat disconcerting how real they are and we decided it was time for Flat Norah to sit with some really distinguished company so we chose Rosa Parks who said " When that bus driver ..... Ordered us up and out of our seats , I felt a determination cover my body like a quilt on a winters night".  December 1st  1955. So began the Montgomery Bus Boycott after her arrest, which catapulted Martin Luther King into the Civil Rights movement. It's also appropriate as we discovered this afternoon that the reason Washington is beginning to look like a barricaded town is that this weekend marks the 50th anniversary of the " I have a dream" speech. It will be a huge weekend here.
Ian had his photo taken with a display to commemorate September 11 firefighters which we will see much more of when we visit New York in a couple of days. 
After lunch we took a river cruise and saw Washington from a different perspective which was lovely. Cooler too as it has been warm here again today.
One more full day tomorrow with a trip to Arlington and the Holocaust Museum which we are expecting to be really worthwhile.