Honeymoon

Pictures are online! See below.

Where did we go?

We took a train!

The day after the wedding, we got up bright and early and caught the 7:52 AM train from Great America, which connected with the California Zephyr in Emeryville. We arrived in Chicago two days later. Here is the route (click on the picture to go to Amtrak's California Zephyr page)...

You can also see the detailed California Zephyr timetable here (You will need the Adobe Acrobat viewer, available here for Windows or here for Mac).

We spent one night in Chicago, then got on the Capitol Limited, and a day later arrived in Washington, DC. Here is the route (click on the picture to go to Amtrak's Capitol Limited page)...

You can also see the detailed Capitol Limited timetable here (You will need the Adobe Acrobat viewer, available here for Windows or here for Mac).

We spent 7 days and 8 nights in Washington, and then flew back, arriving home on the 18th of September.

The Pictures

Click on the little images to see the full-sized images.

Many of these pictures are composites-- one large image made from several images stitched together. This allows me to do 360-degree panoramas. In addition, Several of these files are QuickTime movies. These are 360-degree panoramas that have had both ends stitched together. You will need Apple QuickTime, available for free here. The QuickTime download, Quicktime movies, and the flat panoramas can be rather large, but I think you'll agree they're worth it.

Day One: September 6, 1999

1. The newlyweds on the Caltrain platform at Great America

2. Here comes the train!

3. The real train (the California Zephyr) arrives at Emeryville.

4. My bride in our cabin. It's small, but livable.

5. Reno, NV

6. Reno, NV

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Day Two: September 7, 1999

1. Grand Junction, CO.

2. Glenwood Springs, CO.

3. The observation lounge.

4. The dining car.

5. Our train passing through the Colorado desert.

6. The corridor outside our cabin.

7, 8, 9, & 10. The Colorado River in the Rockies.

11. An alpine meadow.

12. Approaching the summit in the Rockies.

13. A schoolhouse built in the 1920's for the children of the workers who built the Moffatt Tunnel. It was never used because it could not be kept warm enough in the winter. Elevation about 9500 feet.

14. Denver in the distance.

15. Approaching Denver.

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Day Three: September 8, 1999

1. Creston, IA

2 & 3. Iowa cornfields.

4 & 5. The Mississippi River: Crossing from Iowa to Illinois.

6. Galesburg, IL.

7. Chicago: The view from our hotel.

Day Four: September 9, 1999

1. 360-degree panorama of the Chicago Museum of Science & Industry. Click here for the interactive QuickTime version of this file.

2. Museum of Science & Industry. A spectacular museum. Don't miss it if you're in Chicago.

3. Claire's Space Husband.

4. The Vintage Car of the Future.

5. Fighter planes in the main hall.

6. Lake Michigan.

7. Sears Tower.

8. Model of Chicago.

9-13. Views from Sears Tower.

14 & 15. Union Station, Chicago.

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Day Five: September 10, 1999

1. Pittsburgh, PA

2 & 3. Allegheny River.

4. Maryland countryside.

5. Cumberland, MD.

6. Harper's Ferry, WV

7. Union Station, Washington, DC.

8. John Welch, who we met on the train.

9. View of Georgetown from our hotel. Our room was two floors directly below.

Day Six: September 11, 1999

1. Washington Monument. It is currently undergoing restoration, due to be completed next year.

2. The Black Family reunion: a festival on the grass next to the Washington Monument. Great food.

3. US Postal Service.

4. The National Archives, home of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Day Seven: September 12, 1999

1. American History Museum: Washington as Zeus. Somewhat ridiculous, but in fashion for the 1850's.

2. The Capitol. I have never been to Washington without seeing scaffolding somewhere on the Capitol.

3. The Supreme Court

4. Union Station

5 & 6. M Street, Georgetown. In the left foreground, Pennsylvania Ave. begins here.

7. The Mall. Click here to see this file in interactive QuickTime format.

Day Eight: September 13, 1999

1 & 2. Two panoramas inside the Library of Congress, Jefferson Building. They are of the Main Hall, one looking straight out and the other looking up. I had intended to stitch the two together but it didn't turn out well, and I left them separate.

3. Library of Congress, Madison Building.

4. Library of Congress Main Reading Room

5. Library of Congress, Jefferson Building.

6. Library of Congress, Asian Reading Room

7. Capitol from upper level of LOC

8. Claire on the steps of LOC

9. Supreme Court

10. Supreme Court chamber

11. Panorama of interior of Supreme Court. Click here For an interactive QuickTime version of this file.

12. Main hallway of Supreme Court

13. One of two unique spiral stairways in the Supreme Court, looking up.

14. Jeff in front of LOC fountain

15. Jeff in front of the Capitol

16 & 17. Washington Monument. It is undergoing an intensive restoration program that will be finished in 2000.

18-23. Lincoln Memorial

24 & 25. View from portico of Lincoln Memorial

26. Arlington Memorial Bridge.

27. Claire at the Lincoln Memorial

28 & 29. Jeff at the Lincoln Memorial

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Day Nine: September 14, 1999

My Birthday!

1 & 2. Claire and Jeff at the Bureau of Engraving & Printing.

3 & 4. Bureau of Engraving & Printing. This is where paper currency and postage stamps are printed. I saw my entire lifetime salary go by in a few minutes.

5. The Old Post Office. This is a two-image panorama that didn't turn out quite as well as I would have liked, but you get the idea.

6-10. View from the bell tower of the Old Post Office. Built in 1898, it was too small for the Postal Service after only 15 years and now houses shops and offices. Its tower is the second highest building in Washington, after the Washington Monument.

11. The bells in the Post Office tower.

12. Looking up through the skylight of the Old Post Office.

13. Old Executive Office Building. Home to the State, War (now Defense), and Navy Departments before the Pentagon was built. Now houses White House staff.

14. Corcoran Gallery of Art.

15-17. White House.

18. One of the many daring squirrels with which Washington is infested.

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Day Ten: September 15, 1999

1 & 2. Two of many beautiful corridors in the Capitol.

3. This chandelier was salvaged from a rummage sale.

4. The Old Supreme Court Chamber. This was the home of the Supreme Court until the current building was completed in the 1930's.

5. A large painting in the Capitol.

6 & 7. Senate Reception Room.

8. Interior of Capitol dome. The white donut-shaped object is a tarp to shield against falling objects during the dome's restoration.

9. The Capitol

10. The Old House Chamber, now Statuary Hall. This is a 360-degree panorama. Click here to see this file in interactive QuickTime format.

11. The Old Senate Chamber.

12. The Capitol Rotunda. This is a 360-degree panorama. Click here to see this file in interactive QuickTime format.

13. Air & Space Museum: John Glenn's Friendship 7 capsule.

14. The 1903 Wright Flyer

15. The Apollo 11 Command Module

16. Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis.

17. I forgot what this plane is.

18. This plane belonged to Amelia Earhart. She was a relative of mine.

19. Wright Flyer with Apollo 11.

20. Wright Flyer

21. Apollo 11 Command Module hatch

22. Models of Skylab and Hubble Space Telescope with Chuck Yeager's Bell X-1 (first plane to break the sound barrier).

23. Apollo Lunar Module

24-26. From the WWII exhibit.

27. The Smithsonian "Castle." This was the original Smithsonian building, built in the 1840's. It now houses administrative offices.

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Day Eleven: September 16, 1999

This was the day Hurricane Floyd blew though town! All we did today was go to the White House and to eat. No pictures are allowed in the White House, so there's not much to show. I did take this one picture of the soggy city from the steps of the Old Post Office building. The view is west down Pennsylvania Ave.

By the time we got back to the hotel, we were completely soaked. It took two days for our clothes to dry.

Day Twelve: September 17, 1999

1. John f. Kennedy's gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery.

2. 360-degree panorama from the terrace just below the Kennedy gravesite. The gravesite itself is just up the stairs. Click here to view this file in interactive QuickTime format.

3. Arlington Cemetery

4. Tomb of the Unknowns

5-15. We had the honor of witnessing the rededication of the Vietnam unknown crypt. As many of you may know, last year they actually identified the remains that had rested in the Vietnam crypt since 1984. It was decided not to inter another set of remains in that crypt. Instead, they cut an inscription on the marble slab over the empty crypt. We saw the ceremony dedicating that inscription. VIP guests were the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Hugh Shelton, Secretary of Defense William Cohen (who got a 19-gun salute), and Sen. Max Cleland, who lost both legs and his right arm in Vietnam. Also present were the US Marine Band, a full color guard, and troops from all five services: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard. It was followed by two flyovers of military aircraft in missing-man formation. It was quite something to see.

5-7. The color guard and troops take their places.

8. In front of the color guard are (l-r): Gen. Shelton, a Lt. General (I forget his name), Sec. Cohen, and Sen. Cleland.

9. Gen. Shelton gives his remarks

10 & 11. Sec. Cohen speaks

12. Sen. Cleland gives his address

13. The Marine Band

14 & 15. The flyovers

16. Gravestones at Arlington

17. Pierre L'Enfant's tomb. He was the architect who designed the city of Washington.

18-20. View from Arlington House. This house was the residence of Gen. Robert E. Lee, who later became commander of Confederate forces in the Civil War. His wife was a descendant of George Washington.

21-26. Arlington House

27. Claire

28. The Capitol

29. Museum of Natural History

30. The Smithsonian Castle. This is another two-level panorama that did not quite turn out.

31. Another 360-degree panorama. This one had serious problems. I was doing some experimenting and tried a panorama with the camera lens fully zoomed in. I ended up missing a few spots and the images themselves are somewhat distorted. It's also a very large image due to the fact that it required 20 separate images instead of the usual 10-12 for a normal 360-degree panorama, so be warned: it may take a long time to download. I also didn't bother to crop it.