Not much point in worrying about it now, it's going to get trashed in Jan anyways when 3 Million plus people invade.

(I'm secretly hoping for a blizzard)

Yeah, I gotta say ... not just the grass being brown ... but after decades of Disneyland, I was appalled at how poorly the National Mall was maintained (admittedly the one time I was in D.C.). Trash everywhere, rickety fencing all falling apart. It was really lame. And the grass was gross.

neat!

Just a note for all you CA dwellers: grass does not stay green through winter. That is all.

It doesn't in CA, either. The hills around Los Altos are green after the rain, for about 3 days, then brown again! :)

Oh, and I feel a bit like a bitter west coaster, great pics and I'm envious of the visit to the Lincoln Memorial and the Smithsonian

Indeed, the Mall is in need of an upgrade. There are several groups with plans afoot to update/revitalize the Mall.