Washington DC

We've had three full days in Washington DC.

Day One

We didn't do much. Mike has not been well since we left Toronto, and both Peter and I have caught whatever Mike has. So today, Mike and I booked in to see a doctor. Several hundred dollars later, we've confirmed Mike has Bronchitis and Conjunctivitis, and I'm on the way to the same! Anyhow we now have then necessary antibiotics. Thank goodness for travel insurance. We did drive into DC at night, and we posted that video separately.

Day Two

We awoke feeling better after a good nights sleep. We set out for a long day looking around DC on foot. We caught the train into the city. The weather here is hot and by 9am it was already around 20 degrees.

Our first stop was the Lincoln Memorial. This really is the largest and most impressive of all monuments in DC, and provides a commanding view across the National Mall to the Washington Memorial and beyond. It was very busy inside, everyone admiring the giant Abraham Lincoln inside.

Next we went to the Vietnam War Memorial. A huge wall in the shape of a chevron (although some argue like a giant open wound that hasn't healed), it is covered in names end to end. Very sad to see them all, oh so many.

We then headed back to the Reflecting Pool for photos.

I decided to take my time walking up the side of the Reflecting Pool. Mike and Peter wandered over to see the Korean War Memorial. They had a dress rehearsal for some upcoming event so many servicemen from various armed forces in full uniform practicing their drill..

Next we continued along the Mall to firstly see the World War II Memorial, which is a giant water feature that commemorates both the Pacific and Atlantic theatres.

Finally we made it to the Washington Monument! Apparently you can go up to the top, but to do so would have required queuing for tickets at 6:30am. I can tell you now, that's not going to happen, so we'll enjoy the view at the bottom.

Next we turned left and set off on the long walk up The White House. This took us to the "back lawn" which is a well known view but actually set well back from the building itself. Huge crowds of tourists gather here to get their photo.

By now, it was well into lunch time, and we were tired, but we had to walk some distance to get into the city where lunch would be available. We found a really neat place call Pot Belly where we got local made subs. While eating lunch, I read that there is another park, allowing a closer view of the front of the White House. We had passed there on the way to lunch, and doubled back.

Once we got there, we noticed that the pedestrian access had been closed off.  Luckily for us we took our time deciding what we would do next, as it soon became apparent the close down to the park was Secret Service, and extended into a full lock down of the streets and pedestrian access around Pennsylvania Ave.

This was all due to a motorcade exiting The White House, it is just as well the President or the First Lady don't need to go down to the corner store very often with this type of security in place.  We were informed by a local that it wasn't the President as there was no ambulance in the motorcade.

Shortly afterwards, the Secret Service opened up again, and we were able to enter the park, and get our close encounter with The White House. Mike chatted with a Secret Service person and I reckon I could join them too!!!!

After this, we walked miles to get to the Smithsonian Museum of American History but honestly, by the time we got there, we were too tired to carry on. So we ambled up to the next Metro station, and found our way back to the hotel, where everyone enjoyed a siesta.

Helen's iWatchGadgetyThing told us we had walked 15km that day in 24 degree heat. Phew!

Day Three

We had a lazy start, and still trying to get over our colds. We caught the Metro back to the Smithsonian Museum of Amercian History to pick up where we left off yesterday. A good move, we got there minutes before opening, and spent a good couple of hours before the place was overrun with school kids and we had seen enough. We caught the Metro home again, and had a small rest while doing laundry.

We took a small drive to the US Marines Memorial, a famous statue based on the photo taken in Iwo Jima during WWII. It's impressive in size, very tall and also on a hill providing a view across to Washington DC.

Next we drove to the US Air Force Memorial. This is very minimalist but extremely large and tall and also overlooks the Pentagon from its hilltop location. There was some very senior Air Force person retiring and they went through a number of speeches and formalities including giving the wife a trophy (for being a good wife and putting up the job) and all the kids for trophies (no doubt for never seeing Dad). Plenty of flag waving going on.

We finished the day with more snoozing, and then headed out to a large mall at Pentagon City for shopping and dinner.

Tomorrow we drive to Philadelphia.