Today we spent the day in the District of Columbia (the other Washington). East Coasters call it Washington. We usually have to explain that we’re actually from Washingtion and yes we are crazy enough to drive a Volkswagen from here to there. As everyone knows, the pace of life out here is much faster, especially the drivers. They have warning signs that say, “Be Aware of Aggressive Drivers.” Funny!! We're used to seeing signs that say "Be Aware of deer or bears" not drivers.
Mangu and Niru came along to experience a little bit of the Loaf Love Tour adventure (unfortunately, without the Loaf-he was resting at home). As usual, we packed in as much as we could in a day. DC is about a 3.5 hour drive south from their house (more like 8 hours total if you include traffic). We started at about 6:30 AM and managed to get out of the car by about 10:30.
First stop was the Arlington Memorial Cemetery. After the long car ride, it was nice to walk. The cemetary sits on 640 acres and it is packed of headstones, dating from the early 1900s-modern day. It is a huge burial ground. Soldiers from the many wars and many important people who served the US are buried here and many are still being added. We witnessed a horse drawn carriage bringing in a soldier from the Iraq war to their final resting place. So many people have died for our country and freedom, this place commemorates only a fraction of them. We walked around for about an hour, visiting JFK’s grave, the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and so many others.
Next, we circled around the Mall looking for a parking spot and ended up in a fully packed underground lot below the EPA building (which required ID on entry from everyone). We began our sightseeing with a long distance view across the manicured grounds of the White House to catch a glimpse of the Obama’s current home. Unfortunately, no president sightings, only grounds keepers working around Michelle’s vegetable garden (which was all under plastic at the time) and the occasional secret service guard walking across the roof. As you can imagine, security has increased around here and there are a lot more closed streets and fencing.
Next, we walked through the West portion of the Mall, grabbed mediocre pretzel, and visited the Lincoln Memorial, a very impressive monument. Usually, there is an equally impressive view to the East looking into the reflection pool towards the Washington Monument. However, the pool is currently under construction. The pool is drained and protected by ugly chainlink fencing with flapping black canvas and construction vehicles...not so picturesque at the moment.
We strolled past the Vietnam Memorial Wall, the World War II Memorial, Washington Monument, and then the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. This town is full of awesome museums and all are FREE!! Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time. Jason has always wanted to see the Natural History Museum, being the science nerd that he is, so this is where we decided to spend the rest of our day. It’s a place where you could spend an entire day wandering through, we did it in about 2 hours. We learned about fossils, dinosaurs, gems, mammals, insects, geology, and much more. Everyone was starting to show signs of exhaustion so Jason ran out on the mall to catch a quick glimpse of the Capitol building and the Smithsonian Castle. We needed a few more days to see everything but this satisfied our needs at this time. Thanks again Mangu and Niru (mom and dad) for your tour guiding and company.
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| WA monument with reflection pool under construction |
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| Mangu & Niru keeping up with us |
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