| Cherry Blossom Time The cherry trees were in full bloom. There's a whole row of them along the Potomoc River near the FDR and Thomas Jefferson Memorial. This area is the one place in the city where there is adequate parking and it is easily accessible. |
| CAPITOL CITY USA |
| Busted in DC |
| After a detour into the South Carolina upcountry, Ron and I were finally getting closer to our original destination, Washington DC. As we entered into Richmond, Virginia, one of the first things that caught my eye was the skyline. By this time we had picked up 95 N. As we neared the downtown area there was this amazing red brick building with a clock tower. It was awesome and this picture really does not do it justice. I took this from the car as we were driving by. I'm still trying to find out exactly what this building is. |
| Whatever it was, I knew I wanted to tour it. I saw so many interesting things in the travel guide I wanted to tour. I actually tried to talk Ron into stopping in Richmond first before heading on to DC (which I think I wasn't real gung-ho on the idea of DC to begin with)...but noooo...it was DC or bust and we were bound for the Smithsonian and the Capitol..plus DC was on the itinerary for the night. The Canal Walk or cruise along the James River and Monument Street, the Edgar Allan Poe Museum, Hanover Tavern and James River Cellars Winery would have to wait. My partner's interest lay in the Museum of the Confederacy, which we did tour on the way back, but I will get back to that later. All I managed to see of that beautiful building in Richmond was from the car. Riding into DC and finding the hotel where we were supposed to stay was a trip in itself. The traffic there is deplorable. I do not understand for the life of me why anyone would want to drive in a city like that and I question the sanity of why we did. I know for sure if I ever go back to that city, it will be either by flight or train and transportation inside the city will be on the "M", the underground metro rail, or tour trolley. There's way too much to do and see on foot alone, or from a car window with all that traffic whizzing by. |
The hotel where we were supposed to stay turned out to be scary. There were bars on the clerk's window. My partner was concerned about his car, which would have been in an open parking lot, plus the nearest metro was 3 blocks away. I was not so concerned about having to walk the 3 blocks there, but more concerned about having to walk back to the hotel after a day of touring. He made the decision that we weren't going to stay there. I was more than a little disgruntled about leaving a "sure" room and trying to find another somewhere else, but after reading the reviews of that particular hotel after returning home, I'm very glad we didn't stay there. I know...all of that should have been thoroughly researched before we left...but we weren't sure until the last minute if I was actually going to be able to make the trip after my injury. Nothing like hind sight! Upon leaving the original hotel, we traveled into downtown Washington trying to find our way to Arlington. The sun was going down by this point and as we entered Washington Square(at least I think it was but all I know for sure is it was on New York Avenue), there was a statue that I desperately wanted to photograph. It was beautiful with the sunset in the background. Of course, I didn't get that picture! My partner was slinging maps at me to try and figure out exactly where we were! There were a lot of those moments and views that I totally missed on film! I laughingly told a friend later that although I didn't get to tour much of DC, I sure saw a lot of "drive-bys." Arlington is the place to stay. Shops, hotels, nightlife! Seemingly the streets never close. Knowing your way around though is a definite plus because it's very easy to get lost anywhere in the DC area. We were shooting for the Holiday Inn, which is only 1/2 block from a metro. By the time we had circled around all the one-way streets trying to get back to the entrance, as luck would have it, there were no rooms available. We made so many circles, I was beginning to feel like I was in plane that had to circle the runway before being able to land. We wound up checking into a hotel in Fairfax at about 10:30 that night, where we stayed for the next two nights, except for all the driving and getting lost. Fairfax itself is a nice, not so little, town and has a lot of it's own history. We didn't see much of it because we were so busy trying to get to DC. Such a bust! The first metro leaving out of Fairfax is at 9:30 a.m. but you absolutely have to get there by 8 a.m. in order to find a parking spot...and then, once again, if you haven't scoped it out first it will take you an hour to figure out how to get in the parking lot with all the one-way streets. We encountered that everywhere we went in DC. Drivers are not friendly there either. I heard recently that DC is high on the list of major cities for road rage..like maybe #3. I can believe it. You had better not leave any margin or you will get cut off in a flash. We saw so many accidents. I remember once just tripping over an ambulance trying to get through all that traffic. Now that would have been my prize Pulitzer photo! Either that or the tire that came sailing through the air at us. I had seen smoke coming from a vehicle on the other side of the interstate and I was looking back at that vehicle to see what it was all about and turned around just in time to see this tire headed straight for the windshield. Fortunately it went under the car and bounced off the other side. What an adrenaline rush! DC is filled with awesome things for sure, although I didn't get to see many of them except in passing. What I did get on film, you can view either on this page or check out the photo album. We had so much difficulty trying to get around in that place, it didn't take much for us to make the decision to move on out and perhaps try to schedule another trip for a later time when we had more of it..and didn't have to drive. |
| Check out the link to DC Ducks Tour to the left. That would have been a perfect way to see these little jewels. We happened to be in the city during duck season, which is March through October. |
| Historic Tours of America presents DC Ducks See the city on land & sea all in the same vehicle! Tours depart from Union Station daily from 10 a.m. |
| Or, perhaps the Monuments by Moonlight night tour. See the picture above that I took of the Washington Monument. That would have been awesome under a full moon! |
| Washington Monument |
| DC Here We Come! |
| Smack in the middle of DC rush hour |
 | Smithsonian | |
| Postal Museum | ||
| U.S. Capitol | |
| The Supreme Court | |
| Library of | |
| Congress <one of my favorite research sources> | ||
| Smithsonian Air & | |
| Space Museum | ||
| Museum of the | |
| American Indian | ||
| U.S. Botanical | |
| Gardens | ||
| Jefferson | |
| Memorial | ||
| FDR Memorial | |
| Lincoln Memorial | |
| Complex | ||
| Arlington | |
| Cemetary (honestly the gates look like they're made out of real gold!) | ||
| National Museum | |
| of American History | ||
| National Museum | |
| of Natural History | ||
| National Cathedral | |
| Dupont Circle | |
| The shops at | |
| Georgetown Park | ||
| Capital City | |
| Brewery. You get a free souvenir pint glass with each entree purchase. | ||
| The White House | |
| National Archives | |
| Kalorama/Adams | |
| Morgan/National Zoo | ||
| Ford's Theatre | |
| Bartholdi Park | |
| Pennsylvania | |
| Avenue |
| So much to see! So litle time! |
| The U.S. Capitol Probably the closest I will ever get. Notice the compass in the car..it needed a tune-up. |
| Thomas Jefferson Memorial The statue itself is huge, reaching almost to the ceiling. Each wall has a section of the Constitution engraved into the structure. |
| Lunch time at Cosi's |
| Ron trying to sneak in a nap after lunch. He was one tired puppy. Speaking of puppies, shortly after I snapped this the batteries in my camera conked out too, otherwise I would have gotten a picture of the lady with her huge rottweiler who sat down at the table behind Ron. Cosi's is a deli on Pennsylvania Avenue that offers dining Al Fresco. Apparently it is quite "vogue" to walk your dog on this street, as we saw several during our siesta time! |
| U.S. Botanical Garden Bartholdi Park |
| The tulips were in full bloom. The springtime is a lovely time to visit. |
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