After a very long drive from North Carolina, we finally made it to DC. It was such a bad day hearing that my brother died, and it didn't help we arrived at the RV park very late, which meant a dark set up.
Before I flew home for the funeral, we had one day to take a hop on, hop off tour of DC. It was nice that the RV park had a dog walker which allowed us to stay the whole day in the city. We took a bus and subway to the heart of the city which was easy.
There was so much to see in DC that we wanted to take the tour to know what to come back to after I got home from Calgary. We only got off to visit Madam Tussaud museum. (It came free with our tour tickets.)
The whole museum was dedicated of course to the US presidents, but they had some great statues of actors. After lunch, we tried to get back on the tour bus, but we kept getting the wrong directions where it was going to stop. It didn't help that DC was in lock down, due to a major power outage, which made traffic backed up for blocks. We did manage to finish the tour, but the narration on our headsets was way off of what we were driving by.
The next day Pat dropped me off at the Baltimore airport where I flew home to Calgary. It was weird going back to Canada without Pat. The landscape was so different then Washington. Everything was so brown. After renting a car, I made my way to my mom's. My older brother Ray flew in the next day and we took a trip with mom and Denise to visit my dad's gravesite, have lunch and a nice visit to Turner Valley to see my brother Jim and his wife Judy.
The funeral was the next day and was well attended. It was family only for the internment. There were many tributes about Chris that day. I will miss my younger brother. We shared birthdays when we were younger - mine Christmas eve, his Christmas day. He was a good man.
It was a short visit and I was back to DC before I knew it.
Pat arranged for the dogs to go to a dog sitter for a few days so we could tour DC without a worry. The dog sitter wanted us to have a meet and great before he took them. This guy lived way out in Arlington, which was quite a drive from the RV. He approved of the girls, so a few days later we dropped them off.
Here are the sights we took in while in DC.
1) The National Cathedral
This cathedral took 83 years to complete and was just finished in 1990. It is a beautiful church with so many little chapels. It is also the place where Helen Keller is buried.
2) Arlington Cemetery
3) The National Monument
A very well known attraction that is visible in so many directions in the city. (highest stone structure in the world) We never actually walked right up to it, because we drove by it a dozen times. We were told that you could take an elevator to the top, but you have to reserve tickets weeks in advance and there are only tiny windows on top. What is weird too is that there are two shades of stone on the monument. They ran out of money after they started it.
4) DC cupcakes
While not a major tourist attraction, we had seen this show on TLC many times and just had to try the cupcakes. They were awesome!!!
5) Lincoln Memorial
To see this was always on our bucket list. It was just so hard to find a parking spot close to it without having to walk so far. We scored a great spot about a block away, which saved our feet. Such a great memorial....so majestic!!!
6) Vietnam Memorial
Very close to the Lincoln Memorial is the Vietnam Memorial. Having grown up during this war, we were sensitive to all those who died in this awful war. It is a very sombre place paying tribute to those that died in service. Many have pleased flowers etc in front of the section of the deceased they are related to or knew.
7) Jefferson Memorial
This was our last stop of sights to see while were in the car. Again we lucked out in finding a great parking place. Another beautiful memorial for this founding father of the USA and writer of the Declaration of Independence.
8) The White House
The White House is really difficult to get close enough to take pictures. It is well protected and they randomly block off the road that goes in front of it without notice. We lucked out after the tour of the White House visitor centre, that they just reopened the street.
9) Smithsonian - American History Museum
This was our first visit to a Smithsonian museum. We just loved that all the Smithsonian Museums (there are 9 sites) are all free. Even though we had to put up with a thousand school kids it was well worth it. Each museum was well worth the crowds. Loved the first one, where we got to see so much Americana...including the above which was the original chairs from "All in the Family."
10) Smithsonian - Natural History
We loved this place. Kept thinking of Night at the Museum movies and that all these animals would come alive!!!
11) Holocaust Memorial Museum
I wasn't aware of this museum before arriving in DC. It was well worth the visit. It is a self guided museum. It is beautifully done and it makes you really feel so humble of what happened in World War 2.
12) Smithsonian - Air and Space
This is one museum that I have always dreamed of seeing. It really delivered. I just love anything to do with flying and space ( I am aTrekkie after all). On top of all the amazing exhibits was the Imax movie about Airplanes. It got Pat and I thinking of what our world would be like without the invention of th airplane.
13) Boat tour of DC
We got a good Groupon deal on a boat tour. It was really short, and didn't get to see much except the city views. I loved seeing where they store all the helicopters that fly directly on the White House Lawn.
14) Smithsonian - National Zoo
I usually find a zoo not all that exciting. I really enjoyed this one. Didn't like all the walking we had to do, but it is well done.
15) Washington DC Temple
Our RV park was so close to this temple. I loved that you could see the temple from the freeway.
16) Mount Vernon - George Washington Estate and Tomb
This was well worth the drive. George Washington's home is still the same as it was when he lived there. They even still have the bed he died in ( he basically chocked to death with some desease)
17) Gettysburg
This was bit of a drive from DC, but it was well worth it. We didn't have enough time to watch the show in the visitor centre, but we did spend some time visiting the scenes of Civil War battles. They have set it up with a great route, that gives you great history of the area.
18) National Archives.
Not sure why we don't have any pictures... but in this site, we got to see the original Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights (maybe we couldn't take pictures????)
19) Bureau of Engraving
One of the last sites in DC was the place where they make all the money (well at least one of two places in the USA..the other site is in Texas). The tour allows you to actually watch the making the bills in real time....we got to see how they make the 20 and the 5. Of course no freebies...lol
We really loved our time in DC. We were actually here for three weeks, but the time went by so fast. The RV park was so clean and accessible which made it so much easier. We never did make it to any Art Galleries, and i'm sure there are many other sights for another visit.
SHE SAID:
My previous experience in Washington DC was when I was a child, driving to Florida to visit my Grandparents. It was raining - the water was hitting the bottom of the car - my father went the wrong way down a one way street and was stopped by a police man. I recall looking up at the Washington Monument and trying to be very, very quiet. This trip was very different and I am happy that we spent a total of three weeks here. We changed plans due to Chris passing away, and my wanting to be in civilization while alone with the dogs.
Washington DC is a beautiful city! We were there when the Cherry Blossoms were in full bloom and it was BEAUTIFUL! There were also Magnolias - so much pink, everywhere you looked. There is also a very easy to manage public transit system and there is a lot to do there that is free. I wish that I'd known when our kids were younger as it's very family friendly. When John was gone I stayed pretty close to the campsite area but did venture out for a few hours each day. I loved the architecture and history that is everywhere we went - many brick homes and lots of history!
John covered everything we saw and did, so I won't get into too much more detail. The people we met as we wandered the city were wonderful! I think every time we got the confused tourist look on our faces someone asked if they could help us out. One of our more fruitless mornings was spent looking for the National Aquarium. It was on the maps, it was on street signs pointing the way. We took the subway, then started to walk to it - seemed simple enough. We walked and walked, and walked some more around and past where all indications showed where the Aquarium should have been. After about an hour, with a heated discussion between us we decided that perhaps asking someone would be in order. We were by the White House Welcome Centre, so went in - the security guard told us the Aquarium had been moved to Baltimore. Really???? She told us - "Oh, the maps and signs haven't been updated yet." I guess Nemo was not to be found by us. Moving on...
We discovered some odd places to eat while wandering, one of which was at the Department of Agriculture - another longer than necessary walk as we went right, instead of left, but this working government building has a huge cafeteria that is open to the public, after showing ID and signing in. It was cheaper that the restaurants and there was a lot of choices as to what to have, with stations for many different choices of ethnic foods and a huge salad bar. Not fancy but food was good - lots of WW2 posters set up around the room. Who knew?
The Holocaust Museum stuck a deep chord within me - it is a reminder of what man can do to man. How far things can go when people get wrapped up into a magnetic personality and no one steps up to say enough. It was an emotionally exhausting place to visit.
Even after three weeks, there was much that we didn't see but I do think that we did do and learned a lot!
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| So happy that we were in DC at Cherry Blossom Time!! |
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