We arrived in DC about 4pm EST and after finding our hotel and dumping our luggage we headed out to explore our Nation's capitol. We took the Metro downtown and started walking. We had gotten some poor instructions and overwalked a little bit but ended up seeing the Watergate apartment complex and the Kennedy Center.
The flags in the Kennedy Center.
The view of the Potomac from the Kennedy Center.
We moved onto the Lincoln Memorial, walked past the reflecting pool, saw the Washington Monument, the World War II memorial, and the Navy Memorial before finding a restaurant that looked good, the Austin Grill. Then we took the Metro back to the hotel and collapsed.
The World War II memorial.
The Jefferson Memorial from a distance. We were too tired to walk over there that night.
The Navy memorial. With some of my more favorite plaques.
For my dad.
For my mom and Jason's mom.
For my dad, Jason's dad, my dad's dad.
Thursday morning Jason was in class from 8 to noon and we had a lunch date with a former co-worker of Jason's. I opted to visit Arlington Cemetery that morning and returned just in time for lunch.
The entrance.
Tomb of the unknown soldier.
The beginning of the changing of the guard.
View of the Pentagon from Arlington.
Looking towards the Lincoln Memorial. The day was foggy but nice weather in that it wasn't cold at all.
The Lee mansion. The Lee's home was here in Arlington and they lost it to union troops during the civil war. Robert E. Lee married Mary Anna Custis Lee who was the only surviving child of George Washington Parke Custis, George Washington's step-grandson and adopted son.
It is undergoing renovation so I got to see pictures of how it is supposed to look. I only took a picture of this particular display because I enjoyed the direct quote, it reminded me of my home. =)
The Kennedy grave site.
I took a nap when Jason went to class for the afternoon session.(I had started to get sick on Tuesday afternoon and really needed some sleep.) After class on Thursday Jason and I took in the National Zoo, it was a three block walk from our hotel. They have pandas at that zoo but they were sleeping when we got there so they were kind of boring to look at. Pretty, but boring. Then we took the Metro back downtown and found a place for dinner called Fuel, it was a pizza place. And then, we walked! We found the White House.
The PANDAS, sleeping!
The other one fell asleep in a doorway and you couldn't see him clearly from either side, but he was there, asleep.
The White House.
Friday morning Jason was in class again so I went to the National Cathedral. I got a "Behind-the-scenes tour" and thoroughly enjoyed learning more about this beautiful building. We met for lunch and after Jason went to class for the afternoon I took another nap.
The National Cathedral.
The ceiling has steel netting across it because of the Aug, 2011 earthquake. The safety of people visiting is important and some stuff is still quite loose so it's there to catch anything that could fall.
Repairs are needed due to the earthquake. Sights from the towers, the Lincoln Memorial is in the background.
Bottles of wine the masons used to toast another year of completion with. (Not sure how they weren't damaged in the earthquake.)
I got to go up where the flags hang from and get some better pictures of the stained glass windows. Each tells a story from the Bible. They are truly magnificent pieces of artwork.
After class Jason and I left the hotel at 3:30 and returned downtown and walked a lot, again. We saw the Holocaust museum, the Jefferson Memorial, the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial, the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial, the Korean Memorial, and the Vietnam memorial. We found a wonderful Italian restaurant just next to our hotel and had a great dinner.
I actually let Jason hold the camera, watch those control issues!
The FDR Memorial is quite large with cool water features and statues. It is too big to take in one photo, unless you can walk on water. =) So here were a few of my favorites.
Then it was over to the MLK Jr. Memorial. Again, a wall with lots of great quotes but those pictures are kind of boring so we'll go with the man himself.
The Washington Monument, in the daylight!
There were a lot of people visiting the Korean and Vietnam Memorials and I managed to forget to take pictures of either of them and I regret it. After leaving the National Mall we walked around downtown, towards the Metro and managed to walk past the White House on the other side.
Saturday morning Jason had class until noon. As I was feeling better than Thursday and Friday I was planning to spend the morning studying and then the rest of the day sightseeing. However, Hurricane Sandy had other plans. The news was reporting that airlines were waiving their change fees if people had flights scheduled for the 28th-31st. I called Cherisa in Boston and asked her if she thought it would be a good idea to change our flights and she said, "Leave now."
Easier said than done. United's phone line had a wait of 60 minutes for an operator and the online service was no help for this type of thing. If I moved our flights to Thursday the 1st it showed no charge but to move them to the 27th showed a charge ranging from $400-2,200. I wasn't taking a chance like that so I had to wait for a long time to get to talk to a real person. To make things a little more difficult I had lost my voice so working with this woman was challenging because she was very busy and stressed and could barely hear me.
Our original flight was supposed to leave Reagan International Sunday the 28th at 5:45 pm. But we wanted to leave Saturday night. The only flight out from either Dulles or Reagan only had one extra seat - no go. Sunday morning there was flight with two seats available but it was from Dulles, nothing was available from Reagan. This change in airport necessitated a change in hotels. So then I needed to cancel our last night in the hotel we were staying at and book one for 30 miles away in VA. Check out is noon and that's when I finished up the details of our new travel itinerary.
I explained our situation to the front desk, "checked out", and went upstairs to pack. Jason got done with class just as I got upstairs. We packed up all our stuff and then left it downstairs with the concierge. We left for downtown to have lunch at 5 Guys Burgers and Fries, whose potatoes were from Royal City, WA, and then visit the Air and Space Smithsonian and the National Art museum. We also walked by the Capitol but didn't go up to it. At 4:15 we started our return to the original hotel to get our luggage. After taking the Metro there and then getting back on it with our luggage to ride it to the end of one of its rails we then boarded a bus to the airport, a half hour ride. At Dulles we called the hotel for a shuttle to the hotel. We checked in at 7:30 and we were exhausted! We had dinner in the hotel's restaurant and went to bed by 9.
The old US Post Office Tower.
A pretty building, I have no idea what it is for.
The US Capitol.
The air and space Smithsonian.
More control issues being addressed.
We got up at 6, got to the airport at 7 and our flight left at 9:45am. One of the flight attendants mentioned how lucky we were to be on the flight because it was one of the last ones out of Dulles before they shut the airport down. The weather was still calm and overcast when we left but they were taking no chances. When we got to LA, it was a direct flight, we checked on our original 5:45pm out of Reagan and it had been cancelled. We felt so grateful to be back on the west coast!
One short flight to Reno and we arrived home at 3pm. The whole family was there to pick us up and we went home to celebrate Jason's birthday.
A view of Yosemite National Forest during our flight home.
Lake Tahoe.
1 comment:
Always an adventure! I love touring DC but agree with you, most of touring is walking and walking some more. While awful to be sick on vacation the ability to nap with no worries had to be good for the body and soul.
I vote Kurt and Jason find something to attend together and we should tag along. :)
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