A day trip to Washington DC

A Day Trip to Washington DC

We had wanted to sail Puffin up to Washington DC. We'd arranged that Robyn would fly out in September to meet us, then spend a couple of weeks exploring the city and the neighbouring waters. Anyway, for various reasons, it didn’t happen, the main one being the decision to haul the boat out of the water and return to the UK for a few months. There was still a reason to make the trip, though, and that was to visit cousins Angela and Will. It was only a three-hour drive from Gloucester County to their house in Fairfax, Virginia… so we rented a car and headed north.

Angela had furnished us with precise instructions on how to find their house, and we arrived with the minimum of hassle. We met the rest of the family: Angela’s Mother, Linde and the children, Christy and Jonathan. Jonathan and I went to collect Will from the Metro, and we spent the rest of the evening swapping family news and generally enjoying ourselves.

The next morning, Will was to address a rally promoting awareness of Childhood Cancer. This disease is diagnosed in nearly fifty children every single day in the US. The gathering was to be held on the lawn outside the Capitol, the USA’s ‘Houses of Parliament’, so we decided to begin our tour of the city by supporting the rally.

It was a perfect morning for it – bright and sunny, a light breeze, and we had a very enjoyable trip into the centre of Washington on the Metro. The stations are spacious and clean, with hardly any advertisements to clutter up the place - rather surprising, given that America virtually runs on advertising. (Memo to those running the London Underground – go to Washington and see how it’s done properly.)

We got off at the Capitol South stop and made our way to the huge, white dome under which much of the fate of the free world is decided. Allegedly.

The Childhood Cancer Awareness rally, in front of the Capitol. Washington DC, Sept 2000

Will and Louise. Washington DC, Sept 2000

Outside on the lawn, people gathered, TV cameras warmed up and the event was officially opened by Congresswoman Deborah Pryce, the representative from Ohio. Also speaking was a Senator (whose name escapes), cousin Will and several other people whose families had been directly affected by this disease. All in all, it was a very moving occasion and it got the awareness campaign off to a good start.

The Capitol is a very impressive building, even from a distance, and close up it’s – well, even more impressive. George Washington laid the cornerstone in 1793, and seven years later Congress moved in. The British smashed it up in the 1814 invasion, but it was rebuilt within five years. The Senate moved in in 1857, and the dome was added in 1863. We couldn't get into the Capitol because the President of India was visiting, along with the Joint Chiefs of something-or-the-other and some 'celebrities'. That's what the guard told us, anyway. This explained why there were Indian flags flying from every lamppost!

On the other side of the Capitol is the National Mall, a long stretch of grass, pools, statues and monuments, flanked by museums, galleries and government buildings all the way to the Potomac River. This is where Martin Luther King delivered his 'I have a Dream' speech. We spent the day walking the length and breadth of this, rubbernecking like the seasoned travellers we are and trying to avoid the frisbee-tossing joggers.

Rob facing the Capitol, the Mall stretching down to the Potomac. That needle in the centre is the Washington Monument. Washington DC, Sept 2000

Much of what we saw was familiar, either because we’d seen it in movies (look! That’s where so-and-so was stabbed with the poisoned ballpoint in ‘Revenge of the Scriptwriters’) or read about it in books (‘There was a dry-cleaners in Constitution Ave who promised to get the stain out…’). There’s a question in Trivial Pursuit – ‘Who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC?’

Well, we went there, and found a big white house. The White House, in fact, which would explain why everyone and their Auntie was having their photograph taken in front of it. Nice place.

We strolled through the Sculpture Garden, and had lunch in the cafeteria in the Art Gallery. We walked by the 555-foot Washington Monument, a huge 'Cleopatra’s needle'-type obelisk, mirrored in the Reflecting Pool. Brave people can climb up the inside of this and get a good view of the city from the top.

The Lincoln Memorial (from the back). Inside, the great man in his chair, looking down the Mall at the Capitol.

The Capitol, mirrored in the Reflecting Pool.

		The Vietnam Veterans' memorial, the most understated and dignified memorial we have ever seen, bearing the names of those killed in that war. There are books located on the site where people can look up the names of relatives and find them on the memorial. Many visitors take rubbings of the names they have come to see.
The ghostly images of the Korean war memorial.

General Jackson's horse panicked at the sight of the giant grasshopper.

These guys are keeping watch over the Vietnam Veterans' memorial.


	Our favourite memorial was Einstein’s , a big, cuddly bronze effigy of the man, sitting on a dais embedded with silver studs representing the stars in the sky.

We saw barely a tenth of what what Washington has to offer, so we made a resolution to come back in Puffin and stay long enough to do the place justice. And next time, we'll bring proper walking boots.

Rob

September 2000