Washington DC
After a short hop from Durham we arrived in DC early afternoon on the 2nd of July. We had booked a room at the Georgetown Melrose Hotel. This is a historical hotel and so they add, unexpectedly, a $20.00 historic charge to your daily rate (the USA is full of these 'unexpected' fees which are difficult to identify prior to booking).
Georgetown was a great place to stay. Close to the Foggy Bottom metro station.
Foggy Bottom draws its evocative name from the mist rolling off the Potomac River at its southern boundary—and perhaps also from the industrial smog that once hung over its streets.
Georgetown, of course, is full of statues of George Washington and the hotel is just down from Washington Circle on Pennsylvania Avenue (which leads to the White House).
After off-loading from our Uber (we had dropped off our Budget rental earlier) we walked down the road to find somewhere to eat. We found a small Italian where Karen had the cannelloni and I the spaghetti & meatballs. Both good.
Wednesday was Smithsonian day. We took a metro, got lost at exit, found the way and headed, through the heat, into the massive National Museum of Natural History.
We had underestimated the DC summer visitor crowds as well as the DC summer heat (during our DC stay the daytime temperature never went below 32ºC! And the humidity was not to be taken lightly).
In spite of the crowds the museum was fun. Full of families from literally everywhere. Our favourites were the insects, the butterfly walk, and the mineral exhibition. The last was the most popular as it also includes the jaw dropping Harry Winston jewelry collection which includes the baleful Hope Diamond.
At a mere 45.52 carats, Karen with many others couldn't take her eyes off the Hope Diamond.
Within the insect exhibition space is the Butterfly Pavilion where one can walk amongst real butterflies. This is really spectacular (unless, like one little girl, you get freaked out when they land on your leg).
We then headed out to lunch at a Korean fast-food joint called "Rice Bar". They only do two things: bibimbap or noodles. But within that are many variants of sauces (spicy or not), toppings and protein choices. It's a pretty smart model: fill in a card with your preferences and they just load your bowl with your choices. We both went for the bibimbap which was fast and delicious!
Then off to the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculptor garden. This was fantastic. And especially the Laurie Anderson room/hall.
By this time the heat had really got to us. So it was ice-cream time. There are many many (perhaps even "scores") of these trucks parked near every tourist site. They seem to be run by mid-eastern men who are sharp enough to get away with charging $10.00 a cone. I finished mine. Karen wasn't able to eat (lick) quickly enough before her cone was all over her hands, the napkin and, necessarily, in the bin.
Geographically DC is totally confusing. You have Maryland on the northwest, northeast, and southeast and bordered by the state of Virginia, across the Potomac River, on the west and southwest. So sometimes you're in Virginia (where some major monuments are located including the Arlington Cemetery) and then you're turned around and looking at Maryland skyscrapers (probably occupied by lawyers, lobbyists and accountants).
On July 4th we took a ferry down to Alexandria. It's about an hour on the water but a great way to see all the monument and memorial stuff along both banks of the Potomac River. It's a historic city and one of its features is the George Washington Masonic National Memorial.
In our experience, to be a Mason is to be a secretive bloke who never admits that he's a Mason. And only recognises another Mason by some finger-signing-jiggery-pokery-handshake action. Free Masonry is seen as a cult and viewed in a similar way to the Illuminati (yes, yes we've been in the USA too long but we still haven't fallen foul of any Q's).
But in the USA the Mason's are open and proudly so. There's nothing hidden. And it seems that, for the most part, being a Mason is pretty helpful in getting ahead (like being a member of the Lions or Rotary clubs).
As we needed to get back to DC for July 4th celebrations, we just had a quick, but good, lunch in the old town of Alexandria and headed back. These ferries are guided tours and we had a guy describing the history of the sites as we passed (useful and interesting). The only problem? His microphone wasn't working properly.
Friday was a tour day and we jumped onto one of those tourist buses which took us around all the major DC sites. They were immensely proud of the fact that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing prints an immeasurable (and unpronounceable) amount of money every year (and there I was thinking that this was a Zimbabwe like strategy and we all know what happened when they did that!).
The focus of a Washington DC visit is definitely a MMM experience (museums, memorials and monuments). While the Lincoln Memorial is very impressive we found the Korean War Memorial particularly so.
The memorial has 19 statues of soldiers next to an extensive wall made of reflective granite (so in effect you are seeing 38 statues which represents the 38th parallel and the 38 months of the war – the USA is full of symbolic numerology). There is also a wall with the the names of American servicemen killed in the war (many many Korean family names are on this list).
What I didn't know was that soldiers from other nations vastly outnumbered soldiers from the USA (UN deaths were 628,833 and US deaths 36,634).
Visiting these memorials (also Arlington National Cemetry with over 400,000 graves) makes one realise how wasteful and tragic war is. The long lists and myriad stones representing the, mostly, young men who died is makes the numbers visible and thus reveals the scale of death.
Karen was very keen to visit the Air & Space Museum. The is so popular that you need to pre-book a time-slot to get in (entrance is free). We couldn't get in on our planned days in DC so extended our visit by a day. This necessitated a move to another hotel and we booked into the really great vibey Hotel HIve.
They take their 'bee hive' mnemonic very very seriously and the bee and hive design elements are taken through in a very thoughtful way throughout the hotel. There is only one problem: their icon brings to mind (our mind anyway) barbed wire (vs. interconnectedness).
Hive has a very cool roof-bar. And their pizzas are definitely in the class of "bloody great".
Before heading to the Air & Space Museum we had time to check out (and in) the East Wing of the National Gallery (this is where the modern art collection is housed).
Boy oh boy. This is fantastic. Name a modern artists and you'll find their work in the gallery. Picasso? Got ya! Pollock? Yes. Monet? Of course. Joan Miró. Gallery 25 sir!
I had never heard of Robert Longo. But wow wow wow. You catch your breath as you walk up into Gallery 501 with his massive drawings on the wall. They are ultra-realist and look like photographs. But are simply huge massive gigantic drawings!
The Air & Space Museum was pretty interesting on a number of fronts. First that flying used to be a glamorous and luxurious way to travel.
Model of a Pan Am "flying boat"
Secondly, how small these rocket capsules were. Literally tiny. Which, logically, limited the astronauts choice to people no taller than 6'.
We checked out of Hive on Monday and headed for Union Station to get onto the Amtrak train to New York. I always worry whether we have the right tickets, how seating works (once we booked a ticket to Edinburgh and sat on the floor next to the toilet door with our luggage for 3 hours because we didn't figure out how to reserve a seat).
One of the big challenges with being in the USA was "where to watch South Africa vs. Ireland rugby". Using a bit of logic I searched for "Irish bars near me" and found Duffy's. Problem solved. And it was great to see a great test match (and win).
Except for the train being delayed by three hours, the journey into Penn Station, New York was pretty unexceptional. We sat in the dining carriage which was comfy. But pretty cold.
We arrived at Penn Station which was perfectly located for our hotel.