Saturday, October 5, 2013

Washington DC, Part 1

31 August 2013

Sometimes we rely just too much on our GPS to lead us into new locales. On our drive into Washington, DC, after dark, it chose to bring us right through the heart of DC. Disadvantage: a maze of streets and tons of traffic encountered at night while towing the camper. Advantage: Seeing the Jefferson Memorial lighted at night.

Recommended campground which worked great for us: Cherry Hill Campground in College Park, Maryland. Well run, very nice facilities, computers available for your use when Great Husband’s laptop goes kaput, friendly staff, late check-in by staff in a kiosk. Can’t say enough good things about this place, especially considering it is in the city. From Cherry Hill, we drove a very short distance to the College Park Metro Stop, parked the car for free (on weekends and Labor Day) and rode the Metro into National Mall area. We were able to buy our basic Metro Passes at Cherry Hill and then add value onto them at the Metro Station, using credit cards. Cost was about $64 a night for 4 adults, including AAA discount.

As for the Metro, we had been told in advance how nice it was, but we thought it was well-worn and the stations could never have been considered attractive. Signage is not adequate, and on weekends they were doing various repairs that meant certain stations were closed down. All this was a little difficult to figure out. Free shuttle buses were provided to fill in the gaps in service, which was nice. Even with four sets of ears, we typically couldn’t understand a word of the announcements that were made on the Metro cars. If you work for the Metro, even if you’ve made the same announcement a zillion times, you need to speak clearly for the sake of the rest of us. Otherwise, the Metro is a great system for moving vast crowds of people around the city.

Highlights of DC, Day 1:

  • Ford’s Theater, where Abraham Lincoln was shot, and Peterson House, where he died
  • White House and protestors outside, whom we watched while eating our lunch in Lafayette Park. The protest was against Obama’s planned attack into Syria. We could see the White House well from the north side but they've got us regular citizens blocked from getting anywhere near it on the south side. And of course, Obama is trying to punish the American people during the sequester by closing all tours inside the White House. So petty.
  • Walking tour of the monuments, which I’d guess might have been about ten miles all considered. I wish one of us had been wearing a pedometer. Reviews of the hop-on hop-off trolleys spooked me with stories of overcrowding and long wait times, which is why we chose to walk. I really expected the Mall area to be clean and well-manicured, but it is certainly not. Trash bins were full and overflowing and trash was blowing around liberally. I would like to say our nation had put forward a better image here. The place was teeming with foreigners.
  • World War II Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Korean War Memorial, FDR Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial   Saw the name of a relative on my mom's side on the Vietnam Memorial, which led to an interesting reminiscence by Great Husband about those days when he and the rest of the draft-able young men lived on edge. 
    Lincoln box inside Ford's Theater

    Inside the Petersen house, the bedroom where Lincoln died--
    this is across the street from the Ford Theater.

    The People's House?????

    Protestors on the north side of the White House

    World War II Memorial

    Lincoln Memorial

    Korean War Memorial

    Jefferson Memorial across the Tidal Basin

    Jefferson Memorial

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