SUNDAY - At 146-miles we had a slightly longer than average travel day today and contrary to our main objective which is to head south, we traveled northeasterly the entire distance.
We were pleased to see some muted fall colors along the route, but nothing as spectacular as the bright yellow, orange and reds we were hoping for.
With more than 50-miles still to go we were driving over the northernmost reaches of the Chesapeake Bay and into the capital city of Annapolis, MD. It's most notably famous for being the home of the United States Naval Academy.
Our destination for the day? Greenbelt Park! Which is owned and operated by the National Park Service. That's good news for us, because it means we camp at half price, a mere $10 a night. Even better, it's only 17-miles northeast of The White House near the center of Washington DC.
Our site is plenty big enough to fit ROVER and THE POD. So is the site next to us.
Unfortunately they picked a poor place to set up their tent. Sorry, but we'll be using our propane furnace to keep warm each night and the noisey blower is just 10' from their bed.
MONDAY - We visited Washington DC for 5-days back around Labor Day in 2018. We were just 3-months into this nomadic lifestyle then and were still "figuring things out".
So even though we saw A LOT in those 5-days we didn't see it all. A couple of things we couldn't see because they were closed for renovations, a couple more we just didn't find time to see, and even a couple more we didn't even know about.
Well we're back here now, more informed this time around, and figure in 3-days we can see everything we missed the first time.
It all starts with us exiting THE POD at 6:30AM and driving 4½-miles (the first 2-miles is inside the park) over to the Greenbelt Metro Station where we'll leave ROVER behind and purchase tickets to ride the train into Washington DC.
It's $8.95 for all day parking and $14.25 for us both to ride the train each way to within a ½-mile of sightseeing destinations. Let's add it up, that's a total of $37.45 and I don't have to do much driving. We don't have to fight downtown traffic or find an expensive parking garage tall enough to safely drive our 6'9½" ROVER through. That all sounds like a no brainer to me!
As a bonus we only have to walk a little over 3½-miles today, instead of the nearly 6-miles if we had to walk all the way back to where we parked ROVER. Being able to get off the train on the north side of town near our first sightseeing stop and then getting back onboard the train on the south side of town near our last sightseeing stop saved us a lot of walking today.
With a lot of walking planned for today we fueled up with carbs at Lincoln's Waffle Shop.
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The Waffle Shop was directly across the street from our first destination.
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Why so many exit doors? In Lincoln's time the theater would pack in 1700 patrons.
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Theater presentations today only seat 670. Yes, it is still an operating theater.
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With three different viewing levels everyone had a great view of the stage.
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Above our right shoulders is where you'll find the dignitaries box above the stage.
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While no longer used, it is decorated today as it was for President Lincoln on April 15, 1865.
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John Wilkes Booth's .44-caliber Deringer Pistol is on display in the museum. After being hidden away in storage for 77-years the War Department turned the pistol over to the National Park Service and it has been on public display here since 1942.
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After Ford's Theater we began our long walk towards the Capitol Building.
Here's a teaser photo of tomorrow's sightseeing (as viewed from Capitol Hill).
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They have installed two layers of temporary fencing around the front of the Capitol Building, no doubt to prevent another possible assult on the Capitol after the upcoming election.
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The rear of the Capitol Building along with two huge, but shallow, reflection pools.
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The Capitol Building in the middle, with the House Chambers on the left and the Senate Chambers on the right.
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Inside the Capitol looking up through the glass panels in the center of the pools.
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The shadows of sunlight from the glass panes above on the Visitor Center wall below.
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These pillars support and distribute the weight of the brass Capitol Dome above.
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Down this stairway was off limits to the public.
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This is what the inside of the ornate Capitol Dome looks like.
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In 1865 it took 11-months for Constantino Brumidi to paint while suspended 180' in the air.
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All around the dome are fine paintings of American History.
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The detail work can also be found in the stone work inside the building.
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The ceilings inside the original House Chambers are also very detailed.
Now if only this one was made of White Chocolate too.
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Outside on the rear lawn was a lady playing fetch with her two dogs.
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The size of this building is too big to describe with a single word like enormous.
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This is part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial that was completed in 2020. So it wasn't even here during of last visit.
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This is the other half of the memorial of Eisenhower after his reelection.
TUESDAY - Today we're going to try driving into Washington DC and squeezing ROVER into one of their underground garages for the day.
The parking garage under the Ronald Reagan Building is Washington D.C.'s largest with over 2000 parking spots. More importantly it is just ¼-mile from our first sightseeing appointment and even more importantly it has a 7'0" clearance at the entrance.
NOTE: We found out later there are several areas in the garage that only have a 6'6" clearance, so we had to be very careful and watch the overhead signs.
Today it's all about the "W"s!
First up at 10:30AM is the free White House Tour that we had to request from our State Representative's Office 60-days ago.
Next we'll be visiting the World War I Memorial that is right next door to the White House and across the street from the White House Visitor Center.
Our next destination is the World War II Memorial that is located about ¾-mile away at the opposite end of the Reflecting Pool from the Lincoln Memorial.
Our final stop? We've already walked right passed it once today and we have a 3:00PM reservation to take the elevator to the top of the 555' tall Washington Monument. When we were in D.C. back in 2018 the Washington Monument was closed for renovations, mainly it was to update the elevator. Today the elevator safely "wooshed" us up 555' in just 70-seconds.
Afterwards we had to walk back to the parking garage, pay the $26 All Day (4-15 hours) Fee and then fight the rush hour traffic back to the campground. Both this morning and this afternoon it took us just under an hour to travel the 17-mile distance between the parking garage and the campground. I'm glad we won't be doing that again tomorrow.
Our White House Tour starts after we show our tickets under the General Sherman statue.
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We walk around the statue and into the white tent to have our driver's licenses checked.
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After passing through a metal detector we are given access to the White House.
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The manicured grounds outside of the White House.
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Along this corridor were several open rooms with ropes across the doorways.
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The first room was currently the library.
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The second room didn't look like it was being used for much of anything.
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This is the China Room with china from many different presidencies on display.
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This Secret Service Agent took one look at me and whispered something into his radio. Everyone knows what 10-4 means, but I think I heard him say 10-26. What's that mean? I don't know but I'm not sticking around to find out.
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It's easier if you just read the sign on this one.
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A look at the White House lawn through a window of the Green Room.
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Why those two red chairs are in the Green Room I don't know.
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A view of the White House lawn and beyond from the Blue Room.
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The Blue Room is oval shaped just like the President's Office.
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There looks to be plenty of space for those two red chairs in the Red Room.
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The view outside of the Red Room window.
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This dining room has not been open to the public tour for nearly 20-years.
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This is the World War I Memorial right across the street from the White House. It was dedicated in April of 2021, so it too wasn't here during our previous visit to D.C.
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This 58' long bronze sculpture was just installed last month to complete the memorial.
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Before the Memorial was dedicated this area was known as Pershing Park.
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We are now well on our way over to our final two destinations for the day.
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From the Washington Monument it's easy to see the WWII Memorial and Lincoln Memorial.
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You can also see the Capitol Building from the base of the Washington Monument.
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The Washington Monument is currently the tallest stone structure in the world.
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There are 50 American flags around the monument, one for each state.
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This message engraved in stone is in front of the World War II Memorial.
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This memorial has 56 columns, one for each state and territory.
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The Atlantic side commemorates the battles in the Atlantic...
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...and the Pacific side does the same.
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I can't help myself! Everywhere I look I keep seeing the Washington Monument.
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Looking across the fountain of the World War II Memorial towards the Washington Monument.
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These two ducks weren't shy about asking us, or anyone for that matter, for something to eat.
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I got a cold shiver when I saw this photo of the helicopter flying towards the tower.
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We made it to the top of the Washington Monument. Looking east along the National Mall towards the Capitol Building.
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A fully zoomed in photo of the United States Capitol Building.
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Looking north through President's Park towards the White House hidden by the trees.
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A zoomed in photo of the White House.
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Looking south towards the Potomac River and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.
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A zoomed in photo of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.
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And finally west towards the World War II and Lincoln Memorials.
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A zoomed in photo of the World War II Memorial at one end of the Reflecting Pool...
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...and the Lincoln Memorial at the opposite end of the Reflecting Pool.
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One last photo of my favorite, the Washington Memorial.
WEDNESDAY - For our third and final day sightseeing in Washington D.C. we will avoiding the center of town where all the other memorials are located.
Our first stop at President Lincoln's Cottage is well outside of downtown D.C.
Our second stop this morning is actually not in Washington D.C. at all. We'll be traveling over the Potomac River into Virginia to visit the Robert E. Lee Memorial (Arlington House) located inside of the Arlington Cemetery.
In 2018 during our previous visit this memorial was also closed for renovations. We didn't get to see it from the inside like we will today.
Just like we did back in 2018 we purchased tickets for the Arlington Old Town Trolley that transported us from the lower entrance level of the cemetery, all the way up to the top of the hill where the Arlington House sits.
Outside of the Cottage is this 6'4" "life sized" bronze statue of Lincoln and his horse.
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The cottage was neither built or owned by Lincoln. It was more like his "home away from home", his Camp David so to speak.
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No photos were allowed inside the cottage so this is all we have to share.
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The Arlington House was closed for renovations during our 2018 visit.
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From high up on a hill in Arlington, VA the Arlington House has a commanding view of D.C. You can see the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, the Capitol and of course the Washington Monument.
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Here I am stepping up to the front porch of Arlington House.
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Only the rooms on the ground floor are open to the public.
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This outside area was used as a vegetable and herb garden in Robert E. Lee's time.
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I'll share a couple of photos of Arlington Cemetery as we ride our tram back down the hill.
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This concludes our Washington D.C. visit in 2024.
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