Basecamp Location: Patapsco Valley State Park Ellicot City, MD
The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum building
The 1903 Wright Flyer
The Spirit of St. Louis hanging from the rafters
Amelia Earheart's Lockhead Vega
Mercury Space Capsule
Apollo Lunar Module
The National Archives building
Today is our fifth and final day to visit Washington DC. I must say I think we saved two of the best museums for last, The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and The National Archives. We also took a stroll through the Hall of Presidents exhibit at the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery but didn't take any pictures.
First up this morning, The Air and Space Museum. There is so much to see and do here, some of it is historical and some of it is educational (mostly geared towards children). For us, we were here to see the Original 1903 Wright Brothers Flyer (the guys who started it all), Charles Lindberg's Spirit of St. Louis and Amelia Earhart's Lockhead Vega with which they set so many early World Records. On the space side of the museum they had a Mercury Space Capsule, an Apollo Lunar Module and a Touchable Moon Rock. The moon rock was kind of a big disappointment, it was surrounded by glass and just a flat shaved piece of rock was exposed that you could touch. I didn't even take a picture, but if anyone ever asks, I did touch a moon rock!
Second on the list was The National Archives building. Just like all the rest there is so much here to see you could spend the whole day. For us we were here to see The Charters of Freedom exhibit. It includes the big three documents that tells the world what The United States are all about, The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution and The Bill of Rights. They are located in the central rotunda of the building, all along the walls under dim lights to preserve the 240+ year old parchment they are written on. There were three guards in the room at all times and I imagine several more watching on cameras from above. As wonderful as it was to see these three historical documents, also on display were some rough drafts of each with things crossed out and rewritten in the margins, just like my high school homework used to look like.
Lastly for the day was The Smithsonian Portrait Gallery. So much to see and do but we were here to see the America's Presidents exhibit. This is the only place outside of The White House where you can see the official portraits of every American President, George Washington through Barack Obama. We kind of squeezed this one in at the last moment, it's located across the street from the Metro Station and I'm glad we took a look inside.
With five visits into Washington DC in the span of ten days I'd say we covered about as much we possibly could.
STATS FOR TODAY - 13,168 steps or 4 miles
Until next time
TWO PEAS
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Basecamp Location: Patapsco Valley State Park Ellicot City, MD
The circular stone patio that is the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove
The memorial's granite center piece among the pines
LBJ's favorite view of the distant Washington DC
The pedestrian bridge leading to the Theodore Roosevelt Island Memorial
Approaching the Memorial
The welcoming bronze statue of Theodore Roosevelt
Gardens surrounding the Memorial
Another view of the gardens
The US Marine Corps War Memorial
Better known as The Iwo Jima Memorial
The hot noon day sun over the Memorial
We did it! Today, Monday September 3rd, 2019 (Labor Day) we drove our own truck clear through the District of Columbia, Washington DC.
There are a couple of National Memorials across The Potomac River over in Virginia that the Trolley and The Metro just doesn't get near enough to walk to, namely the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove and Theodore Roosevelt Island Memorial. They are both set on different islands on the Virginia side of the Potomac River. LBJ's Memorial is a very simple setting with a large rose colored granite monolith from his home state of Texas. It was placed here by request of his widow, Lady Bird Johnson. LBJ would often visit this exact spot while in office to escape the hustle and bustle of DC. His simple and elegant memorial does not bear his name in large letters as do most of the other memorials, only inscribed in the polished slab stones along the ground, surrounding the memorial, do you find his name preceded by one of his famous quotes.
The Theodore Roosevelt Island Memorial is just that, a whole island. You have to park your car and walk across a pedestrian bridge to see the memorial site near the entrance to the island. There are miles of hiking/biking/jogging paths on the island that allow you to see the rest of what the island has to offer. Theodore Roosevelt was a great conservationist and is responsible for most of our early National Parks. He is the fourth face on Mount Rushmore, along with the easily recognizable Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln.
Almost right across the street from Teddy Roosevelt's Memorial is the US Marine Corps (Iwo Jima) Memorial that we saw on our moonlight tour two days earlier. We decided to go back and see it in the brightness of day. It was another 90+ degree day here near Washington DC and outdoor exploring was coming to a early end for us, it was only 11:00AM. We did a little research right there in the parking lot and saw we were near the George Washington Memorial Parkway.
The parkway runs along the shoreline of The Potomac River and at the southern end is Mount Vernon, George Washington's home. We were only about 14 miles away from Mount Vernon and it's supposed to be a beautiful drive so off we went. Upon arriving at Mount Vernon we were greeted by five tour buses filled will tourists, that along with a $20 entrance fee to see the grounds, we took a pass at going for a visit. Nearing noon now we decided to head towards home, get some lunch and do the laundry. We stopped by the two closest laundromats to the campground and they were both packed with people, so that will have to wait until tomorrow when everyone goes back to work! So, what's for lunch?
STATS FOR TODAY - 3,048 steps or .95 miles
Until next time
TWO PEAS
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Basecamp Location: Patapsco Valley State Park Ellicot City, MD
An address you may be familiar with
Front view of the White House
Rear view of the White House
A view of the White House rooftop
The Dwight David Eisenhower Office Building
The Freedom Bell outside of Union Station
A front view of The Capitol Building
A rear view of The Capitol Building
The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial during the day
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial during the day
The Korean War Veterans Memorial
A close up of the wall at The Vietnam War Memorial
Bronze statue located at the beginning of the Vietnam wall
Bronze statue located at the end of the Vietnam wall
It's the Labor Day Weekend and you know what that means in Washington DC? No rush hour traffic, not on the highways or on the Metro trains. No politicians or their staff in town, even the police force that you see everywhere seemed a little harder to spot. I would conservatively estimate the amount of automobile traffic and Metro passengers to be about 1/10 of what it was on the last two trips back on Tuesday and Thursday this week. Of course the tourist traffic at the National Memorials and Smithsonian Museums has about tripled, along with the amount of trolley riders. You can't have everything!
Tuesday's trip was mostly outdoors, riding the Old Town Trolley to see most of the major National Monuments and Arlington Cemetery. Thursday's trip was mostly indoors, exploring three Smithsonian Museums during the day and taking the Monuments by Moonlight trolley ride at night. Today, Saturday, we're back outdoors to see all of Capitol Hill and the White House, a few more of the National Memorials, take a special Metro ride out to The Pentagon to see the 9/11 Memorial they have there.
Once again taking the Green line train into Washington DC we arrived at the Welcome Center to begin our Old Town Trolley ride. We purchased a package deal from Old Town Trolley that included two days of riding, The Arlington Cemetery Tour and the Moonlight Tour, all for a little less than $100 per ticket. You may have noticed all the American flags flying at half staff in our recent pictures, it is in respect for the passing of Senator John McCain this week. All over Washington DC this weekend there are numerous ceremonies planned and we will have to plan around several of them. The White House and The Vietnam Veterans Memorial are both early morning ceremony locations but they will have been finished before we arrive there. The only evidence we saw that anything special occurred at these sites were the trailers set up with portable stages on them and the long line of Port-A-Poties lining the sidewalks. Of course when we got there they were all padlocked and we couldn't use them. Guess it was outside of the time frame agreed upon with the rental company!
We hopped off the trolley at Stop #2 and walked a complete lap around the White House grounds. Tours inside of the actual White House have to be prearranged months ahead of time through your state Senator's Office. FBI background checks have to be performed and they only allow a limited number of people on the tours. We didn't do that so all we got were a few pictures and we were back onto the trolley for a ride to our next stop, Capitol Hill.
Capitol Hill tours are a little more relaxed, no need to make an appointment, although you can if you know ahead of time exactly when you'll be in town. For those without appointments you can stand in line and wait! Today that wait was with several hundred other people and you could expect to be in line for several hours. The same thing goes for The Supreme Court Building and The Library of Congress. Neither Tricia or I are terribly politically minded so we opted to pass on the tours and settle for a few outdoor pictures of the magnificently ornate buildings.
Having had enough of Capitol Hill we once again boarded the trolley to travel over to the FDR and MLK, Jr. Memorials. They looked so impressive at night we decided to revisit them in the daylight. After these two we moved over to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial for a daytime visit. Afterwards while we were waiting to reboard the trolley it began to rain, not just sprinkle mind you, but rain hard for about 15 minutes. By the time we got back on the trolley we were soaked and so was the fresh air trolley. We were handed paper towels upon boarding to dry up the puddles of water in the seats, I didn't bother. The last trolley tour loop begins at 5:00PM and it was close to that now, so we traveled to the nearest Metro Station and boarded a train that would take us over the Potomac River to the Pentagon.
Now most people know what the stars and stripes represent on our United States flag. A lot of thought went into designing the flag, one star for each state in the union and presently there are 13 stripes representing the original 13 British colonies, even the colors are meaningful. Red signifies hardiness and valor, White, purity and innocence, and Blue, vigilance, perseverance and justice.
It wasn't until we arrived at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial and were handed a card explaining the memorial that I became aware of how much thought and symbolism there is in every single memorial in Washington DC.
The simple yet complex National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial
There are 184 Memorial Units in this memorial, one for each of the victims at The Pentagon and on American Airlines Flight 77. They are arranged by the age of the victim, from 3 to 71 years old, and each victim has their name inscribed on the upper portion of their own bench (i.e. Memorial Unit). If they were traveling with family their names are inscribed on the lower portion of the same bench underneath the flowing water that lights up at night. Take notice that the benches face two different directions. If the victim was in the Pentagon you'll see the person's name inscribed in the end of the bench and The Pentagon Building in the same view. If the victim was on the plane, you'll see the person's name and the direction of the plane's approach towards the building. Everything here is on the same angle as the collision path of Flight 77. There are other more subtle things going on here but you get the idea of what I'm trying to convey. More than 1100 submissions were considered for this Memorial. Every Memorial in Washington DC has a large amount of thought and symbolism in it's design that goes mostly unnoticed.
With all our sightseeing done for the day it was time to head home. I asked the Green Line Metro Station attendant where I should go for a unique to Washington DC quick and easy dinner and he didn't hesitate to answer with Ben's Chili Bowl for a Chili Half-Smoke. Ben's is a landmark here in DC, so much so that they renamed a portion of U Street, Ben's Chili Bowl Way, as it passes by the restaurant and gift shop.
The marquee above the restaurant outside on the street
Inside the diner they're proud to announce their 60th Anniversary in the same location
I'll try to describe what a Chili Half-Smoke is for those who are unfamiliar. Open up a fresh large hot dog roll, imagine a quality hot dog, no a spicy sausage, no combine both of those together into one oversized delight of a meaty meal, add yellow mustard and chopped white onion, then put the all important chili sauce on top and you have a Ben's Original Chili Half-Smoke. What a delicious combination! Add fries and a drink and you've got a meal fit for a king, or President in this case.
STATS FOR TODAY - 18,843 steps or 6.7 miles
Until next time
TWO PEAS
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Basecamp Location: Patapsco Valley State Park Ellicot City, MD
The Smithsonian Castle
The Washington Monument viewed from outside of The Castle on the National Mall
The Washington Monument viewed from the steps of The Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial
The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
The U.S. Marine Corp Memorial
The Capitol Dome at night
We learned our lesson last time, don't try and drive all the way into Washington DC. We got up a little bit earlier today, but still didn't manage to get on the road until just before 7:00AM. Today plans are to visit a few of the Smithsonian Museums, The Castle (the original Smithsonian Institution Building), The American History Museum (where they display the 200+ year old Star Spangled Banner) and The National Museum of Natural History (where they display The Hope Diamond). Later tonight at 8:00PM we have reservations on the Old Town Trolley's Monuments by Moonlight Tour. It's going to be an even longer day than our last one in Washington DC.
Knowing in advance that we were taking The Metro into town I found that if we took the Red Line from the Shady Grove stop we wouldn't have to drive quite as far and with a short transfer over to the Blue Line it would drop us off right on the doorstep of The Smithsonian Castle. This is the only museum open at 8:30AM, all the rest open at 10:00AM. Unfortunately they had previously canceled the 9:00AM guided tour of The Castle so we did our own self guided tour. Inside The Castle you'll find the Smithson Crypt, the final resting place of John Smithson, the original benefactor of The Smithsonian Institute. Here they have on display a small sampling of all the other museum's exhibits. Time spent here: 1.5 hours.
Next on our itinerary for today is The American History Museum. Three floors of exhibits to explore, but for us the highlight of this museum had to be The Star Spangled Banner display room. Having just visited Fort McHenry National Monument earlier this week, where this flag was raised over the fort after The Battle of Baltimore victory in 1814, it kind of brought us full circle, a complete then and now feeling. Time spent here: 3.5 hours.
Our last museum today is The National Museum of Natural History's three floors of exhibits. Here they display a whole lot of collections, from insects to dinosaurs, all kinds of geological displays and skeletons of all different species of animals. Everything was very well displayed but for me, the 45.52 carat Hope Diamond display and 300 year history of the gem stole the show. Time spent here: 4 hours.
We ate lunch in the downstairs Cafe at The American History Museum around 1:30PM (very tasty, but very expensive), but now it's time for dinner and we are on a budget. So a Metro ride over to Union Station's Food Court is in order and that is where the Monuments by Moonlight tour starts from. At 7:45PM we board the trolley and begin the tour. All of the National Monuments and Memorials are open 24/7 except Christmas Day. The monuments all look entirely different at night, all lit up in dramatic fashion. Some are bright and cheery and some are subdued and solemn, but all are worth this second look, after the sun goes down.
The trolley tour finishes around 10:30PM and by the time we ride the Metro back to the truck and drive the rest of the way home it is well after midnight, and we thought our first visit to Washington DC was a long day!
STATS FOR TODAY - 25,256 steps or 8.1 miles
Until next time
TWO PEAS
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Basecamp Location: Patapsco Valley State Park Ellicot City, MD
The White House
The ornate ceiling inside of Union Station
The Capitol Building dome
Jefferson Memorial - our third U.S. President and author of the Declaration of Independence
A rear view of the Jefferson Memorial with the Washington Monument in the background
The George Mason Memorial - author of the groundwork for what became the United States Bill of Rights
Arlington National Cemetery
President John F. Kennedy's grave site
Senator Robert F. Kennedy's grave site
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Changing of the Guard ceremony
Tomb amphitheater for official gatherings
Korean War Veterans Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial - our 16th U.S. President
Inside the Lincoln Memorial
The 19 foot tall marble statue of President Lincoln
A view of the Washington Monument from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial
The Washington Monument - our 1st U.S. president
Someone important leaving Capitol Hill
Not the President we were told because we wouldn't be allowed on the street
We very naively thought we could just drive into Washington DC and park in the garage next door to the Trolley Tour office and go see the sights. The night before our intended visit I did my homework, we are 37.5 miles north of DC and Google estimated it was a 45 minute drive. We wanted to be at the Trolley Tour office at 9:00AM when they opened, so with that information we set our alarm clock for 6:30AM and went to sleep.
The next morning we woke up, showered and we're on the road by 7:00AM. A quick stop at Dunkin' Donuts just outside of the campground for some breakfast wraps and we're off on our adventure. At 7:15 we plugged my cell phone into the truck to use it for navigation and that same 45 minute drive late last night was an estimated 2 hour drive this morning, and it's only 7:15AM. Nearly 45 minutes later at 8:00AM we are still 15 miles from DC and the traffic is really starting to come to a slow crawl.
One other thing I did late last night was to research the Washington DC Metrorail System. For almost exactly the same price as the downtown parking garage was going to charge we purchased 2 round trip tickets and paid their all day parking fee and didn't have to fight the traffic the last 12 miles into DC. So when I saw the exit for the Green Line's Greenbelt Metro Station we left the traffic behind and pulled into the station. Like I said we naively thought we could just drive into Washington DC.
Arriving at the Trolley Tour office at 8:55AM I thought all of our troubles were over. They were not, but I'm not going to go into that now, however we were off on our Washington DC tour by 9:20AM. We like to take these "hop on, hop off " tours around one complete loop before getting off so we get an overview of the city. Today about halfway around the loop there was an opportunity to transfer to another shuttle to go visit Arlington Cemetery. With the temperatures already in the high 80's and the forecast was for the mid 90's we decided to do this sooner than later in the day, we were glad we did.
At Arlington there are three must do items. First is to visit the grave site of President John F. Kennedy and The Eternal Flame. One thing I did not know is that 30 years later his widow, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, would be buried by his side along with two of their infant children. Just a few yards away is the grave site of The President's brother, Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
The second must do item is to witness the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This is a very solemn ceremony that is performed every thirty minutes, every day, rain or shine, during hurricanes and even during September 11th, 2001 when a plane was crashed into The Pentagon only a mile and a half away. The ceremony involves three Marine soldiers, one guard to officiate the ceremony, one guard being relieved of duty and one guard starting his turn at standing guard. The Tomb of the Unknown's actually had four soldiers buried there. One from each major war, World War I, World War II, The Korean War and Vietnam War. In 1998 the Vietnam War soldier's body was exhumed and identified, soon afterwards it was decided to leave that grave site vacant.
The third item on the list is to visit The Arlington House, but it is closed for renovation at this time and is not expected to reopen until some time in 2019, so we only got to travel past it and see it behind a construction fence.
There are many other notable people buried at Arlington, some Civil War generals and some past/present day celebrities who served in the Armed Forces, but we didn't have time to stay and explore any of that. Afterall, there are over 400,000 grave sites here and to try and find the one you're looking for isn't easy!
We took the shuttle back over the Potomac River from Arlington, VA to Washington DC to complete our the second half of our first loop. Since the shuttle delivers you back to the trolley stop at the Lincoln Memorial and The Korean War Memorial we decided to explore these two before reboarding the trolley. We later found out The Vietnam War Memorial was also within walking distance. By this time it was noon and the outside temperature was 94 degrees with a heat index of 105, I guess we were just looking for an excuse to find air conditioning when we decided NOW was a good time for lunch. Back on the trolley we went to complete the loop and travel to Union Station, the second largest train depot in the United States, only Grand Central Station in New York is larger. One good thing about Union Station is they have a Food Court, about four times the size of what you find in most shopping malls, and the selection of fast food chains was never ending. We like to try new things when we eat out so Johnny Rockets is where we ended up. Now I know cheeseburgers, fries and milk shakes are nothing new to us, but we've never had one from a Johnny Rockets. I must say the Chocolate Banana Milkshake is my new favorite, the rest of the meal was good but nothing notable.
After lunch it was back on the trolley to whisk us over to the Jefferson Memorial. It is located on the other side of a tidal basin all by itself, far away from all the other Memorials, which are located near The National Mall and the center of town. We had a long 30 minute wait out in the sun to get back on the trolley here and we were hot and running out of energy. We decided to call it a day and head back to the Metro Station. Earlier we noted the last stop on the trolley tour, #25, was actually closer to the Metro Station than stop #1, where we started this morning. So at stop #25 we disembarked for the last time today, made our way down to the subway and headed for home, or at least back to the truck, to drive the rest of the way home. Oddly enough when I put the keys in and started the truck this morning I noted it was 7:02AM and when I shut off the truck and pulled out the keys it was exactly 7:02PM. Either way that was a very long, very hot day.
STATS FOR TODAY - 11,965 steps or 4.2 miles
Until next time
TWO PEAS
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