Washington Here We Come

We always wanted to see the sights of Washington, but, apart from a quick streak through the centre 10 days ago, we left our visit to last. As usual, it was a full on day and crammed a lot in, with the result that Dot nearly expired in the heat.

We drove to the outskirts (at Greenbelt) and caught the green line subway to the centre. Succession we visited the:

sculpture garden

Smithsonian's Natural History Museum (with dinosaur skeletons and reconstructions)

Washington Monument

Jefferson, FDR, and Lincoln Memorials (and some war memorabilia in between)

Mall

White House (for look from the outside) and the nearby White House museum

Capitol Building (again from the outside), and

Smithsonian's museum dedicated to native Americans

These monuments and buildings are no doubt familiar to most of you, so I will not spend time describing them. Most live up to reputation and expectations, partly because the US is good at managing its ceremonial spaces. Dot had not seen the sights previously, but I was able to update and enrich my impressions from 4 years ago when I spent time at George Mason university at Fairfax in Virginia ... just outside Washington.

Then we retraced our steps as far as Arundel Mills (a huge shopping mall where we opened out wallets later in the evening). Dinner came at 10 pm! I have to say that Em and Greg's GPS system was wonderful in navigating a mass of freeways. The machine provides a bird's eye view of the terrain you are travelling with the roads superimposed and updates position and distance continuously. It also talks to you about impending turns and the best lanes to take!

AS