I had an amazing week in our nation’s capital. I went more places and saw more things than I thought possible, and for that I owe my incredibly sore feet a debt of gratitude.
I arrived at Washington National Airport last Saturday morning after taking the pre-dawn flight out of Gainesville. In fact, I was already in Atlanta before sunrise. The Omni Shoreham hotel is on the northwest side of DC, near Rock Creek Park. As I wrote before, the hotel has a remarkable history. But what I noticed most of all were the beautiful grounds. The garden in the back was exquisite, made more so by the autumn leaves which, all over town, were at their peak. The room itself was decent, though, since it was on only the second floor, the view was not as stunning as it might have been had it been higher. The luxurious little touches–like the Washington Post and hot cocoa with homemade marshmallow cubes left outside the door each morning, or the little chocolates left on the pillows each evening–were pleasant, as was sitting outside on the patio in the evening by the fire. The restaurant in the hotel was pricey–even more so than the already expensive food found all over Washington–so most meals were taken at a small restaurant right across the street called Open City. It was always crowded and busy, but mostly tasty. There was also a CVS and a McDonald’s right there, which was convenient, and I was extremely surprised to find that every McDonald’s I visited–even the fancy one right next to the very ugly FBI headquarters in the heart of the city, and the one at Reagan National Airport–had the Dollar Menu. Some of the McDonald’s locations in Orlando don’t have the Dollar Menu, so I was pleased to save some money where I didn’t expect I’d be able to.
The Woodley Park-Zoo Metro station was only a block from the hotel, which was amazingly convenient, since I used it as my exclusive mode of transport in Washington. Every subway station in town had its own little quirks, and the Woodley Park-Zoo stop has the most terrifyingly tall escalator I’ve ever seen. It takes several minutes to ride. My favorite Metro feature was the Walt Whitman quote in the marble above the tunnel into the Dupont Circle station. Alas, the Metro, while indispensable, doesn’t quite go everywhere one needs it to go. There is no stop at all in Georgetown, and nothing near the monuments along the National Mall. To get to the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the Roosevelt Memorial and the WWII, Korean War and Vietnam War memorials you have to hoof it. And after you’ve already walked miles through amazing museums and historic sites, your feet begin to alert you to their overuse. By Wednesday morning my feet–used to a great deal of walking–were aching to the point that I was limping. But, following the ironic advice of the Little League coaches of my youth, I walked it off.
The Smithsonian museums along the Mall are full of amazing treasures. The first I went to–Saturday afternoon–was the National Air and Space Museum, where I saw the Spirit of St. Louis and John Glenn’s Mercury Friendship 7 capsule exhibited together in the lobby. Most astonishing, though, was seeing the very first airplane moments before seeing the suits worn by the first men to touch the moon (which for some reason I didn’t take a picture of!). It was overwhelming.
That was just the beginning of my trip. I’ll continue the story later, and write about how I watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery, where I also walked across the original wood floors in Robert E. Lee’s mansion; how, in the span of two days, I stood in the rooms where George Washington and Abraham Lincoln died; how I met a Kiwi; and how I stood in front of the White House the night the nation elected the first black president of the United States.
Filed under: History, Transportation, Travel on November 9th, 2008 | No Comments »
My understanding of civics and history is decent. I’m not an authority, of course, and there is something I would really like to understand.