Day Two … from one end of the Washington Mall to the other

Today is officially our “first” day of adventuring, given yesterday was basically just getting to the US. As always Ian had meticulously planned our day, which was a good thing given we managed to do everything we wanted to do and a couple of extras.

We were up and out of bed at 7.00 (having arrived just after midnight) … with a quick shower before heading down to our complimentary breakfast. Then on to the station to catch a metro train from Dulles to Washington DC where we whizzed up to our hotel for the next 2 nights (scaring them to death given we arrived just after 9.00am and check in is at 3.00pm). We reassured them that we just wanted to quickly dump our bags and then we headed off to explore … starting with The White House!

Having watched every episode of the West Wing at least 4 times we were keen to see this building up close. Surprisingly it isn’t as big as you think but it is very impressive nonetheless. We snapped pictures standing outside the perimeter fence before wandering along Pennsylvania Avenue and snapping more pictures as we wandered. We stopped to ask for directions to the White House Visitor Center and were quickly headed in the right direction.

The Visitor Center is a lovely old building which provides a museum component that has models of the White House, displays and information about its construction and additions to the original (like the actual West Wing and the Oval Office). There were samples of china used at State dinners, desks, chairs and portraits of past Presidents and some First Ladies. It was a great way to get started in Washington.

We then headed off to check out the front of the White House … which is also very grand but you don’t get to be quite as close as when viewing the other side. It still amuses me that the Oval Office is actually part of the addition and not part of the original building.

We headed off along the Washington Mall, stopping along the way to complete an Ad Lab (our only one of the day) which took us to some notable war memorials … Korean, Vietnam, the signatories of Independence, the WW2 memorial and also to the Lincoln Memorial. We were blessed to come upon a group of veterans at the Vietnam Memorial who had gathered from South Carolina to lay a wreath. One veteran spoke and it was incredibly moving to hear some of his stories.

The memorials are all very beautiful and unique. From black granite walls engraved with tens of thousands of names of those who did not return, to stars representing fallen soldiers and statues of equipment laden soldiers. War is so pointless and futile.

The Lincoln Memorial is undergoing some renovations at the moment but despite the scaffolding on the outside, Lincoln sits proudly overlooking the memorial pools and back towards the Washington Monument. The carved statue is huge and very impressive.

We wandered back along the other side of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, grabbing the answers to our Ad Lab as we went. We visited the Martin Luther King Jnr Monument which had a statue of him carved into a rock standing tall overlooking the Tidal Basin. We stumbled across the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial which we found very beautiful as it was filled with quotes from him, falling water and carved rocks.

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Navigating the Tidal Basin we came to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial which was also shrouded in scaffolding but still open to the public. Jefferson’s statue in the centre of the memorial is huge. He is again, like Lincoln, MLK and FDR surrounded by quotes. The memorial is so beautiful with tall carved columns totally surrounding the structure.

At each of these monuments and memorials it was so easy to soak in the history and gravitas.

Leaving Jefferson we headed towards the Washington Monument which we had seen from a distance all throughout the morning. It is the tallest structure in Washington and is made from marble, granite and bluestone blocks. It is also the tallest obelisk in the world. We had booked tickets to take us to the top of the monument (thankfully in an elevator) which was 500 feet into the sky! At the top are small windows that overlook Washington, the Mall, the White House, the Capitol and all the areas around. It was a unique experience to be inside the obelisk and see the carved blocks and the inscribed memorial stones placed into the walls inside. The views were amazing and having already walked a fair chunk of what we could see it was great to point out where we had been but to also then see the places we were still to head to.

Leaving the monument behind we began wandering towards the Capitol Building, passing by the Smithsonian Museum (which is in fact a series of 17 museums and galleries). We made a detour to Constitution Ave to grab something to eat from one of the gazillion food trucks parked along the street. We shared fries with cheese and bacon (the serves are huge), sitting in the shade watching the squirrels in the park.

As we wandered past the Smithsonian we took a detour to explore the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden … an unexpected surprise on our way to the Capitol. Some lovely sculptures and some wacky ones as well!

Arriving at the Capitol I took a few snaps and then we went to the Visitor Center as we had tickets booked for a tour. We managed to get onto an earlier tour which was great. Our guide Emma took us (and about 50 of our closet friends) on a tour that went to the central dome and the sculpture room which is located in the original House chamber. Emma was a fabulous guide, providing a detailed description of the history, the art and some of the notable statues. Being provided earphones connected to her microphone meant that even in the crowded dome you could hear her clearly. Nothing can prepare you for the moment you walk up the stairs to the Dome and the sight that greets you.

Ending our tour we took the underground tunnel to the Library of Congress where we had booked entry (you cannot just walk in you need to pre-book your spot). Again … nothing can prepare you for this amazing space. The paintings on the ceiling, the mosaics on the floor, the statues that stand in corners, the books donated by Jefferson following the fire of 1851 that destroyed the original collection. We also planned this day to visit as it is one of the few times that the Reading Room is open for viewing. Wow, that reading room is IMPRESSIVE! Whilst we were only allowed 5 minutes to wander through it was worth every single second. 

And so ended our day. We left the library, stopped for some photos out the front and then headed to the station with all the workers who had finished work and were also calling it a day. Back to McPherson Square Station and then on to officially check in to our hotel. Accomodation in Washington is not cheap … and our hotel, whilst central is fairly basic. But it is clean, it has a bed and it was close to the place we went to dinner .

And so ends the day … todays tally

Photos - 500

Steps - 23,696

Kms walked - 18.14

Ad Labs completed - 1