Random Thoughts - Washington, DC

Day 13 – Moored, Washington, DC Each day in Washington, DC convinced us that we'd only be able to see a small part of what was offered, but still, we were determined to see as much as we could. Here are a few random pics of things we saw and a summary of what impressed us the most.

No tour of Washington, DC is complete without at least a peek at the White House. Tours must be booked months in advance, but just a walk by 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue was good enough for us. Security was pretty tight. No one waved or invited us in for tea, so we kept on moving.

Not far from the White House, opposite the modern Reagan International Trade Building is the old Post Office Building which is pretty impressive. The old and new seem to blend well.

We were out and about for lunch each day and enjoyed varied ethnic dishes from the lunch wagons that line the streets along the National Mall. One day we tried sandwiches and salads at Potbelly Sandwich Shop (good food/good prices) and another sunny day we sat at outside at umbrella'ed tables with our lunches from Paul (good, but pricey). Our thrifty, tired selves had us drinking wine and eating dinner aboard Nine of Cups each night.

The Neoclassic architectural style of the city is grand, but the classic embellishments always catch my attention … griffins,gargoyles, gods, goddesses and other mythical creatures, all sitting sentry on rooftops and hanging out on corners and above windows.

One evening at the end of our DC adventure, I asked David and Paul for the three things they liked most about Washington. David's response was the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, Museum of American History and Museum of Natural History. Paul's favorites were the Hirshhorn Museum, the Museum of American History and the National Gallery. Mine was the Library of Congress, the National Gallery and the Sculpture gardens at both the National Gallery and the Hirshhorn. Despite our diverse tastes, we agreed we enjoyed it all, but would have loved more time to better absorb all we saw. I guess that means we need to return to Washington again. There still so much to see … but now it's time to go.