August 30-September 1 2001
From left to right: the US Capitol, the Washington Monument and the Smithsonian. I loved DC. It is a mixture of European and Southern American:low rise buildings, all those memorials and monuments and warm, humid weather.People were so friendly, I know I keep mentioning this, as if I am amazed by politeness but I live in New York and these things are rare.
From our hotel room we could see the Washington Monument, The Jefferson Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. ten minutes walk took us to the White House but it was dark and we had forgotton the camera so no pictures unfortunately. In fact, there aren't many photos of this trip as we were too busy visiting the Smithsonian museums, strolling around and eating.
There is just so much to see and do here and we barely scratched the surface. I think we would need a minimum of five days to do it justice, so we are planning a return trip when it's a little cooler. We did spend an afternoon in the National Gallery of Art, they have a stunning Rembrandt self-portrait and some of the best Flemish primitives but we really went to see the modern art. In fact, the most impressive work was the building itself, light, airy and angular and linked to the older building by an underground walkway lit by pyramids of glass (like La Louvre).
On our last day we went to the Museum of American History and learnt about life in the early days of the US, about the First Ladies and the repair of the original Star Spangled Banner. Once again so much more to see here (we missed Judy Garland's shoes from the Wizard of Oz) that we will have to return.
One foodie tip: Oceanaire Seafood Room, 1201 F Street. Fantastic seafood and great service.