OK guys here we go for part II of the big trip, will try and keep it shorter this time.
Well we arrived safely in Washington even though we both felt a wee bit delicate from the night before. The bus station we pulled into was in a bit of a dodgy area but hey ho nevermind, we were met by my cousin Sandra who drove us through Washington and then to the area where they live. Didn't do much that day as were very tired, the antics of the previous week were catching up with us!!
The next day we went on a 90 minute tour of DC on a DC Duck tour which was an hour on land and 30 mins on the water in the same vessel, it was a great laugh, were given quackers which were great, decided that whenever either of us was feeling a wee bit low would quack each other which did the trick!! After the tour we wandered down the Mall towards Capitol Hill and on down to the George Washington Memorial, on the way we decided to stop off at the Smithsonian Air and Space museum which was very interesting, Ells then decided she wanted a milkshake from MaccyDs which wasn't quite the same as the ones you get at home.
By the time we got to the Washington Monument it had shut for the day so we decided to walk up to the White House instead which didn't seem as impressive as what I thought it would. Passed a group of people practising frisbee as if they were training for a proper match like you do with footy etc, very strange. From there we wandered the streets looking for the Hard Rock Cafe where we had cocktails in happy hour and met some of my fellow countrymen. Alcohol was required that day!!
We went to Arlington Cemetary on the Wednesday which is HUGE, went to the JFK memorial and also to the Tomb of the unknown solider, while there saw the changing of the guard which was fun to watch, no talking or sitting down was allowed during it. Then went to the memorial for the Challenger shuttle disaster of 1987. We then left and made our way back to main DC and after lunch walked down to the Washington monument and missed getting a ticket by about 5 mins - pants! will have to try again tomorrow. From there we made our way to the L'Enfant Centre which is a shopping mall - surprise surprise where Ells got her mascot, had a sit down and chilled. It has offices above it and can get to the metro from there. We then went to get the train back to Quantico (marine corps base!!) but couldn't find the VRE station so ended up getting a lift from a business man who dropped us off outside and then had trouble getting our tickets as the machine didn't like our UK cards!
It was strange being in Washington for the anniversary of 9/11 the city was pretty quiet and all the flags were at half mast, there had been a memorial service at the time of the attacks, also felt a bit eerie. We walked from Union Station down to the Washington Monument and third time lucky got our tickets. It was worth the hassle the views were wonderful (see pic to the right). From there we walked to the Lincoln Memorial and the reflecting pool which wasn't reflecting as they had taken out all the water so therefore it was a wee bit disappointing. By this time Ells needed feeding again so we made our way to Old George town and found a cafe that did really good salads etc. After being fed and watered we wandered around for a while and then got the metro and train back.
Our last day in Washington started early, we went to a navy yard - men in white uniform!! for a ceremony which my cousin and her husband were going to, it was interesting as have never been to anything like that before. Afterwards we got to the bus station and got on our bus to take us to Memphis - 21 hr journey - argghh!!
All in alI l enjoyed Washington DC but it was quieter than I thought it would be and its not so easy to find places to eat (on more than one occassion I'm sure Ells thought I was going to let her to starve). Also there is a lot of walking involved - again!! well at least we're getting fit...
Finally, we have in two weeks broken 2 of the top 5 rules on what not to do when travelling...... looking at a map on the open street especially on a corner and two, getting into a car with a stranger. Have also used nearly all types of transportation:- car, taxi, metro, bus, plane, train, rickshaw, foot.
Tune in for the next chapter - Memphis Tennessee coming soon......
