Washington, DC....Day #1
Saturday, July 24, 2010 at 08:35PM Our drive into DC this morning was extremely short, maybe half an hour from where we stayed in Baltimore. It's so lush and green here, so we enjoyed the scenery on the way. I've been to DC before, but so very long ago and nothing looked familiar. I've always been horrible with maps, so I am very grateful for the free POYNT download on our Blackberry's, providing us GPS route by route guidance which makes our travels so much easier.
We followed our GPS navigation right into downtown DC and directly to our hotel, The Madison on M and 15th Street. We checked in and ate a quick lunch before setting out on today's adventure. Our first major destination was the White House, which is about 4 blocks from where we are staying. It was an easy walk and fun to be standing there in front of such a historical landmark. It's amazing that all this history and this presidential palace sits right in the middle of such humble surroundings.
Our next stop was the Washington Memorial, Buck's favorite, and then it was on to the WWII memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial and the Korean War Memorial. The heat was again more oppressive than anything I've ever felt living in the Southwest. The news has been full of "excessive heat warnings" in the area while the locals tell us they've never seen anything like it. We were grateful for the vendors selling cold, bottled water and Wade purchased extra water to give to some of the homeless we passed along the way.
Two of the kids, who shall remain nameless, were in tears about the time we reached the WWII Memorial, so we were terribly happy that they allowed us to soak our feet in the water fountain. It took almost all the self control I possessed not to jump into the fountain and take a swim.
Walking on, we passed some foreigners who were hand feeding a squirrel, which surprisingly, drew a small crowd. In passing, Wade offered the advice, "Rabies, rabies...seven shots in the belly" which did not deter the squirrel feeders at all. It was another good day and we enjoyed all the rich history we got to see. Buck must have thanked us at least a hundred times, he loves history. We walked for over five hours today and the sight of our hotel was like water in the desert. Our clothes were soaked, literally, with sweat and the cool hotel showers were the best. We all got into our jammies early and ordered a pizza for dinner. The kids have been lining up for the massage chair that sits next to our bed, taking ten minute turns with large grins on their faces.
It's been a great day and we've stopped many times to give thanks!
Reader Comments (3)
Did you stop by the WH and give Obama your best? :)
Thanks for giving Wade a large giggle.....the short answer is, no.
Libertarians rock!