Part 7 - Washington
New York
to
Washington DC
Washington
Day 1
City Tour Bus trips
Washington
Day 2
including
The Pentagon
Next 2 Days - Washington to Home
Nailsea UK
New York Day 10 to Washington
We left New York on a grey and misty morning, with our taxi driver giving us a somewhat jerky trip through the morning rush hour to JFK airport where we collected our rental car. Unfortunately we couldn't really see much as we went through areas we hadn't been to before as we made our way out, crossing the East River, into Queens and onto Long Island.
Once the formalities of the rental car were sorted, we set off, following the directions from the Sat Nav, which made life much easier on the very busy route down through Brooklyn, Staten Island, New Jersey, Delaware and so onto Maryland. All the while we were near the rivers and the coast, unfortunately visibility of the surrounding scenery was non existent due to the low cloud.
As we were crossing from New Jersey to Delaware the weather turned extremely unpleasant with torrential rain, to the extent that we actually stopped and waited for it to pass, as we managed to see a pull in area off the road, just after a toll booth section.
We finally made it to Washington DC, in lovely sunshine, a complete contrast to what we had been through and checked into our hotel at about 5 pm. After a short while we went out to explore and get dinner.
After we had eaten we strolled around the outside fence of the White House, saw the Washington and Jefferson Monuments in the distance as well as the outside of the Oval Office and several other impressive looking buildings - which no doubt we will find out what they are tomorrow on the bus tour. After a very pleasant stroll around we returned to our hotel.
Washington Day 1 - City Tour Bus tours
We were up good time and had breakfast in the hotel, then walked down to the Big Bus stop, where we had to wait quite a while for a bus to come along!
We started on the tour of Washington, going past many government buildings, the Canadian Embassy, Post Office museum and the central station. We eventually made our way to the top of Capitol Hill and to the government building. Unfortunately the Capitol building has scaffolding on it and other works were also being undertaken which rather spoilt the view of the building and the area. The long Capitol Hill area from the White House up is also in the throes of having landscaping work done.
After this we went and saw lots of Monuments, including the very tall Washington obelisk, the Jefferson Monument and the Lincoln Monument, as well as passing many in memory of those killed in both the First, Second, Korean and Vietnam Wars.
The tour then continued over the Potomac River to Virginia, and the Arlington Cemetery. We had views through the trees of some of the many thousands of gravestones in this place of remembrance. On leaving Arlington Cemetery we headed back to Washington. Before crossing the river we had a good view of the Pentagon.
Back into Washington we finished the tour and had lunch outdoors in a posh cafe less than a hundred yards from the White House.
In the afternoon we went on a different route, and headed North into the City area, with lots of shops, offices and hotels, including the Mayflower Hotel, where Bill Clinton met Monica Lewinsky! The tour made its way to Georgetown, which was the port of Washington many years ago, and there we went on a 45 minute river cruise, down as far as the Lincoln Memorial and back, which was very pleasant.
We then got the tour bus back to near our hotel and had a relaxing evening.
Washington Day 2 - including The Pentagon
Up and out, after breakfast, to the Pentagon, with yet another ropey taxi ride! We check in for our tour, via the obligatory security - but straight through and then waited a short while. Dead on 11 am, as you would expect, with military precision, our 11 am tour started with a briefing. We were then split into two smaller groups and off we went for a whistle stop tour of the building. We had two young military personnel with us. Both had received 4 weeks training prior to commencing the one year secondment to being Pentagon tour guides. They were extremely smart, in pristine full dress uniform.
The tour guide certainly knew his stuff, and spent most of the time walking backwards, so that while he was talking he was facing the group as we moved down the corridors. Walking backwards and learning the 33 page script is part of the training!
The second tour guide was there to ensure no stragglers, and as we were at the back of our group we were able to chat to her a little.
The tour first took us through the Coastguard area, then the Navy and Marines, Airforce and Army. They showed us the pictures of the only 10 five star Generals in American history. This rank no longer exists. There were also pictures of past Presidents who have also served in the Navy.
We would have liked to have stopped and looked at a lot more if we had been allowed.
We then made our way to the area and corridors dedicated in memory of the people who lost their lives in the 9/11/01 plane attack on the Pentagon. This was very moving with the formal areas of remembrance, especially with lots of handmade quilts sent in to support the Armed Services.
After this our tour guides took us back to the start. We had walked all 5 sides of the inner ring of the Pentagon and could look out onto the middle open area, which has been designated a 'no salute' zone.
A quick purchase of souvenirs and we were outside again. We walked around two sides of the Pentagon to see the outdoor memorial to the 9/11 attack. This was very cleverly done with concrete seats over a rectangle of lit trickling water. There was one bench for every person killed and they are laid out in the years of their birth, facing one way if they had been in the Pentagon and the other if they had been on the plane.
Very little Photo opportunity although such an interesting and moving tour.
We left the Pentagon and caught the Metro back into Washington. After suitable amounts of water and lunch, quite late, we head off for the Lincoln memorial and decided to take a taxi there. As we arrived the heavens opened and we got quite wet, just going up the many steps to the memorial!
We joined the many (about 500) other people who were sheltering in the huge memorial from the rain. The memorial itself has 38 columns, the number of States when Lincoln was President, and on the outside of the building are the names of the 45 States when it was finished. Lincoln presides over all this with his large statue in the building. Halfway down the steps is where Dr Martin Luther King Junior made his 'I have a dream' speech in 1965.
Once the rain had finally stopped, and the rainbow had disappeared, we walked up to the Washington monument alongside the Reflecting Pool. On route we also looked around the large memorial for the Second World War, which was opened in 2004 by George Bush. The Washington monument is a very tall obelisk, apparently the biggest of its kind in the world, and it certainly dominates the area. By the time we got there it was about 6:30 so there were lots of baseball teams practicing their skills and playing games - fascinating to watch.
We then walked back around the park areas to view the Oval Office and the White House.
We then made our way back to the hotel, past the Treasury buildings and via the White House gift shop.
We had dinner in the hotel, then did the final bits of packing and weighing of our luggage! A very nice finale to our trip.
Washington DC to JFK Airport and flight to Amsterdam then onto Bristol Airport and Home
We leave a warm and cloudy Washington and head for New York. We get out of Washington easily, through Maryland and Delaware States and into New Jersey. This time we can see across to Manhattan and enjoy the river views we did not see on the outward journey due to mist.
As we get nearer to New York the traffic gets significantly heavier and much slower, mainly due to road works and a couple of accidents. The last 20 miles take well over an hour. We find the car drop off point and quickly get through their process which is very efficient and get onto the sky train to the departure areas.
JFK is well sign posted and we soon get through check in, security and boarding is not too bad. The flight over to Amsterdam was a good one, nothing happened! We watch a film, slept a little and we are now in Schipol Airport awaiting our connection to Bristol.
After a couple of hours wait in Amsterdam we boarded our plane bound for Bristol. It took about 20 minutes to taxi to the runway, because of the size of the airport! We finally took off, and 55 minutes later landed at Bristol International Airport.
We have had a fantastic seven and a half weeks away. So many new and different experiences and memories to come home from America with....What a fabulous trip!
And now we start to plan and look forward to our next Adventure..... National Parks of Mid and West USA
