Saturday in DC

(For those of you on Iphones, you won't be able to view the videos on this blog unless you download the Puffin browser (it's free!) and view this blog through that browser. It allows you to watch flash videos, unlike the Safari browser on most iphones. So if you didn't know that, you are in for a treat because you will now be able to view flash videos. :0)

We left Ocean City, MD bright and early at 6am and headed to DC, about an hour and a half drive. Arrived at our KOA by 7:45 and had to sit and wait until the office opened at 8. We wanted to take the 9am shuttle into DC and luckily they had some spots opened. We would check into our cabin when we got back from DC so we awaited the arrival of the shuttle and soon boarded and were on our way.


The shuttle cost us each $12.50 but was well worth not having to drive into the city ourselves. It took about 45 minutes to our drop off point, at the Capitol. With the sun just over the top of the Capitol, I thought it was the perfect picture to start off our day.

You can't take a tour of the Capitol any longer so we headed off to see the sights. We could see the Washington Monument in the distance, so we headed that way. It was a very long walk and the day was becoming hot, but on we walked. Here is a view of the W. Monument as we approached.
 
That Monument is also closed due to an earthquake in August 2011. There is damage to the structure so it is not open to the public but just seeing it from the outside is a treat in itself.
 
From there we decided to walk on to the Lincoln Memorial but as we did, to our right we saw the White House so decided to detour over that way. We didn't have any tickets to tour so we just took a quick picture in front, along with the thousands of other tourists doing the same. :0)
 

Here is a short video of the white house, but it's not a real close look.

 

Next, we headed back to the Lincoln Memorial but along the way we came upon the Vietnam Wall Memorial so we walked along there and took a couple of pictures. It was very quiet along the wall and you could feel the presence of all the deceased military who gave their lives in the war. Many, many visitors were taking pictures of family member's names on the wall, leaving mementos under the names, or doing rubbings of the names.

At the end of the walkway along the wall, you come to the base of the Lincoln Memorial. It is then a long, steep climb to the top but once inside you see the majestic Lincoln statue and it is a sight to behold.

 
There was also a very good view of the Washington Monument from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Normally there is water in the reflecting pool, but they are also working on that so that is a tarp you see in the pool, with just a bit of water down the middle from a recent rain.
 
Leaving the Lincoln Memorial, we headed back towards the memorials to WWII and the Korean War. At the WWII memorial, they have a fountain surrounded by pillars, one for each state. The Korean memorial has a "rice paddy field" with statues of soldiers walking through it and a neat reflective wall surrounding it, with images of the men from the war.
 

By then it was lunch time and a friend of Jeryl's had recommended we try the cafe at the Native American museum so we headed there next. There was a variety of food, all related to the culinary traditions of the Indians. Jeryl had a spicy buffalo sandwich and I had the best baked bread, topped with blueberry. It was a very big loaf, about the size of my plate, and had a crunchiness to it as you ate. It felt good to sit in the AC and rest our feet for about 30 minutes.
 
Next, we were off to the various Smithsonian museums. Along the way we went through a garden and saw some neat sights.

We went into the Natural History museum and our favorite part was an art gallery of wildlife from around the world. Here are some of the neat photos and a couple of the outside and inside of the museum.

We also saw an exhibit about a prehistoric snake found in Colombia, South America. The snake is called Titanoboa and the exhibit is a reconstruction of the snake, from the skeleton of the snake found in an open-pit coal mine. The skeleton was 48 feet long and they figured the weight would have been 2,500 pounds. Here is a pic of me in front of the exhibit.

Next, it was on to the American History museum. Among the many great things we saw there was the Hope Diamond.

Our last stop was the new Martin Luther King Memorial and we headed that way from the American History museum. As we walked, this really cute squirrel came up to us on the sidewalk and immediately flattened himself against the pavement. It was too cute. Someone walked by and commented that must be the new "security" in DC. Here's a pic. We treated him with some nuts we had in our bag. He wasn't afraid of anyone.

Here are a couple pics from the MLK memorial.

It was almost time by then to meet our shuttle back to the KOA so we headed back towards the Capitol. We got a great view of the Jefferson Memorial along the way.

Here is a short video of the Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Monument.

Back at the capitol, we took a walk around the back and sat down to rest. Someone passing by saw me taking pics of the Capitol and asked if we wanted a picture of us so here we are, resting our tired feet.

Finally the shuttle arrived about 4:20 and we happily trudged aboard, ready for some rest from our long day of walking in DC. I believe it was 7 hours total. We were definitely ready for some rest back at the KOA. Here are a couple pictures of our camp. There was a great deck with a picnic table and swing. We ate our supper there.

There was also a neat jumping area for the kids. At one time it was completely covered with kids. I wanted to take a jump but was a little embarassed because of all the people sitting in their camps, RVs, etc so I just felt it instead. It's like a giant trampoline, surrounded by sand and the kids loved it.

Our cabin had 2 bedrooms, AC and a table, and that's it, just the bare necessities. There were 2 general shower and bathroom houses for the entire camp to use.

After a good night's sleep, we headed out about 9:30am the next morning, back on our Route 50 trip to Ohio. More to come on Sunday's trip later. Thanks for reading and happy trails!