NYC DC - Day 6

After packing up and checking our bags with the bellman, we walked across the street to the Smithsonian Institute, a gorgeous red brick castle built in 1855.  On the opposite side of the castle, we made a quick pass across the National Mall and hit the Natural History Museum.  Although we had been to the Denver version, which was very similar, it was really cool to be in the Smithsonian.  We loved the dinosaurs (of course) and the mammals.  We rounded out the afternoon walking through the sculpture garden before fetching our bags and taking the metro back to Union Station to catch our bus home.

Despite our pleasant bus ride from New York to DC, the return was not quite so.  As we boarded, I though the bus looked SO much nicer because of the leather seats.  Deceit!  The first announcement was that the wi-fi was not working.  About an hour into the ride, everyone was suffocating from heat and I kept seeing one hand after another reach up to try, unsuccessfully, to adjust the air vents.  One brave soul asked the driver to turn up the air conditioning.  He, in turn, asked the passenger to open the emergency hatches on the roof!  What? That helped slightly.  A little while later, the bus suddenly pulled over, which made us all nervous (Yet another problem?  Do we need another bus?), but the driver was just checking to see if we were all feeling cooler.  One stop at a really cool station with a full food court allowed him some time to actually FIX the A/C, so the last 90 minutes of the ride wasn’t bad at all.  It was so beautiful coming into the city at night with the full moon peeking out behind all of the skyscrapers.

We took a cab from the bus stop to the apartment, and I’m pretty sure it was the cabbie’s first fare ever, as he barely spoke any English, couldn’t understand East (kept thinking I was saying 8^th), and used a GPS to find the address, then passed it despite me saying, “There it is, there it is, there it . . . was.”  Oh, well.  It was a short ½ block walk back.  It felt good to get back ‘home’ and we were grateful that Meher and Elizabeth were up to share a glass of wine before we crashed.

Tomorrow . . . Dave arrives!

NYC DC - Day 5

So much for no noisy neighbors.  Oh, it was fine through the night, until about 6:00 a.m. when the construction crew got busy building the new Metro access just below our window.  Are you kidding me?  We woke up to the beep, beep, beep of the vehicles backing up, the pounding of tons of broken concrete being emptied from backhoe buckets into huge metal dumpsters, and said dumpsters being dragged across the blacktop from one location to another. 

We had the intention of getting on the first Big Bus today at 9:00 a.m.  After a few hiccups in the morning (First we stopped at McDonalds to get some breakfast for Brian, waited while he ate, and then headed to Starbucks to get coffee and muffins to go for Sarah and me.  Fortunately, Brian remembered that we couldn’t take food or drinks on the bus, so then he had to wait while we ate!), we finally headed out closer to 11:00, and went straight for the North end of the mall to see the rest of the war memorials.

Man, that Big Bus is the greatest thing ever!  The ability to hop on and off at any stop was such a step-saver!  We hopped on at the hotel and hopped off at the Franklin D. Roosevelt memorial, a series of outdoor gardens, each dedicated to one of his four terms in office.  I loved the waterfalls, the bronze statue of him sitting with his dog, Fala, and the quotes inscribed along the walls.  He was such a civil and human rights proponent, and the entire memorial was wheelchair accessible.  We walked from there to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, which was really unique, with King’s 30 foot tall likeness carved into one of three granite stones, being flanked by the Mountain of Despair and Stone of Hope, and surrounded by a granite wall inscribed with famous quotes King made throughout his civil rights efforts.  From there we walked across to the DC War, World War II, and Korean War Memorials, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Wall.  The kids loved the history, grandeur, and views, and enjoyed seeing the reflecting pool of Forrest Gump fame.

Hopping back on the Big Bus, we headed for the Museum of American History, which was filled with everything from pop culture, to the First Ladies’ inaugural gowns, to the original Star Spangled Banner, the 30’ x 42’ flag hand-sewn by Mary Pickersgill in 1813 for Fort McHenry.  We got a delicious snack in the museum café and then took the full Georgetown Loop bus ride around the city before heading back to the hotel for a room service dinner.

It’s been a delightful day.  Tomorrow we will be heading back to New York, so we’re rounding out the day packing and preparing to leave.

NYC DC - Day 4

Sleep came easily, and we were glad that our noisy neighbors must have checked out because it was much quieter this time around.

Today we slept in a little later than I’d planned because I didn’t realize my alarm was set to only go off on Saturday, and this is Sunday.  Oh, well.  After grabbing some coffee, milk, chai tea, and muffins at Starbucks (First-World problem – How am I going to carry a backpack, camera, muffin, coffee, and water bottle?), we caught the Big Bus and rode it over to the Jefferson Memorial where we got off and walked around.  It was gorgeous and iconic.  Jefferson stands in watch over D.C.’s Tidal Basin.  The memorial exemplifies Jefferson’s love of columns in architecture. 

Next, we boarded the bus again and rode it to Arlington National Cemetery.  We opted to take the tour bus within the cemetery, a good choice, which stopped at the Arlington House & Kennedy grave site, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the visitor’s center.  The Kennedy grave site is a sad place.  It is one of only two presidential grave sites at Arlington.  Overlooking the National Mall and Washington Monument, t is a tribute to the tragedy that plagues their family and is the final resting place of not only John F. and Jackie, but also two of their children.  We walked from the Kennedy grave site to the Arlington House which, along with the entire property on which the cemetery now sits, was originally the homestead of General Robert E. Lee.  That’s a whole interesting history in itself that is worth the time to investigate if you don’t already know it. Arlington National Cemetery itself is pure tragedy.  Pictures don't do justice to the sheer number of grave sites that dot the landscape.  You stand in one spot and look all around you and there are white markers as far as you can see - literally as FAR as you can see, between trees, over adjacent hills, row after row after row after row.  That seems like an astronomical number.  Then you get on the tour bus and drive for ten minutes each between three different stops, and the rows never end.  The sacrifice made by our military can never be numbered, but the visual of Arlington brings a pain to any American's heart.

Following Arlington, we headed back to the DC side and went through the Holocaust Museum, which we had pre-purchased tickets for.  (They were only $1 each, but had a timed-entry, which helped to keep the crowds down.)  Unfortunately, I had left our tickets in our hotel room, but they were able to look up our name and let us in anyway.  Amazingly, in the first gallery, someone in the crowd received and answered (!!!) a cell phone call.  I embarrassed the kids and made the lady behind me laugh when I turned around and said, “Seriously?”  It was ridiculous.  But, it didn’t stop us from appreciating the heartbreaking museum, and feeling ashamed that humanity could stoop to such lows.  It was sprinkling a little when we left, but it felt great considering it was another 100 degree day. 

We realized that it was after 5:00 and we hadn’t eaten anything since our First-World muffins that morning, so we hit the hot dog cart (which was actually a van).  Sarah ordered a pretzel with cheese sauce, something she’d seen in many other carts around the city.  Well, she got the pretzel alright but, rather than being served with a little cup of cheese on the side, the entire top was covered with a squirt of Cheez Whiz from a can.  Hee hee.  Brian’s order was easy – his daily dose of a Sponge Bob Popsicle.  Mine, not so easy apparently.  A chili-cheese dog seemed simple enough.  But, since the proprietor had only arrived 15 minutes before, she hadn’t “defrosted” the chili.  Hmmm.  That made me want it with ketchup and relish instead.  Can you blame me?  Frozen chili?  But the cute lady was so sad and said, “I really wish you could try my chili, it’s delicious and homemade!”  Aww . . . that made me want the chili!  That’s when the cart’s power went out.  I got the hot dog and it was cold, so I asked if the power would be going back on soon and, if so, could she heat it up a little more.  After some finagling and switch-throwing, she did indeed restore the power, heated up the hot dog, defrosted the chili, added cheese and onions (to the previously added ketchup and relish) and served up an unintended hot dog ‘with everything.’  It was delicious, as promised, but with the added toppings, it was a little much for my taste buds to handle.  I downed about half of it before we headed off to our next stop – the hotel pool.

After swimming, we headed downstairs and had dinner in the hotel restaurant, which was nearly as expensive as the Old Ebbit Grill and not nearly as charming, or delicious.  However, it was good, and we were starving – despite the hot dog incident.  So, all in all, it was a welcomed meal.  We were glad to finally be back to the hotel after another busy day, and were looking forward to sleeping with no noisy neighbors (fingers crossed!).

NYC DC - Day 3, Part 2

Our hotel is not as good as the reviews led us to believe.  Although the price was right, the hotel needs MAJOR renovations and has terrible insulation in the walls – our neighbors are so noisy they woke us up last night.  But, it has comfy beds, TV, and a shower, the three things we need most after our long days of walking.  So, it will do.

"That IS the superior view room that you paid extra for."

 "Really?"

We did spend some time at the rooftop pool, which is on our floor and has 2 stories of rooms surrounding its perimeter.  It’s quite pretty, and refreshing after a hot day.  We also made it to Capitol Hill, which is a spectacular sight to behold.  Since it was the first building/monument we saw, we were amazed by the granite walls, huge statues, and gorgeous water features.  It is so green here, understandable with the high humidity.  

We skipped the Intrepid Air & Space museum in New York, so we made a point to get to the Smithsonian version here.  It was filled with airplanes, rockets, and other weapons and vehicles from throughout history.  The size of the space shuttles was crazy!  There were dedicated rooms to the various wars, including uniforms, airplanes, weapons, and historical photographs of the times.  We loved it.  Did you know that the Smithsonian museums are free?  Well, as Brian would say, we’ve already paid for them with our taxes.  Hmmm . . . is he Dave’s son?  J 

After the museum, we went back to the hotel to change for dinner and bought tickets to the Big Bus, which is a hot-on-hop-off tour shuttle that goes all over the city.  We caught it just outside of our hotel, and rode it to the White House drop off location, which was just a block from the restaurant I made our reservation for.  Our day was rounded out at the Old Ebbitt Grill, a recommendation from a colleague based in D.C., and a good recommendation at that.  The restaurant was charming, like an old-time tavern, with great service and even better food.  I enjoyed their flagship dish – crab cakes, Brian downed a 14-oz ribeye, and Sarah had a delicious petite filet.  We finished off with a shared crème brulee, which was absolutely perfect.  Of, course.  

After dinner, we attempted to find the White House, and eventually succeeded unknowingly walking the wrong direction around an entire city block, finally finding it just around the corner (the other way) from our restaurant.  The South Lawn view was directly across from our restaurant, and we had walked right past it the first time.  It’s surprisingly dark here at night!  The delay was worth it, as a great thunder and lightning storm rolling in giving us a beautiful backdrop for the beautiful building. 

A taxi took us back to the hotel, thankfully, since our feet were ridiculously sore and tired.  Sleep came easily, and we were glad that our noisy neighbors must have checked out because it was much quieter this time around.