Monumental Facilities

Sleeping in this tacky motel type accommodation is difficult.  Apparently part of the complex is given over to social housing!  Not being a snob or anything but kids play ball games in the car park and adults stomp around shouting and yelling most of the night.  It is also difficult to get the temperature/air about right as then the fan noise kicks in!  We are looking forward to getting home with windows open and fresh air!

We were pleasantly surprised by breakfast - with choice of a couple of cereals, pastries (we set aside a couple of muffins for lunch), toast (grape jelly & peanut butter - not game enough to try though!), oranges, juice and reasonable coffee.  We set off for town in the shuttle with a Canadian couple - also not impressed with the accommodation!

Union Station, Washington DC

At the station we had time for a coffee and managed to get some photos of the interior which is being renovated, then headed over for the Capitol where we had a tour booked.  We arrived in good time but were dismayed to find that no food or drink was permitted so had to eat our muffins and drink the water (could keep the bottle) before entering.

The tour got going with the rather annoying guide twittering on over the headphones with which we had all been provided. She seemed able to speak without taking a breath, punctuated with frequent giggles. The tour was very good but the group was quite large and towards the end of the session we, and a few more in the group, lost our guide (which was a relief)  and ended up going in a circle trying to find her to no avail.  We therefore made our way back to the start and handed back our headphones - intended to keep in touch with the guide but they did not have a wide enough range.  There did not appear to be anywhere to buy food in the surrounding area so we tried the restaurant at the Capitol and were pleasantly surprised with the choice which enabled us to have a huge sandwich between us and fruit.

We then started the long trek to see the White House but no sooner had we made it to our objective and were just about to take a photo when we were moved on by security as some photo session was about to take place on the lawns - there were opportunities to take more photos further away but with limited time available (as we had to get back to the hotel to check in on line for our flight tomorrow) it was disappointing.

Heading south we walked past the Vietnam  Veterans Memorial which is quite dramatically simple, to the Abraham Lincoln Memorial which was crowded but we laboured up and down the stairs for the obligatory photos.  We walked down the side of the Reflecting Pool to the WW2 memorial, then around the Tidal Basin, having good views of the Washington Monument, passing the Columbus Memorial, the Martin Luther King Memorial and the huge extent of Franklin D Roosevelt Memorial.   We were grateful for the frequent spacing of water fountains as it was very warm and humid and we were hurrying along at quite a pace, determined to see as much as possible but restricted to being back at the station by 16:45.

We trotted on, reaching the farthest part at the Thomas Jefferson Monument before heading north east and the Smithsonian Castle, various government buildings (by now they are all looking the same!).  Time is ticking away as we begin the home stretch up one last street (with numerous crossings involving some brisk walking and even running to make it) before reaching the front of the station and spying the shuttle van.  By now we were dripping and probably bright red - luckily the driver ignored his own signs about definitely no food or drink as we glug back the water desperately.

On checking in for tomorrow's flight we find that the seats are few and far between - in fact we can't get 2 together at all so are both stuck in the middle of rows of 3.  After welcome showers, we are off downstairs for dinner again, this time something a little less spicy!