Today was our last day to play tourist here in D.C. Tomorrow we fly to Boston, rent a car and head to Kennebunk, Maine and cooler temperatures.
So off we went this morning to catch the Trolley to finish up visiting some of the memorials. First stop, the Roosevelt Memorial. Even though we were there a few years ago, it is so impressive we decided it was a must to visit it again. I didn’t take many pictures this time but I did take a picture of Eleanor Roosevelt who is the only First Lady to have a statue in Washington D.C.
Next up, the trolley stop where the Lincoln Memorial, Korean Memorial and Vietnam Memorial are located. We viewed each of them up close last trip so this time (because of my bum toe) we saw them from a little bit further away while we waited for our ride to Arlington Cemetery. I’m not sure what to say about Arlington except that it is absolutely beautiful and very moving.
I think they said there are over 40,000 buried here. They have an average of 37 funerals a day. For high ranking military or military personnel that die while serving, they receive a very special full honors funeral which includes a Caisson where the flag draped casket is pulled by horse and many military personnel participating. We were fortunate to see one of these processions pass by us.
As we headed back into D.C. I caught one last picture of the Capital. I love it from every direction.
Our final touristy thing was to go to the Newseum. The Newseum is not part of the Smithsonian (so they charge) but it was well worth it. You could spend a lot of time looking at everything but we only had 2 hours. Enough time to see quite bit and enough time to see a 4D film. It was really good. I swear you could reach out and touch some of the things that came flying at you during the film.
Finally we found a great place to have a “Happy Hour” drink (or two) on our walk back to our hotel.
It was a great place to sit outside, enjoy the "less” humid weather and rest our tired bones.
We had been talking about Chinese food for a few days and China Town is very close to our hotel so on our way back we decided to have dinner. It’s a pretty small China Town but once we got there it was quite obvious where we should eat. It was a pretty small place they were really, really busy but we were able to get a table. It was filled with locals and just a few tourist like us. The food was delicious but as usual, we ordered way too much.
This last picture is something we kept seeing everyday and I finally remembered to take a picture.
There are bike stations all over the city. The first half hour is free and then there is a charge after that. I was amazed at how many of them we saw being ridden by non-tourists. I wonder how many other cities are doing this?
Needless to say we are exhausted but are very thankful for the time we’ve had here. Now, on to New England to hopefully see the fall color, eat lobster and have pancakes with “real” maple syrup.
Hugs,
John and Robin
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