This had to be one of the most enjoyable vacations I've ever taken (Even though I don't take many). To see the huge buildings, the mixed cultures, the dramatic lighting at night is all magic. The nations capital has to be one of the most beautiful towns in the world. There is too much to see all in a single weekend. The Treasury, Lincoln Memorial, The White House, The Capital, The Washington Monument, I could go on for a while listing sites. You can even visit one of 13 McDonalds found on a brochure tour map I acquired. Neato eh? Well here is all about some of the things I did see and what I thought about them.
Washington Monument
I never really had a chance to walk up to this building. It is currently covered in scaffolding for remodeling. It is 555 feet tall and is free standing. There is no mortar or glue holding this up. Just block stacked on block. The scaffolding was lit up at night and made the whole thing look beautiful. Especially with it reflecting in the reflection pool.
The National Archives
This building was very impressive because of it's height and pure size.
It's just plain gothic feeling, kinda like a big screen movie. The big
pillars reaching for the sky, the openness of the main room. It's quite a
site. This building hosts the original copy of our nations constitution.
It is housed with a yellowish glass. This glass is yellow because it is
filled with a special gas that keeps light from harming the famous document.
There are also two men on duty on either side to hurry the line along to see it.
One of the coolest things you'll get to see while at the Capital. And yes, that is
adventurus me climbling the gigantic stairs. That was a terrible day looks wise for me.
The Jefferson Memorial
The way this thing looked as the bus passed it was very cool. The front pillars moved and the back pillars move and shift until just for a moment you could see Jefferson's great statue against the back drop of DC only to disappear as quickly as he came. It's a beautiful monument, with it's circular shape and the caped statue standing tall in the center. This was my own artisitic shot of the magnificant statue.
The White House
This building seemed pretty inaccessible to me, about the most I got to see of it was from the back, which I snapped a picture from. And of course the White House lawn, which looks alot more healthy than mine. I'm the kid in the green shirt. The forest green shirt. If you were to be standing where I was and to look towards the camera, you would have saw a vietnam demonstration that has been up for many many years.
The Capital Building
I got to get inside of this building (Don't tell anybody!) Actually they give you tickets if your outside, it's pretty cool. They should just let you walk in but I guess they aren't that kind. Anyway, the building is beautiful, from the grand staircase to the main runtunda. I was everywhere in this huge building. It's very twisted and easy to get lost in, I even got to sit in the balcony of the main senate chambers. I suggest you spend lots of time in this building.
Lincoln Memorial
I got to see this during the day and during the night. The Lincoln Memorial like everything else in Washington DC is big. Very Big. And when you walk up all the stairs and enter the main chamber there he is, Abe Lincoln looking out on Washington DC.
Vietnam Memorial
The Vietnam Memorial was also neat, and it's amazing how big and how many names are on that wall. It's very well kept and it's the focus of alot of visitors. The statues around this part of DC are war related and also stick out as beautiful works of art.
Arlington National Cemetery
It was amazing how quiet everyone here was. There were thousands of people and they all obeyed the stay quiet rule for this cemetery. It was great how people were showing respect for the dead of out nation. The Changing of the guard was also a very neat thing to watch. The precision the the guards and the respect of the people was nice too. The stifling Virginia heat would drive me crazy if I were one of those guards. I suggest you do visit Arlington folks.
Mt. Vernon
Again the stifling hot Virginia Air made this place unpleasant. It wa s neat to see Washington's home, but the weather could have been nicer. I also got to ride on a river boat on the Potomac as part of Mt's Vernon's services. They have a nice little gift shop but if your planning to see this bring some money, it's not free. The cost was covered in my tour fee.
Smithsonian Air and Space Museum & Museum of Natural History.
If your a space nut you have to go see this! They have the full size space ships and all the cool plane's. You can touch a moon rock and eat space ice cream. They even have cool shows, but I didn't get to see any. This is definitely a place for science people. I think everybody visiting DC should go to this building. The other buildings of the Smithsonian are also fun and interesting, but not really good for touring like I was doing. You need about a day in each building to fully appreciate them.
- Restaurants, Hotel, and Stores
And last but not least the places a ate in, shopped in, and slept at. My accominidations were at the Normandy Hotel in Uptown DC. This hotel was a very nice and clean hotel. They have a very classy front desk and bottom floor and the rooms aren't bad at all. In fact they were the best hotel rooms I have ever slept in.
The first night out on DC I ate @ Leonardo's Steak and Spegetti. This wasn't the worlds classiest restaurant but they made up for it with the quality of the food. I had Chicken Alfredo and that was delicious. I had some great meals in DC. The second night I can't remember the name of the place I ate but I had Alfredo once again. Again it was good and it filled me up. And to mention something about the cost of food in DC, a bottle of coke in downtown DC costs 2 dollars.
Well technically the only store I was in was "The Cuttery". They gave me the greatest haircut I've ever had in my life. I guess they needed experts for DC. If you ever go to DC I recommend this place because they are kind and not really expensive @ all.
Well that's DC in a nutshell as I saw it. I hope you liked my little tour kids. I do recommend this trip but watch out for shootings in DC, they happen all the time! This was voted 51st best state to raise your kids. Hmmm.....
Clinton Godlesky
Finished: 8/25/99
Trip: 6/25/99 to 6/28/99