A Day in DC

July 22 – It was a long day!  A great day, but long!  Bill set the alarm for 7 but we didn’t manage to roll out of bed until 7:30.  I made some venison sausage and we had leftover scones so that didn’t take too long.  We managed to be on the road at 8:35 for the ride into DC.  The plan was to park at one of the Metro park and ride stops and there were signs for them a distance out but then no more signs!

 

Our train

I was hastily trying to find directions on my phone and then he’d pass the exit for it, so finally we managed to get to the third stop from the end.  The next concern was parking.  The lot only had open spaces in what was reserved for our fine government employees but we saw that they were open to the public from after 10 am.  A kind gentleman offered to move his small car to a different space so we could have the one he was in which was more like 1 ½ spaces.  Perfect!  We bought a day pass each for the metro knowing we would be going all over in my quest to obtain National Park Passport stamps for my book.  I had done a bit of research that indicated there were two main locations for stamps for the sites that were just monuments or parks with no visitor center to stop in.

Washington Monument

I want one!

We started by going to the National Capital Parks – East office in Anacostia Park on the SE side of DC.  I had an address and that was it.  Well, disembarking the train was a bit shady, as the first person to greet us was asking for money.  Bill questioned what I had gotten him in to.  We were told to go back and exit at the opposite end of the station where the nicest Metro guy did his best to help us but he only knew the park police were just down the road at the edge of the park.  So I was in the process of calling the NPS office in the Central division to get the phone number for the East office when a ranger walked right up.  I was so happy to see him and he said the office was just down the street beside the police division.  Hooray!  We walked a short way and went through the gate and around to the front and just inside the door was the NPS Insignia on the wall.  Whew!  At least we were in the right place.  The young man at the desk was a summer helper and was not familiar with the stamps, so while we used the facilities he checked it out.  When we came out he had us put on visitor name tags and took us to the library with a tray of 18 stamps.  Wow, the motherlode!  Great way to start out day’s adventure!

From there we took the metro to the Smithsonian stop right on the Mall.  Our first view above ground was the Washington Monument, which just warms my heart!  It’s all covered with scaffolding and closed to the public currently to repair damage from an earthquake in August, 2011.  The current word is it will be completed in 2014.  I love Washington and that being one of the first things I got to see there as a child makes it really special.  Then we turned around and at the other end of the Mall is the Capitol.  This trip being only a day didn’t make it possible to visit all the places we would have liked but it was still a great feeling to be there.

We walked to the NPS ranger station at the Survey Lodge where we picked up brochures and 4 stamps and he directed us to the stone building in front of the Washington Monument to get more.  The day had started a bit overcast and really wasn’t bad out until now.  We were sucking in the AC in each building we entered.  It’s not the walking that gets to you, it’s the heat and humidity.  While I proceeded to getting my 24 stamps Bill did some souvenir shopping.  We prolonged leaving as long as we could but it was a small place and not room to just hang out in the AC.

Bill with the USS Philadelphia

We crossed over to the National Museum of American History.  In the basement of the museum is a rather large cafeteria so although it was expensive, it was convenient.  They have a pizza station, salad station, grill sandwiches, BBQ and numerous desserts.  The place was packed.  The food is pretty good at least.  It was disappointing that the west wing was closed for renovation so there was really only a scattering of items to see.  We did see the famous Ruby Slippers again and many memorabilia items and a great exhibit on the US wars beginning with the American Revolution.  I walked through the First Ladies exhibit to see the gowns and outfits.  Boy, some were so ugly!  I mean ugly for even that time period.  What were they thinking?  We visited the USS Philadelphia.  It was an American Revolution cannon ship built in 1776 that was sunk by a cannon ball in Lake Champlain in NY.  In 1935 the mast of the ship became visible and the ship was carefully brought up and was in remarkable condition due to the silt and freshwater of the lake.  The cannons were intact as well.  It stayed in NY on display until it was bequeathed to the Smithsonian in 1961.  They even had the video footage of the ship being brought up.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Philadelphia_(1776)



Peterson House where
Lincoln died

Cooled down with full stomachs we took a walk of only a few blocks, but these are Washington blocks!  We went to Ford’s Theatre where I understood that I could get 3 stamps:  Ford’s Theatre, Peterson House and the African American Civil War Memorial.  Not!  I got the first 2, but they had no idea about the Civil War one.  I had the address of the memorial so we walked a few more blocks to the metro and went to the U Street/Civil War Memorial station.  When we surfaced, once again Bill thought I was trying to get us killed as it was NOT a good area.  The good thing was the memorial was just at the opening to the Metro.  The bad thing was it

African American
Civil War Monument

was fenced in for renovation but I still managed to get a photo.  Across the street we could see the gate for the museum where we figured the stamp was but it was closed.  The big brick building next to it in our minds, might be the way in.  Well, NOT!  Apparently we were on camera and as I tried to open the door a policeman in a bulletproof vest came to greet us and clarified that the gates next door were where we needed to go.  It was a jail!!!!!  Well, the posted hours said it was open but it wasn’t so we just got some photos and wasted no time getting back to the metro and on a train back.

We had a few more blocks to get back over to the Mall area where

T-Rex

we went to the National Museum of Natural History – my favorite.  I remember my first time in DC when I got to see the dinosaur bones and they seemed like stories tall then.  It takes me back to that first trip every time I go to see them.  Bill enjoyed it as well although the elephants and mammoths are his favorites.  It’s an amazing place that every child should get to see.  There just wasn’t enough time for all there was to see.  You can spend days in the various museums.  Lucky for us this was our 4^th time together in DC and I’d been many times before so I have been able to continue to see what’s new in town.

The Castle

We took a rest in the lobby and had some peanuts to provide the energy to make our way back out into the heat.  Most of the museums were open until 7:30 and we had hoped “The Castle” was too.  It was the first building of the museum and is now the headquarters for them all.  We crossed the Mall and I got some photos but it closed at 5:30.  We will start there the next time we come to town!  So it was time to make way to the metro and board for our park and ride.  We had to change stations once and it was so crowded at that time of day we were lucky to get seats but they weren’t together.  While on the ride I checked what recommended places there might be to eat near our truck.  There were 3 named in the AAA book and one was a BBQ place that was not a ½ mile away.  That got our votes.  It was a hole in the wall kind of place, Urban BBQ in Rockville, MD.  It was pretty busy for a Monday night.  You order at the front and they call your name when it’s ready.  I had a bbq chicken salad with crispy tortilla strips and it was so good with bbq sauce for the dressing.  Bill had brisket with cornbread and coleslaw that had corn in it.  He said it was different but it was all very good and the brisket was moist and tender.  We would go back!

Time to hit the road for home.  Luckily I remembered the route we took from I-270 to the park and ride and we managed to get back on 270 without a hitch.  Also by now the traffic had slowed down.  We get off at Middleton and took the hilly winding road home.  As we approached Boonsboro I asked if Bill would like an ice cream to top off our day and there was not a moment’s hesitation to turn into the lot.  We each had a kiddie cup, mine was coffee with mini chocolate chips and Bill went for the red velvet ice cream.  It was starting to drizzle when we arrived and really raining when we left.  It got worse the rest of the way with lots of lightning in the distance.  It was raining so hard we felt bad for our campers as we pulled in.  It looked like there were 4 sites taken.  It rained most of the night and at first our satellite was not doing so well, but once it slowed down some outside it came on we got to see the end of one show and all of the next.  You’d think we should have been ready for bed but just being in the cool air, resting in the recliner was the perfect end to a perfect day!