Episode #48: Carol Ann's Trip To Washington D.C.

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 The cover photo for this story was taken just outside the Capitol building which was one of the many sites we visited while on our summer trip to Washington D.C.


After I took my business trip here in 2008 as documented in Episode 39, I was certain Carol Ann would enjoy this vacation, there is so much to see and so much history, I felt like it would be a great place for us to visit. It was four years later in August 2012 when we  had the opportunity to take this trip. We flew into the small airport in Roanoke Virginia which was about the size of Love Field in Dallas. From there we picked up the rental car and made the scenic drive  to Monticello which is the Thomas Jefferson home place. As a side note, I did not know until this trip that Jefferson (a deist by faith) re-wrote the Gospels of the Bible removing all of the references of the Deity of Christ. It was a pretty drive though the closer we got to Alexandria the traffic really did build up a lot. As you can imagine, the landscaping and the grounds were immaculate and a very interesting stop.


We stayed at a Holiday Inn in Alexandria which was pretty nice and the subway station was literally at the edge of the hotel parking lot. The subway is really the only way to go, the traffic and parking in Washington DC was absolutely terrible. The next morning we made our first subway trip and though is was crowded it was a nice ride and so very convenient. Over the next several days we made many of the typical tourist stops and attractions including many of the monuments and other must see historical locations seen in the pictures below.

The Jefferson Memorial here is a very unique architectural design and was very interesting to visit.


The Washington Monument was not open to visitors due to structural inspections and maintenance work being conducted due to a magnitude 5.8 earthquake that hit the area almost exactly a year prior on August 23, 2011. Also seen in the photo below, the reflecting pool was empty and that was also a disappointment. 




The Lincoln Memorial was a very memorial stop while we were there. This is a very popular attraction and the crowd of people made it difficult to easily move around to read and get photos while we were at that location. It was quite warm that day as well.


As you can see on the roof of the monuments, there was video surveillance everywhere you look.





The Vietnam Memorial was massive and very moving. I grew up in a time that included a news report from Vietnam every day on the 6:00 and 10:00 news about fire fights, progress and daily body count.




The view of the White House was not much better than this. The fence line across the grassy area was as close as you can get to it. You can rest assured there are armed guards stationed along all four corners and posted on the roof of the building as well.


The entrance to the Capitol Building, seen here the entrance to Congress was impressive.



We took a ride on a boat tour of the Potomac River and this picture is of the bridge that John Wilks Boothe used to escape the city after assassinating Abraham Lincoln. 


After we made several of the memorials and other stops the first couple of days we took an open top bus tour to get a quick look at the city so we could best plan our remaining time, knowing we were not going to be able to make all of the stops we wanted to make. Here is a picture of us leaving from central station on the bus.






Without a doubt we wanted to make the short trip across the river into Arlington to visit the National Cemetery and to witness the changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown. As you can imagine, it was very respectful and profoundly moving. The first picture below is the grave site of Robert F. Kennedy.


The next photo is the grave site of John and Jacqueline Kennedy and the Eternal Flame immediately behind their marker plates.









Another location we just had to see while we were here was also of historical significance. Though not nearly to the national importance of the other national museums and monuments, but none the less, a location that was in the news of the early 1970s non stop for years. The photo below is that of the infamous Watergate Hotel. If you know, you know.



The trip was a lot of fun and very educational. We stopped at many other of the local attractions including the World War ll Memorial, The FDR Memorial, Ford's Theatre and many others. We even made time to do a little shopping on our return driving trip to the Roanoke Airport. We are both glad we had this opportunity to make this trip and mark it off our bucket list.






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