On the Road Again - Part Deux

So, where was I? Oh, yes, Sunday we decided it would be a good day to experience the Metro (subway) system since there wouldn't be as many commuters to deal with. Our plan was to get on the Metro and take it to the stop closest to the Jefferson Memorial. Then we'd walk over to the Jeff Memorial and FDR Memorial, then walk back to the station and get back on the Metro. On paper it was a great plan! What we (or at least I) had not accounted for, though, was that even with cutting the walking by subway'ing it, it was still quite a jaunt over to the Jefferson Memorial and then over to FDR and by then we were considerably far from the subway station!
But the Jefferson Memorial had a very nice gift shop and I bought me a cute yellow bag to hold my knitting in (when not traveling). The day was glorious and the view from the Memorial was fab! We were not as impressed with the FDR Memorial, with all due respect to him.
My aunt was not with us the day we saw the Korean War Memorial, and we were very impressed by it, so we wandered by it on our way back to the subway station, so she could see it. I believe it is my favorite of the war memorials.

Once we finally made it back to the subway, our plan was to ride it out to Arlington National Cemetery, which we did. I had been there before, I think when I was 8, but it was nice to see again. And the views of the city from there are gorgeous! We saw JFK and RFK's gravesites, the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and various other things. We decided that the men who guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier must have the most boring job in the world. They stand 21 seconds, walk 21 paces, turn and stand 21 seconds, walk 21 paces, etc. It's a good thing that they only have to do it for 30 minutes at a time. I'd go bonkers!
Anyway, by this time, it's late in the afternoon, and we're back on the Metro following our plan… which was to ride to Chinatown, have dinner, then walk back to the hotel. I had never been to a "Chinatown" before… Evansville does not have one. It was an enjoyable experience. We found a very nice restaurant and I had the Chicken in Garlic Sauce – which is my favorite. I used to eat it all the time at the Panda (a restaurant in Evansville), but then the Panda closed, and my search for another restaurant with good Chicken in Garlic Sauce has been unsuccessful… until Washington DC!! That restaurant's CGS was DELICIOUS! I only wish they'd deliver to Indiana!

Monday we had reservations for a guided tour of the Capital Building. My aunt made the plans through Barack Obama's (her senator) office and our tour guide was very good. Unfortunately the Senate wasn't in session so we didn't get to sit in on some high-level yammering about nothing. Frankly, I was ok with this, as I have C-Span and am not that interested. After our official tour, we roamed Capital Hill and I got some beautiful pictures. Also, it was the Supreme Court's first day in session and we got pics of the press corps sitting outside the S.Ct Bldg taking a nap! I suppose they didn't anticipate much happening on the first day. We then wandered down the Mall to the National Air and Space Museum (part of the Smithsonian). I went there when I was 8, and I remembered it as being fantabulous. But now, 30 years later, my feet hurt and I wasn't that impressed. I did enjoy the gift shop, though. J Oh, and we had lunch there, too. And I was very impressed by the McD's they had there. It's hard to describe (without using my hands) so I'll just say it's a must see! As we crawled back to the hotel, we stopped at the Hard Rock Café (again, my first) for dinner, then died at the hotel.

Tuesday was our last day there. Our flight didn't leave Reagan National until 4:30-ish, so we set out to see about touring the White House. Now, 30 years ago, we just got in line and tromped through when it was our turn. In this post-9/11 era, you don't do that. Word to the wise, if you go to DC and want to tour the White House, you have to make reservations through your senator or representative. We did not do this, so we did not tour the White House. However, again, word to the wise, you only get to see like 4 rooms, and it's not that impressive. After our aborted attempt to visit George, we wandered back to the Smithsonian because my aunt was interested in seeing the modern art building… the Hirschorn, I believe. Now, I'm not big on art and I don't know much about art, but this was just weird stuff. And I'm not just saying that because my footies were tired. So finally, we got back to the hotel, checked out, taxied to the airport, and flew home. 431 pictures on my digital camera later. God bless the person who invented digital cameras!