Washington D.C.

Tuesday, April 9th

We left North Carolina and headed into Chesterfield, VA to camp at Pocahontas State Park for the night. We’d been here years ago. It’s a large state park with great campsites. We would certainly come back again when we had more time to enjoy some of the hiking trails etc.  We had Stacie’s delicious leftovers for dinner so didn’t have to cook. We took a walk around the campground before dinner to mark down some of our favorite sites.

Wednesday, April 10th

Gary’s 61st birthday! The plan for today is to drive about 135 miles to a campground in College Park, MD which is a stone’s throw from Wash. D.C. It’s been awhile since we’ve had to face the I-95 traffic in the D.C. metro area. We weren’t exactly looking forward to this but it was surprisingly tame…. not sure if we just got lucky or if hitting it after morning rush hour and well before afternoon rush hour was the key. We got to Cherry Hill RV Park around noon. We headed to our back-in site and did very well with parking once again. Then it was time for the other exciting activity for Gary’s big 61st birthday… laundry. I know, I know… great wife I am. But we figured best to get it done today so we could head into D.C. for the next several days. In between doing laundry, we had lunch and reviewed what we wanted to see while we were here in D.C.

It had been years since we’ve been to this campground. The place has grown tremendously. Cherry Hill RV Park has been in the same family for five generations. If you’re visiting D.C. in any type of RV, it is the place to stay. The only negative is that it’s fairly close to the highway so road noise is an issue, but it also means that it’s fairly easy to get in and out of. They have pools, mini golf, splash park for kids, restaurant, concierge service, and they even offer tours leaving from the campground. The concierge provides an hour long sightseeing information session every afternoon to offer insider tips for visiting D.C. We got laundry done in time to take advantage of the sightseeing presentation at 4pm. The woman who gives it has been work camping at the park for 21 years. She was a treasure trove of information… from which metro stops are the best, which sights require tickets (the Capitol, the Holocaust Museum and the African American Museum because they are so popular), and info on the Circulator Bus (a hop on/hop off free bus with several routes all around the city). She even told us where to get a cheap lunch if you were down by the Capitol at that time of day… head to the Senate or House office buildings and eat in the employee cafeteria. Food is excellent and it’s cheap. Who knew! 

We finished up Gary’s birthday with dinner and dessert in our tiny home and watched one of our recorded TV shows. Do we know how to party or what!

Thursday, April 11th

We headed into D.C. bright and early. We drove to the metro station then hopped on the train for the 25 minute ride into D.C. It’s fun taking mass transit when you don’t have to do it everyday. Just about every person on the train who was a local had headphones on and/or was staring at their smartphone. Our new digital world. Of course, if I commuted daily and had to listen to the incessant noise of the trains, I’d want to drown it out with a set of headphones, too. 

When we were walking in the train station in D.C., a set of four fellow tourists walked up to us. I thought they were going to try and sell us something but instead they offered us their four tickets to the House and Senate Galleries. They didn’t have time to use them since they were leaving town. I thanked them profusely, then Gary & I looked at each other… not quite sure what to do with them. But we had a 3:00 Capitol tour scheduled that afternoon so thought we could figure it out when we got there. 

We walked a few blocks to the Circulator bus (or Oscillator bus as I kept calling it) and met another couple waiting for the bus. They, too, were camping at Cherry Hill. I ended up giving them two each of the House and Senate gallery tickets since we only needed two. Like us, they were very appreciative. We got on the bus, which was filled with friendly tourists and even the bus driver was quite nice. We disembarked near the Jefferson Memorial and spent an enjoyable several hours making our way around the Tidal Basin to the various monuments…. Jefferson, Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the WWII Memorial. The Washington Monument can be seen from almost anywhere, and the views are better from a distance… particularly since right now you can’t go inside. The monument was due to open in a matter of weeks after extensive renovations then you could get to the top. We didn’t even get to the Korean Memorial or the Vietnam Memorial that first afternoon. 

First impressions of DC… it’s awesome!!  Sooooo impressive. The monuments are monolithic and all so very different from one another. The only two that seem similar to me are Jefferson and Lincoln. Those two beautiful marble structures both have imposing stairs and columns with Jefferson standing in the middle of his and Lincoln seated, surrounded by his words etched into the marble walls around him. Such history. Humbling. It’s very different than the incredible history of so many European cities, but impressive in its own right… uniquely American. You can stand at one Memorial and look across and see another and then another and then another. To see these amazing monuments so close to one another practically takes your breath away… and to have so many of them surrounding the Tidal Basin where the cherry blossoms are in bloom is simply dazzling. Granted we did not see the cherry blossoms at their peak. They were past peak for us, but still, there was enough left that we could get the idea. I think hitting cherry blossoms at peak is even tougher than hitting fall foliage at peak! 

It’s wonderful to be able to wander through the National Mall whether you’re walking, riding a bike, or hopping a bus and see all the great monuments in one part of the city in a matter of hours. The MLK memorial is enormous and is carved out of granite but also the lower portion almost recedes back into the granite. It’s magnificent. FDR’s bronze memorial meanders along over a wide area. Since his presidency lasted almost four terms, it’s fitting that his memorial is literally so long. You end up walking in and out of it. It showcases Eleanor Roosevelt, a food line, FDR in his wheelchair, and his funeral. Both MLK and FDR had water features which weren’t working when we were there. Apparently they turn them off over the winter and early spring months because of the fear of freezing pipes. The water aspect on the FDR monument would definitely make that one more special. 

The WWII Memorial appeared to be the largest. I don’t know if it actually is, but it probably should be based on the impact the war had on not only our country but the world. It’s circular in design with an Atlantic and a Pacific pavilion on either end and an enormous fountain in the middle. Surrounding the fountain are pillars for each state (plus the territories), meant to symbolize roll call of the nation. Also, there is a “freedom wall” with 4,000 gold stars commemorating the more than 400,000 Americans who gave their lives. (Second only to the 600,000 lives lost in the Civil War.) With the fountain in the middle, it is a tranquil place. The Lincoln Memorial and the reflecting pool are also in evidence from the WWII Memorial. 

A wondrous time spent viewing all these memorials.

From here we headed to The Capitol via the Circulator Bus for an afternoon tour. We got over to the Capitol area early enough that we could try our luck at grabbing lunch at one of the Senate buildings. We chose the Rayburn building because it was the first one we stumbled upon. We had to go through security. Think airport security. Exactly the same except smaller conveyor belts, and we didn’t have to take our shoes off.  Once inside it was obvious that this is a place of business, not exactly geared up for tourists wandering around. We followed our noses to the smell of food and found the employee cafeteria. This sported a salad bar that was longer than any salad bar I’ve encountered almost anywhere, hot soups, pizza, burgers, baked potatoes stuffed with just about anything imaginable, and some specialty sandwiches. We were past the lunch rush so easily grabbed what we wanted, paid a whopping $10 for everything, and plopped at one of the tables. You could see that this was also a place where some impromptu meetings took place. Nobody we recognized, so basically nobody who regularly appears on television. 

After lunch we headed over to The Capitol for our tour. You have two options for touring the Capitol either (1) book a tour via the Capitol or (2) visit or call your senator or congressman/woman and request a tour from their office and an aide will escort you around. Our concierge at the campground said that the Capitol tour guides are excellent and know a lot of the Capitol history. The aides are young and don’t know a lot but because of that, you sometimes end up going places that you aren’t supposed to be because they don’t know any better. Since we didn’t plan all that far ahead, we stuck with booking a tour online through the Capitol website. Sooooo we were in a tour with about a hundred other people, but we all had headsets and could hear the guide no problem. You start with a 15 minute film about the Capitol and the government, which was quite good, and probably needed for those who don’t understand about our three branches of government. I like to think it’s just the foreign visitors who are clueless about how our government operates but there’s probably some Americans who are equally clueless. 

After the film, we visited “the Crypt,” the floor beneath the Rotunda which has 40 columns of brown stone and arches that support the floor of the Rotunda one story up. It’s called the Crypt because George Washington was supposed to be buried here along with his wife Martha, but George wanted to be buried at his home in Mount Vernon so that never happened. Also in the Crypt are 13 statues from the National Statuary Hall Collection representing the 13 original colonies. The Crypt is a heavily traveled area with people getting from one part of the building to another using this corridor. 

From there we headed one floor up to the famous Rotunda, the circular room directly beneath the Capitol dome.The place where most recently Bush 41 and Senator McCain were laid out for public viewing upon their deaths. It’s a magnificent space. Looking up you see the huge dome with an amazing fresco on the ceiling with painted figures that are 15 ft tall. This is set in the dome and then surrounded by the dramatic structure of the dome with various figures in relief on the dome walls. The whole feel is massive. Then you see enormous paintings hanging from the walls of the Rotunda itself and more statues surrounding the space. There are over 100 statues in the Capitol building. Two statues from each state chosen by their legislature to honor notable citizens. They are everywhere.

After viewing the Rotunda that was the end of our Capitol tour. But we still had our House and Senate Gallery tickets. Because the Senate was in session the day we visited, the line to visit the Senate gallery was quite long. Gary’s back was starting to bother him with all of the day’s walking so we decided to bail on the Senate and check out the House gallery. As it turned out, the House was not in session the day we visited, which meant that the line to get into the House gallery was short. Since this is where our sitting President makes his State of the Union speeches, we thought it was well worth making the effort to check it out even if there was nothing happening this day. You first pass through one check point to give up all your electronic devices including smart watches, all cameras, and keys. In exchange you’re given a tag to come back and reclaim your goodies. Then we took the elevator upstairs and waited on a second line to enter the upstairs gallery of the House of Representatives. It looked just like on television. A bit surreal being there. It is a beautiful room and quite impressive. You realize you’re sitting where laws are passed and government takes shape. We sat for a little while and soaked that all in. Then it was time to walk back to the metro and head for our tiny home and crash. We ended up walking about 7+ miles that day and climbed about 13 flights of stairs based on my smart watch. We slept well. 🙂

Friday, April 12th

There is so much to see in D.C. that it is overwhelming. The Smithsonian alone has 17 museums to visit… then there are the 10 or so “big” Memorials… never mind all the smaller Memorials… plus The Capitol, Arlington National Cemetery, Union Station, the National Cathedral, and on and on it goes. We just decided to focus on seeing sights (1) that we hadn’t seen before, or (2) that were quintessential D.C. and worth seeing a second time, or (3) that we were interested in and we could see without going through a lot of bells and whistles to get tickets etc. The last time we visited D.C. was probably 15 or 20 years prior… and before that it was a 7th grade field trip for me. 

Besides the fact that there’s so much to see, the other happy surprise is that just about everything you’re going to see has no cost associated with it!  All the monuments, all the museums… all free! I realize it’s our tax dollars at work, but still, pretty cool! I think the foreign visitors are getting a free ride on our tax dollars but that’s ok. The only place that we found that wasn’t free… believe it or not… was the National Cathedral. If you attend a church service that’s free. But if you want to just go in to see the cathedral, you have to pay an admission fee of $12. I object to that on principle. Plus since it was located outside of the immediate area, we weren’t going to get there anyway during this visit. But still…

On a prior visit to D.C. 15+ years ago, we had visited Union Station and Arlington National Cemetery, so we were not going to repeat those this time. We thought about trying to get tickets to the Holocaust Museum. They have same day tickets available but you have to go online at 6 AM and try your luck. We set the alarm for 6:30 but that wasn’t early enough so that was a no go. You could still go visit the Holocaust Museum but the major exhibit has a time stamp associated with it so that would not be available to us. If we had booked this a few days earlier, it probably would have worked. Ditto for the African American Museum, that was booked also after trying to get same day tickets at 6:30 AM. Okey dokey then. We’re not doing those. We decided we’d head in on the metro and first see if we could get into the National Archives Museum. If that didn’t work, right next to it is the National Gallery of Art … both the Sculpture Garden and the museum. 

We drove to the Metro station once again and hopped on to the train, feeling rather like old pros now. We walked the couple of blocks to the National Archives Museum and saw the line going all the way around the block with school group after school group. Tomorrow is the Cherry Blossom Parade in D.C., which is a very big deal. We didn’t even know there was such a thing as a Cherry Blossom Parade but because of that, a lot of marching bands etc. were in town to participate and decided to see the Archives. Ok then…. Sculpture Garden here we come. The Sculpture Garden was interesting…. many of the pieces were not to our taste. Frankly I don’t think they’d be anybody’s taste, but that’s a rather mean spirited comment on my part. We (more specifically I) did like several of the pieces. There was an interesting gigantic eraser, a house that looked different depending on your perspective, and a metal tree to name a few. Gary wasn’t a big fan. From here we headed to the Smithsonian’s National Gallery of Art, which is divided into two buildings, East and West Buildings. To walk into an Art Museum and be told that you can photograph anything you like is definitely a unique experience. 

The National Gallery of Art is so huge that we knew we had to choose which exhibits we wanted to see, there wouldn’t be enough time or energy to see it all. We started in the West Building. There are rooms dedicated to early furniture and the decorative arts. Those rooms had a sensor in the floor or around the object that went off if you got to close. A booming voice would come on the loud speaker in the room saying “you’re too close to the object, step away.” Scared the crap out of you! The room security person would glance over and give you an apologetic smile. After we set it off a few times, we learned how close was too close. Then you’d see the next poor unsuspecting art lover walk in and set it off all over again. We got out of there fairly quickly. 

Another room had an interesting photographic exhibit called “The Birmingham Project” based on four young black girls who lost their lives due to racial violence in the early 60’s. The artist had a series of two photographs side-by-side of a present day young black girl the same age as the young girls who died in the early 60’s and a present day adult woman the same age the girls would have been had they lived to adulthood. Very moving. 

We spent a little more time going through the West Building then headed over to the East Building which has more modern and contemporary art. We ended up going outside and walking all the way around the building. We realized later that if we had simply walked through the gift shop and food court, there was a light sculpture (with 41,000 computer-programmed LEDs along the 200 ft. long space) to transport you through an underground concourse to the East Building. There we found paintings on display by Picasso, Matisse, Jackson Pollock, and Georgia O’Keefe among others. I also got an education on the difference between minimalism, surrealism, etc. On the top floor of the museum were great outdoor views of the city and some large sculpture pieces… including a giant blue chicken… because, really, doesn’t everyone need a giant blue chicken in their life. 

After that we headed back to rest because we had an evening tour booked leaving from the  campground to see the monuments lit up at night. It was supposed to be raining that evening but oh well. We had an early dinner and met at the meeting location at 6 PM. There was only about 20 of us. Two nights ago when they ran this tour, it was sold out. I think the potential for rain has kept people away. Gary brought his camera to get some night shots, and I have my iPhone for picture taking… not that it’s particularly good with night shots. We no sooner get on the bus then Gary realizes he forgot to put the memory card back in his camera. Oops, no picture taking for him this evening. The bus tour guide John is great and is a native of Maryland. He’s a wealth of information and keeps up a running commentary as we head into the city. We ended up taking a more scenic ride into the city and saw street after street of side-by-side row houses. Some in upscale neighborhoods and some in more modest communities. We saw some beautiful homes!

First stop was the Capitol. It wasn’t dark yet so no lights in evidence at The Capitol. Next was the White House. Last time I was here was in 7th grade. A few changes since my last visit. First the street is now blocked off so pedestrians only, which is rather nice. There’s also a wrought iron fence in front of the White House and (very young) guards in front of the wrought iron fence. That part wasn’t so helpful for picture taking. Since the street is blocked off, it also meant that there is plenty of space for protestors. Two were in evidence during our visit. One was a lone woman banging a drum and yelling in a loud voice. Not quite sure what she was yelling about. The other was a group of about 10 folks protesting something. The lone woman was the loudest. If I was one of the guards and had to listen to that all day, I might just slit my throat and put myself out of my misery. We did get some pictures. The White House is a beautiful home! (By the way according to our concierge, nowadays the only way to get inside for a tour of the White House is to go through your congressman or senator for tickets.)

From there we either walked to some of the monuments around the Tidal Basin or were driven in the bus: We saw the Washington monument, Jefferson, FDR, MLK, the Korean War monument, Lincoln, Vietnam Veterans, and WWII. Under the lights and in the evening, they all took on an added stateliness, an enhanced beauty and majesty all their own. I was glad we had visited FDR’s during the day to see the entire monument, because only parts of the monument were lit, other parts were hard to see. The Korean War monument is simple but quite powerful. There are 19 stainless steel soldiers spread out across a field of low juniper bushes wearing ponchos over their guns and gear. Their faces are weary yet onward they go. The simplicity of it is what’s so striking. Soldiers doing their duty. 

Gary & I had seen the Vietnam Memorial years before, but not at night. A black granite wall that goes on and on completely covered with the names of soldiers who were killed or missing in action. Impossible not to be moved by it. It brought me to tears. There are several stations set up where you can look up the name of a friend or loved one in a book and find them on the wall. At the bottom of the wall are mementos left by those visiting. I’m sure someone has the job of picking up all of those mementos periodically and where do they put them????

That concluded our night viewing of the monuments. By now it was about 10:30, and we took the bus back to the campground. A splendid evening!

Saturday, April 13th

After our late night we had a leisurely start to the morning with Gary making breakfast. This was also the day of the Cherry Blossom Parade, which we were hoping to avoid and the associated crowds that went with it. We decided to get another art fix and headed to the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum, which is also home to the National Portrait Gallery where the Presidential portraits are on view. 

Once again we drove to the metro station and took the train. We walked the few blocks to the museum which is housed in the historic Old Patent Office Building, one of the oldest public buildings constructed in D.C. We were unprepared for the absolute magnificence of the building. It is startlingly beautiful and worth visiting all on its own. It covers an entire city block and was originally designed in a Greek Revival style and took 31 years to complete with construction starting in 1836. Recent renovations were completed in 2006 and it was reopened as the American Art Museum. Wow. 

Our plan was to make a beeline to the Presidential Portraits first and then go from there. We got sidetracked when we entered the Courtyard of the museum which is 28,000 sq. ft. and is one of the largest indoor public spaces in all of D.C. It was open air until 2007 when 860+ steel and glass panels were installed to form a canopy. The day we visited there was an orchid show going on. It was a collaboration between the museum and the U.S. Botanic Garden and Smithsonian Gardens and was on view over the winter months. Oh my word! Absolutely beautiful! We were transfixed.

Eventually we continued our trek to the Presidential Portraits. So interesting! Many of the portraits of the earlier presidents were done by the same artist. All similar in style… very formal, rather dark with serious expressions on their faces. It’s helpful that they number all the portraits so you can go in order by when the President served. George Washington is, of course, #1. Next to the portrait is a plaque talking about the President, but also talking about the artist who did the painting. For example, JFK’s portrait is very gestural in nature. The artist was so taken by the President that she painted many more portraits of him. Bush 43 had a college friend from Yale paint him. He wanted an informal portrait so it was done at Camp David. 

President Clinton’s portrait is abstract in nature. The artist starts with a photo of his subject, he then draws a grid on both the canvas and the photo and uses the information contained in the photo to create a series of abstract modules on the canvas. Very different!

They also had the most recent portraits of Michele and Barak Obama, which everyone has seen on the news by now. President Obama’s portrait definitely had the longest (and only) line in front of it. Michele’s portrait was on another floor. Both were quite unique. The artist who did President Obama’s was trying to capture his connection with his African father and Hawaiian upbringing. 

Enough of all that. 

Next we wandered around several other floors. Once again, way more art than we could ever have the time or energy to visit. We found portraits of other famous people such as Katharine Hepburn, Melinda and Bill Gates, and LL Cool J (believe it or not). There were also some interesting sculptures, and a very interesting piece of art that featured license plates from all 50 states spelling out “We the people…..” 

After the museum we decided we still had energy to try and take in a good view from the top of the Old Post Office and Clock Tower which now is part of the Trump International Hotel. You go around the back of the hotel and there is a back entrance manned by a Park Service employee to allow you access to the top floor and the good views. We walk in and see people waiting in line. Not sure how long the wait is going to be, but we give it a shot. After about 20 minutes or so the line finally starts to move, and we eventually get to a glassed in elevator, with views of the interior of Trump’s hotel, which takes you to the top of the clock tower and sweeping views of the city. Unfortunately the views at the top are marred by screen mesh in front of you and vertical bars, so not exactly ideal for picture taking. Interesting none the less and very cool to see some of the inner workings of the clock tower. Since the tower was closing soon for the day, they were shepherding us through fairly quickly. 

From there we decided we’d probably had enough for one day so started making our way back to the train station but en-route came across the Ford Theatre where Lincoln was shot. This was also another spot you needed to have tickets to tour the theatre. At this point they were closed for the day anyway. But rather a thrill to see the exterior of the theatre. 

That concluded Day 3 of visiting D.C. 

Sunday, April 14th

After three days visiting D.C. we were a little pooped soooo we decided to hang out on Sunday and do a few errands such as getting a few groceries in, fueling up, and getting propane refilled before we start the final leg for home. Gary watched some of the Masters golf championship, and I went for a walk on one of the hiking trails in the campground. That was pretty much our day. 

Tomorrow we head further north to do some “dry camping” in a parking lot at Mohegan Sun Pocono in Wilkes Barre, PA.