3 October Road trip to Washington DC

White House building works

It was an early start (for us) to catch the last commuter bus of the morning at 07.26 from Annapolis to Washington.   An hour and a half later we were walking towards the White House which is under going building work on the north fence.  Lots of cranes to see amongst the statues of the great and good.  Walking on down to the Washington Monument I noticed the uniformity of architectural style, broad streets and how compact the centre of the capital is.  The architecture is neo classical dating from late nineteenth to early twentieth century and mostly marble I'm guessing.
In our pre-visit research I'd read that the Washington Monument reopened last week after a refit on the lifts (or elevators) and free tickets were available to ride to the top.   It was either David's winsome smile or our lucky day because although all tickets for today had been issued we arrived at the end of a timed slot and there was space for two more people without tickets.  After passing through a two stage security search we were directed to the lift and a fifty floor rise to the top.   
Washington monument



Towards Lincoln memorial








Towards The Capital



Trump on the lawn

The monument is that long thin needle  overlooking all of Washington – no building is allowed to be built taller – and it is like a pyramid, built only of stone blocks without cement and without an internal frame.  The first lift was steam powered and would take 17 minutes to reach the top, the modern lift takes less than two minutes.
In the viewing room two windows on each side look out on to the Potomac river, Lincoln Memorial, the Capitol building and the south lawn of the White House.  While we were up top we saw President Trump giving a press conference on the lawn and his helicopter ready to depart. With binoculars we picked out a big man with a plume of white hair and decided it was either Trump or Boris Johnson, but more likely to be Trump. 
With a tight time schedule to see as much as possible we splashed out and jumped on one of the looping tourist trolley bus services.  The loop took 90 minutes, we saw the highlights with accompanying commentary and on the second loop we stopped at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and saw $20 bills being printed.  I didn't know bank notes were printed in the heart of the city.  The other place notes are printed is in Fort Worth, Texas.  Back on the bus for our next stop off at the Arlington Cemetery which contains the remains of 400,000 people and the Tomb of the Unknown soldier except his remains have now been identified by DNA.  Every hour there is a very precise ceremony to change the guard – plenty of foot stamping, slowing marching, gun slinging and saluting by soldiers wearing some sinister mirror shades.  To round out of American Kennedy experience, ie Newport, New England, etc, we doffed our cap at the tomb and flame of JFK and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis too.
Reflection pool





Korean Veteran memorial

Tomb of unknown soldier

Washington, District of Columbia, was built on land given to the newly independent nation from Maryland and Virginia.  Quite appropriately it is the seat of Government and a homage to past leaders and past wars; the Lincoln memorial, Franklin D Roosevelt, Martin Luther King and memorials to the two Great wars,  Korean war, Vietnamese war to mention a few.  For me the Korean War Veterans memorial was a powerful image.   We caught the last trolley bus back into the centre of the city, had a wonderful Asian meal (and a cucumber infused sake martini for me) before catching the subway to our Airbnb.
First the subway is far easier to navigate than NY, simple, modern and fast.  Second our first Airbnb was a success; a pretty house in a leafy suburb 15 minutes ride from town.  Just right to rest ready for a second day of intense sight seeing.