USA Holiday 3, October 01 (The Lone Wanderer)

After two days in Atlanta it was time to pack up for a morning flight to Washington DC. The hotel was actually in Arlington (Virginia) which is about half an hour west of Washington. I was a bit worried about finding my way to the hotel as it wasn't that close to the train station and there was a few freeways around, but it ended up not really being a problem at all.

The first thing I noticed after heading back into Washington was how the train station interiors looked exactly like in the game Fallout 3. It made riding the metro even more fun than normal, if that is even possible. Besides that, I think the metro stations in Washington look cleaner and nicer than any other I can think of.

Fantastic, even though it is pre-post-apocalyptic.

The Department Of Agriculture grow their own corn (?).

After some lunch, I checked out all of the outdoor sights west of the National Mall. Started with the Washington Monument, which is the big obelisk thing. I'm not sure what you can normally do inside, but it was closed for foundation repairs - unless you know the Vice President.

The Washington monument.

Next was the WW2 memorial, followed by the reflecting pool and the Lincoln memorial. Most of the tourists were hanging out by the Lincoln steps. It was pretty cool but The Simpsons episode has lied to me, people were not coming up to Abe Lincoln and asking him questions. I also encountered for the first time, but definitely not the last, people taking pictures not with a camera, or a phone, but with an ipad. I think it just looks kind of weird holding up a big tablet device to take a photo, and it looks rather clumsy when you have the case folded out too.

The White House (more later).

The WW2 memorial.

Also the WW2 memorial.

The reflecting pool and Lincoln monument.

Isn't every pool a reflecting pool?

Abe Lincoln.

Further south was the MLK memorial, which is an outdoor stone statue, as well as the Roosevelt (FDR) memorial which is more like a trail with quotes inscribed on the walls and a few statues. Finally was the Jefferson Memorial, which The Simpsons has got correct this time, because not many people bothered to walk all the way down there.

King.

FDR is in the White House.
An ice cream cone costs a nickel, and a hot new tune by Benny Goodman is hitting the charts.
The year is 1939...

Some eagle.

A date which will live in infamy.

Jefferson.

Having done a full loop I ended up back at the Washington Monument and went over to The White House, or as close as you can get which is the street in front of it. Before heading home for the night I located the Verizon Centre in the hope of finding a Washington Wizards team store. I don't really like the team but I like their team colours and logo so I thought they might have something good, but there did not seem to be any store that I could see.

The White House again.