We began our tour at Union Station, the main station for rail and bus lines. It's a huge building with a large shopping mall and a huge domed main area. Our bug arrived and we sat up top in the sunshine as we were driven past historic buildings and monuments. DC is the city of art - there are dozens of sculptures dotted around the city dedicated to historic American people or events.
Our first stop off the bus was at the Korean War Memorial. It's a group of 19 figures, representing all the branches of service, each one in a different pose, depicting men moving through the battlefield. It's set with a backdrop of highly polished granite which reflects the figures. They are set in a V formation, representing victory. They represent the 38th parallel, the division between South & North Korea. It also has a reflection pool, and the saying, Freedom is not free. On the walk leading up to it are the countries who participated in the Korean War (or 'conflict'), including Australia.
After looking at the Korean Memorial, we made our way to the Lincoln Memorial. This monument is representative of freedom, as it was Lincoln who drafted the Emancipation Proclamation, signalling an end of slavery, and effectively starting the pathway to an integrated America. The Lincoln Memorial is huge....a 19ft statue of a seated Abe. The building it is situated in has quotes from his famous speeches, including his one from the Gettysburg Address. The statue is amazing! Out the front are the stairs from where Martin Luther King gave his infamous 'I have a dream' speech from, and also where Forrest Gump gave his anti- war 'that's all I have to say about that' speech. We did look at recreating the scene from Forrest Gump where Jenny runs to Forrest through the pool, but one look and smell of the water put paid to that idea!!!
Another short walk bought us to the Vietnam War memorial. It was incredibly moving, as it is a long black slab of granite with the names of all 58,200 plus soldiers who died or were missing from the war. Even more moving was the tributes to the soldiers who have passed since the wall was originally done, and these have little stands with pictures of them in the Army, and as they were before they died. Some even had personal items left by family members. Some I saw (through my tears admittedly) were candy bars, t-shirts, teddy bears and a signed baseball. It made me cry, as many of them were the same vintage as my dad....
After wiping up the tears, we swapped bus routes (there are four) and went to Arlingon National Cemetery. This is where some of Americas most powerful and influential people are buried. We made our way to the tomb of JFK and Jackie O, and saw the eternal flame, lit by Jackie after JFKs death. We then moved to the Tomb of The Unknown soldier. This is a tomb containing the remains of soldiers who have been unable to be identified from WWI, WWII and Korea. The tomb, a 79 tonne marble block, are watched 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by members of the Honour Guard. The changing of the happens every half hour in summer, so we set up to watch it.
Before we got to the tomb, we stopped to watch a military funeral procession that was passing by. A unit of soldiers followed by the coffin on a horse drawn cart. We stood with heads bowed as the family and procession of cars followed the coffin to its final resting place.
One guard walks 21 paces before stopping and turning. It's all timed to perfection. About 5 minutes before the change over, the relieving guard and the staff sergeant come out. The staff sergeant addresses the crowd to say who he is and what is about to happen. He requests that people remain standing and quiet out of respect. He then marches off to inspect the soldier coming on duty. Tis is a full top to toe, front and back inspection, including his gun. They then march up the the out going guard. The staff sergeant tells the guard to give his orders, which are 'remain on duty as assigned'. The other guard replies with 'orders acknowledged' and the incoming guard moves into position to being his watch. The outgoing guard and staff sergeant march off, where the guard shows his gun is not loaded by cocking it and dry firing it (pulling the trigger), and they march off. All up, it takes about 5 minutes.
After the change, there was a wreath laying ceremony. Once again the staff sergeant addresses the crowd to explain what it going on. He asks that any current serving army personnel are to salute at the command 'present arms' and anyone else is to place their right hand on their heart. The wreath is laid, the order to present arms is given and a bugler plays TAPS.
Before we could move away, soldiers from the MP honour guards roped off sections of the audience and asked people to move. Next thing it was all military. Lots of soldiers in full dress uniform, about 20 secret service officers, MP's, commanders and the upper brass swarming the place. Preparations were underway for some thing major, and were not moving until it was done!!! Word spread that the US secretary of Defence was coming to lay a wreath to commemorate the Army's birthday. We managed to snag the front row for the best view!!
At the right time, 4 groups of soldiers in full uniform walked up the stairs. Next, the Army band marched on, accompanied by a single drum beat. In next was the colour guard...3 soldiers bearing flags of the Army and the US, accompanied by armed soldiers on either side. The band played Star Spangled Banner and next to come in were the dignitaries. Top Army brass and the US Secretary. They laid the wreath, and the bugler played TAPS. They then all moved out in reverse order, and in time. The guard on duty came back to the assigned space and picked up his duties.
The soldiers that are selected for honour guard have to fulfil very specific standards. They have to be a certain weight, height, look etc, and not everyone can handle it. Like I said, they patrol every minute of every day, no holidays or whatever. They will not stand down from their duty, regardless of the weather. They even declined to stand down when a hurricane was threatening Washington. To draw a parallel, there is just as much honour dying guarding the tomb as there is dying on a battlefield.
We ended up staying longer at Arlington than expected, but when the big Kahuna of the US Army wants to lay a wreath, you stay and watch!!! Plus the added bonus of full military pomp & ceremony!!
After Arlington, we got back on the bus and went past the Pentagon. It was only after taking some happy snaps that we were told we weren't allowed to take photos of the Pentagon. Oops....shhhhh, don't tell anyone!!! We went to Pentagon Mall for lunch. Four glorious storeys of shops, but we didn't have time - too much else to do!!!
After lunch we hopped back on the bus and travelled past more buildings and monuments, before getting off at the White House. We took plenty of photos and waved to the snipers on the roof. Not sure if Obama was there, but gave the house another friendly wave just in case. On the way back to the bus, we stopped and found the friendliest squirrel in DC. There are squirrels everywhere, but they scarper pretty quickly. This one came right up to us and didn't seem to mind having his phot taken, even holding my hand while he sniffed the camera lens! We stayed with him for a good 10 minutes, and because he was on White House grounds, we nicknamed him the Presidential Squirrel.
We made our way back rot he car at Union station, stopping to look at the sculptures above the entrance. There are a number of Roman soldiers holding shields, who, we were told, used to not have shields but as they were rather scantily dressed, women in the 1920's used to pass out at the sight of their...bits....so shields were added to preserve their modesty. But if you look at the right angle, you can have a peek!
We drove back to the hotel, via the grocery store and liquor store, and dragged our tired selves to bed. It had been a long day but we had packed lots in! And there was another day of the same waiting on Saturday!!
A quick tangent to break it up. Travelling with kids is always fun and you get to see them discover new things. The one thing Tara has grown fixated with, is self flushing toilets. (Or 'splashing' as she calls it) Over here, the larger percentage of public toilets flush when you stand up. Some still have flush levers. In every toilet we stop at, and there are many, the conversation between Tara and I will go like this:
Tara: Mummy, this one will splash itself won't it?
Me: Yes it will Tara.
Tara: So I'll be safe then Mummy, when I open the door.
Me: Yes you will Tara.
Tara: And I don't need to splash it do I mummy?
Me: No Tara.
Obviously there are variations if she does need to flush, but either way, it's a well worn conversation. The kid is like the Rain Man of public toilets!!
Saturday morning it was back to DC for day 2 of our tour. After day 1, we had decided to check out the other routes and do the boat tour down the Potomac, before heading back to the city so the boys could go to the Air & Space museum. The Smithsonian Institute manages 19 museums in DC alone, and entry to all of them is free.
We jumped on the bus and headed to the Washington Hilton to change to the bus that would take us through Georgetown and Embassy Row. En route we passed the Fords Theatre, where Lincoln was shot, as well as the house across the road where he succumbed to his injuries. The Washington Hilton is where Ronald Regan was shot on March 30 1981, after making a speech. The wall outside the building was where it happened. That's the thing about Washington - it's not just old history, it's history that has happened since I've been alive!!
The green route took us through a number of older neighbourhoods and districts, and past the cathedral, the 6th largest in the world. Some of the houses and buildings were stunning and the whole area just oozed history. Then we went back to the Hilton to switch buses again.
We used the restrooms at the Hilton (with the usual toilet flushing discussion from Tara) and before we could get on the bus, it took off with Doc & Gage. They waited for us in Georgetown and we caught the next bus. We had burgers at Five Guys, one of the best places for burgers by far!!!
We headed down to the river to catch the river tour, which was 45 minutes on the Potomac, going past more buildings and monuments. The sun was out and there were people kayaking, skiing, boating....just a lovely place to while away a lazy Saturday afternoon. After the boat, we headed back to the city and Bernie, Andrew & Amy went to the Air & Space museum. Doc, Gage, Tara & I wandered about and I bought the family matching I ❤ DC t-shirts. They had hoodies but the place didn't take card. We let Tara have a ride on the carousel and headed off to meet the others. All 3 of them loved what they saw, and agreed that there hasn't been enough time to really see it all.
We headed back to Union station and drove to see the Iwo Jima monument. On the way there, I lamented that I wanted to buy a hoodie but would miss the chance. We pulled up at a red light and I took the opportunity to jump out and buy one. I ran up, told them what I wanted and handed over the cash, and ran back to the car. Andrew opened the door as I approached and I threw myself in the van before the light went green. Everyone in the car cracked up laughing and it became known as Express shopping. All up, I think it took about 30 seconds!
We made our way to the Iwo Jima memorial, another statue well known for its symbolism. It's of 5 soldiers raising the American flag. The sun was setting, so the shots were quite striking. As the sun set on DC, we said our farewells to this beautiful city and headed back to Waldorf for our last night.
DC is such a stunningly beautiful city full of things to see and do. You could spend weeks there and still not see everything. It's also very clean and you can see the pride city workers take in maintaining the city. It's a great city for walking around and riding. There are a number of places that you can hire bikes for self ride tours, as well as segways and walking tours. It's a great place to be, regardless of your interests. History, art, nature....anything.
We will definitely be going back!!!
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