We left Front Royal for our drive to Washington a little disappointed. If we had the opportunity to continue our drive through Shenandoah National Park it would have been OK but the previous night’s storm had made that impossible so in the circumstances our decision to stay was not great. Perhaps Love would have been a better option.
Departing early we encountered a slight car problem when an orange dashboard warning light went on in the CuRVy. We stopped to have the problem checked in Sperryville. The warning was to do with the CuRVy’s emission system and was fixed easily and quickly. A nice break, but, one we didn’t really need as we had a long day ahead of us.
Monticello, the former home of President Thomas Jefferson, was beautiful. Our tour guide was, as you would expect, knowledgeable and she made being part of a tour group more than worthwhile. We left with far more understanding of one of the truly great people in the history of the United States.
Interesting that Jefferson did not want his being President mentioned on his tombstone and also interesting was his love of gardening, that only one of his children lived to have a full life and that due to his generous spirit he died with a debt of $107,000!!! Also interesting was that although he saw the end of slavery coming he still only freed 5 of his more than 100 slaves in his will.
It was Orange for Lunch. That is, lunch was in the town of Orange where we continued our North American tradition of al fresco dining.
Most of our trip has some element of planning behind it. We have some idea of where and when we are going to be and most of the things we are going to see, hear and experience. Of course you don’t really hope to plan for moments like meeting Reverend “Billy” Kyles in Memphis, getting tickets to a backstage show at the Grande Ole Opry or meeting someone in Tupelo, Mississippi who recorded at Sun Studios and knew Elvis when they were growing up. The next stop was another unplanned moment that makes you much richer for travelling.
Our next unplanned moment was when we stopped at an unknown, to the educator and the apiarist that is, part of America’s Civil War history. When we pulled off the road at a smallish Historic Marker for the “Wilderness Battlefield” we were astounded to learn that at this site on the 5th & 6th May 1864 28,500 died. What was even more amazing was that there was no decisive winning or losing side of that battle! We could hardly comprehend the actions and horror that took place there.
With not enough time to even partially understand the “Wilderness” battlefield we returned to much more mundane things and headed off in search of our next hotel and the chapter in our own adventure.
Traffic was building when we finally made off the delightful winding country roads of rural Virginia and back onto the I95 heading north to Washington DC. When I say it was busy for us we were happy to be heading north into Washington DC it was a full blown traffic jam for those heading in the other direction. Hmmmmmm I guess that’s one of the reasons why it’s good to live in Narooma!
Not that there weren’t difficulties in our travel Mrs G & the navigator managed to get a little confused but they settled their differences and we found our way to our nice room in the waterside Channel Inn. When I say waterside the Educator had a short walk (even by her standards) to a seafood market to buy cajun shrimp for a lovely in room meal. Glass of wine and unwind. How good it is!!
Breakfast in our waterside room was tasty and as we enjoyed breakfast we realised just what a good location we were in. The Jefferson Memorial (which by the way is a bigger version of Jefferson’s Tombstone at Monticello) was just across the river and easily visible from our room. Our day in Washington was going to be easy!
Oh well that was the plan anyhow! Having decided to drive to save on cab fares we realised that attempting to drive was a mistake and we returned to our hotel and got into the cab for the $6.50 ride to the first of the Smithsonian Museums. A learning experience for Mrs G, the CuRVy, the Educator and the Apiarist. Oh well, learning is part of the reason we’re travelling.
The Museum of Natural History was amazing not only for the exhibits. We expected to be amazed by the quality and quantity of them but another thing that really amazed us was the number of schools and school groups that were there. Each of the groups seemed to be dressed in their distinctive colour (blue, yellow, green, fluorescent etc.) with teachers and parents similarly attired.
Returning to the outside we were suddenly reminded that Washington DC is a hot place and it isn’t only hot politically in this election year. It was HOT PHYSICALLY!
We had forgotten a camera so there was no option but to get a cab back to the motel get the camera and return to another Smithsonian Museum (American History). Again fabulous, if only you could absorb all of the information!
We could only stay in the cool of the museums for so long and we set forth on an easy (for some) walk along the National Mall in the very hot Washington sun. There was no other option if we were going to see the World War 1, the World War 2, and the Vietnam War memorials as well as making it to the Lincoln Memorial. A long, hot, tiring day but worth every moment!!!
The day finished with a (free) concert at the JFK Centre for the Performing Arts. Mary Aloutte, Wonderful!
Well deserved sleep and then a drive to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Walked the White House block. Nice place, nice address but not sure it would be worth the angst to get to live there.
The Apiarist was really impressed with some of the things in the garden. But they must have tall beekeepers at the White House!!!!!!
Next stop Philadelphia…
No comments:
Post a Comment