Second Stop.. Washington DC!

Washington DC was our second stop on our honeymoon and the only place we were visiting which I hadn’t been to before (it was Will’s first trip to the mainland US). We had a great time there! It was so cool to see all the famous national buildings and statues in person! Very impressive! It hadn’t really occurred to me just how old all the buildings in Washington would be. I had heard of Georgetown- that it was a fancy shopping area full of old buildings and guessed it was going to be like the Rocks area of Sydney, but Washington had so many old BEAUTIFUL buildings all over. I mean our Neighbourhood was FULL of gorgeous old houses, just like Dollshouses, and beautiful old schools and small hotels like ours. I really loved the houses of Washington! Will kept saying “Well, why don’t you move here then?!” I wonder if I can convince work to buy a Pathology company in DC, they have them everywhere else in the US!
Back to the important buildings… Well our hotel was only a 15 min walk to the White House and the National Mall so we walked everywhere in DC. Even over the Potomac River to Arlington Cemetary, which was a bit of a hike! The White House was pretty cool to see IRL! We even saw the snipers on the roof! The flags were all at half mast but I’m not sure why. Obama was in DC too cos we saw him on the news, not IRL though, bummer!

After the White House we moved on down to the National Mall (the long strip of government buildings) and over to the Washington Monument. Ok, I new it was big, but I just didn’t imagine that it was THAT BIG!! That thing is GIGANTIC!! A man pointed out that it’s made of 2 different coloured stone cos they stopped building during the Civil War then took it up again after. It’s just so so so so big. We had so much fun taking the ridiculous “look, I’m leaning on the monument!” pics, and I have one of Will “holding” it and there’s one where I’m wearing it on my head etc. LOL!! We looked so stupid doing it, but I have to say we weren’t the only ones! And yes, Will does need to pull his pants up, he doesn't have such tiny short legs!

Next it was on to the Lincoln Memorial past the Reflecting Pool which you’ll recognise from Forrest Gump! As soon as we got to Lincoln they herded everyone out cos there was a “Suspicious Package” and they had to call in the police and the Bomb Dog!! It was very cool to be in a bomb scare, LOL! We waited about 15 mins while they cleared the area and the dog checked it out then a family came rushing back cos their 12yo son had left his backpack next to Lincoln and it was what they thought was the suspicious package! The poor kid, cos his Dad was so annoyed that he had caused a national memorial incident and was pretty furious! Not to mention the 150 people looking on from the steps outside! I think Linc is my fave American president. He looks like you could just sit up his lap and tell him all about your day! LOL!! We saw a second baseball game in DC and they had a “president’s race” where there were 4 men dressed up with these giant oversized heads that were 4 presidents! There was Lincoln, Jefferson, Grant and someone else I can’t remember. It was hillarious! Lincoln won, mostly cos I was cheering him on {tongue in cheek!}

Arlington Cemetary was just amazing, the same white head stones just go on and on over the rolling hills and off in to the distance. It looks just like in the movies or NCIS! I kept my eye out for Gibbs but didn’t see him {wink!} It was very moving to be there and we walked up to JFK’s grave too. It also has a pretty good shopping centre nearby at Pentagon City so I made sure we made a visit there too :) They said at the current rate the cemetary will be full by 2020 so they are petitioning to expand it so it will last til 2060. Now that's a lot of these white head stones!

The Capitol Building is MASSIVE too! They do like their impressive Government buildings! We thought we were at the front of the Capitol until we walked around the other side and found the other "front"- the famous side from all the pics :) By that time I had exhausted all my poses and so we devised the "jump" pic! It was fun and it turns out White Girls can Jump! LOL! It only took Will 2 goes to actually get me in the air (the other pic looks like I'm trialling some weird new dance move involving a flamingo-like stance with flailing arms) {laughs}. Will also perfected his star jump at the Capitol. You can do tours though you have to book in etc and we're not that organised (or apparently, that interested).

We visited a couple of the Museums in Washington, though after walking everywhere I have to say I was quite stuffed so didn't have a huge amount of patience- I know I know, how very uncultural of me! All the Museums in Washington are free too BTW, which is pretty cool for tourists! We went to the National Air and Space Museum and the Native American People museum. I did feel a bit like the Native American museum was there out of political obligation, cos there was hardly any exhibits, only one giant shop of Indian Crafts. I think the government could put a bit more effort in cos the Air and Space museum had about 100 times the exhibits! There was a travelling photo exhibit about American Indian assimilation of white and Negro cultures which was quite cool but that was about it.

Our morning out in Georgetown was so beautiful, the old streetscapes were so beautiful and I found my first cardmaking store! Hooray! We had a beautiful morning tea at Dean & Deluca where I got a Red Velvet cupcake (will make an appearance in a later post!) and real espresso coffee! YAY!

So I'll leave you with a bunch of pics of the gorgeous houses in Washington, plus one more of the Washington Monument cos I still can't get over just how big that thing is!!

:) C

Did I mention it was big?