Nights In The Capital

It was originally supposed to be a group of four. And then three. And then two, then three, then two again. We were originally supposed to stay at a hostel behind the Capitol Building, but we ended up staying at my friend's father's apartment. The bus was supposed to leave at 5:10 AM, but it filled up and we got bounced to the 8:45 line. I wasn't even sure if I was actually going until 7 PM the night before. But somehow, some way, after just over a year of conceptualizing this trip, and planning it, I made it to Washington D.C., our nation's capital and capital of the free world, for the first time. That last bit about the bus, well that was probably the last thing that went wrong on a three night trip that allowed me to see every last bit of the city. Literally, if you name a monument, or a museum, a fountain, or anything else of note in D.C., chances are I saw it while I was there. As soon as we got there we knew that we only had a set amount of time to see everything on our itinerary, so we got to work right away. Because we arrived later than we had wanted, we didn't have time to go back into the city center after dropping our things off at the apartment in Arlington. So, what better place to see than the Arlington National Cemetery, of which the highlights were the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington House (former residence of one Robert E. Lee), and the Kennedy Flame (eternal flame count now up to 3!). During this time, going from the bus station, to Arlington, then to the cemetery, then back, we became familiar with the D.C. Metro, the best form of public transportation available in the city. I had read that it was widely considered safe, clean, and fast, and it was, to a tee. With no car available over three days of aggressive sight seeing, the Metro became our best friend. The next morning, we rose early to get in line for tickets to go to the top of the Washington Monument, and it was well worth it. Sweeping views of the city, monuments, etc., and so we finished with that and continued to walk the length of the mall and around the Tidal Basin, seeing everything on foot. The White House, WWII, Korean, Lincoln, Vietnam, FDR, and Jefferson. When you look at these thing on the map, you're lead to believe that you can just stroll, from one to another leisurely, but this is far from the case. We literally assaulted our itinerary each day, and if we hadn't we would never have fit in all the things that we did. From the mall, we went to the Old Post Office, which is now a large food court and shopping plaza, but that's not the main draw for it is the tallest building in the city proper other than the Washington Monument and maybe the Capitol, and it provide more spectacular views. But, again, we were on a schedule, so we descended and hit the street again. ESPN Zone, Hard Rock Cafe, Ford Theatre, the Douglas House (where Lincoln died afterward), and the Hall of Archives, where we saw the Declaration, Constitution, Bill of Rights, and one of the surviving copies of the Magna Carta. Believe it or not, even after all of that, much of our walking was yet to come, for the next stop was Roosevelt Island, a nature preserve, and location of the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial. Now, unless you have a car, or feel like renting a kayak, the only way to access the island is via a footbridge on the Virginia bank of the Potomac. It also happens that this bridge is miles from the closest Metro Station in Rosslyn. So, we sucked it up and walked (actually jogged part of the way) to the bridge so as to get there and see the monument before the park closed. Then, we turned around and walked all the way back, past the Metro Station, and another couple of miles in the other direction to see the Iwo Jima Memorial. The sun had now been descending for some time, but do you think we were done? Not a chance, for the Pentagon City stop was only one past our stop at Arlington, so we got off there to see the 9/11 memorial beside the Pentagon, which turned out to be a great call because the Memorial is much more beautiful by night. We then went home and hit the midway point in our trip. Thursday, museum day, began in a blaze of glory through the large apartment window, the rising sun a constant reminder of the significant number of things we had to fit into this day. This was indeed the day when I started actually estimating how much time we could spend in each museum, and then setting it on my countdown clock so we would remain on schedule. We started at the Newseum, and the International Spy Museum, both interesting, and both overpriced. Then it was Smithsonian time. The American History Museum, where we saw the original Star Spangled Banner, the ruby slippers, Roberto Clemente's Jersey, the original Kermit the Frog, Apollo Anton Ohno's skates, and the Stradivarius Quartet. Then The Natural History Museum, where we really cut some time. 20 minutes allotted to run in, see some glorified stuffed animals and kiosks explaining the already debunked theory of evolution, the Hope Diamond, and some bugs. Air and Space was next. The Spirit of St. Louis, the Red Barron, Apollo space capsule, and we're outta there as well. And then, there was the Art Museum, where we fell of the pace. This particular museum was much more interesting than I expected (I hadn't even wanted to go there), and so we took more time than we should have viewing the Monets, Renoirs, Picassos, and the only Da Vinci in the U.S. Our last stop downtown was the Library of Congress, where I snapped some covert picture of the Gutenberg Bible and the Rotunda. Once again, at nearly the same time of day as before, much of our walking still lay ahead of us, for at that time we departed to see the Washington National Cathedral, the 6th largest on earth, and a harrowing walk from the nearest Metro. Eventually, after a seemingly endless walk, and some very odd conversations, we were looking at the Cathedral looming before us. The walk had been worth it. The Cathedral was supposed to have a closing time, and were were well late, but not only were we able to go inside, we were able to go to the 8th story and partake in the best possible view of the entire capital district. We headed home after that, hitting Columbus Circle for about an hour as we went. That finally brought us to our last day, where we really had to hustle so we could get back, get our stuff, and get to the Greyhound station by 3:50. We started by taking part of a walking tour through the historic Georgetown. There, we saw among other things the church that Thomas Jefferson Attended, and the house that Jackie O. grew up in. From there it was to the Capitol building, hitting some monuments (Grant, Garfield, Robert Taft), Union Station, Columbus Fountain, and the U.S. Postal Museum along the way. After a great tour of the complex, it was time to break for home, as my countdown clock was showing about 20 minutes until we had to be at the station, and that was all she wrote for our trip to D.C. I challenge anyone who can accept failure to try and see all of that in as short amount of time, while spending just over $150 including the bus fare. To get to the point, despite the fact that this trip almost fell through on numerous occasions, I consider it a resounding success. With virtually no help from our parents, we planned and executed a full tour of a sprawling city utilizing public transportation as our only means of, well, transportation. You won't find a lot of 16 year olds who have done anything of the kind, so yes, I am rather proud of myself. The only thing I honestly found displeasing about the city were the cops. The majority of the museum security staffs were courteous, but the cops were downright ignorant and belligerent. Sure, the used nice words like "excuse me" and "sir", but it was as if they were foreigners who didn't know how to use the right tone of voice with the right words. In short, they were even worse that your average police. They kicked us off sidewalks for no apparent reason, they tried to stop us from taking pictures of the largest damn office building in the world, and you see them everywhere, getting paid to sit in their cars with the engine running and the air conditioning on, doing nothing really but blocking traffic. Other than that little complaint, the whole trip was a great experience, and something to remember.