Summery Sunday

With beautiful blue skies and warm temperatures it was a perfect start to our final day in Washington DC. However, it now feels like the days come and go so quickly here and before we know it, we’ll be back on home soil...sigh! Sunday morning started with a stroll to the Second World War Memorial on route to The Arlington National Cemetery .

From the time you cross the Arlington Memorial Bridge you can tell this sacred place has an aura which is difficult to describe. The statues are excellent and the ambience of the entrance to the grounds and the rolling hills is something that reaches into your soul.

Veterans of every American war from the Revolution to the country's most recent conflicts are buried at Arlington. More than 290,000 service men and women are buried here and three unidentified service members at the Tomb of the Unknowns. At the tomb every half an hour there is the changing of the guard for which ever regiment is stationed there.

We then visited the gravesite of John F. Kennedy and family which is marked by an eternal flame, the Shuttle Challenger Memorial and finally, the memorial for Iwo Jima. These shrines are not to be missed. General Lee’s family residence also overlooks the grounds and has spectacular views of Washington DC.

Undoubtedly, the Americans certainly know how to honour their fallen or those that have served in the defence force and The Arlington National Cemetery demonstrates this to the fullest extent. Because John and I were on foot, the visit took a good two and a half hours but it’s well worth the time and reflection.

Georgetown was not on my agenda to visit, but a few locals we met at Maddy’s Sports Bar insisted it was the place to go when seeing Washington DC. After Arlington we continued our stroll through Rosslyn and then across the Francis Scott Key Bridge to Georgetown.

John and I found Georgetown to be quite charming with lots of designer shops, good cafes and restaurants. Therefore, it can be said it’s a trap for tourists, it’s the place to be seen (i.e., the beautiful people), and it’s the place to buy the best cupcakes in Washington DC. Check out the photo below of customers waiting outside the shop. We then had a nice wander around the shops purchasing some clothing and chocolate...yum.

Late Sunday afternoon John and I headed to the southern end of the National Mall and visited the Air and Space Museum. A little bit of trivia...it’s the most visited Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC and as a result, it can be very busy! There were a lot of people in the museum in the late afternoon but it wasn't anything too crazy, we got to see what we wanted and the exhibits were out of this world (pardon the pun).

The museum’s design chronicles the story of the mastery of flight, from The Wright Brothers to Space expeditions and it holds the largest collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft in the world. The only sad note was the museum’s cafe is a huge McDonalds, but I guess you can’t stop commercialism.

Long story short, once again we had dinner at BGR and then went back to the hostel to pack. With only one more sleep to go before John and I depart for New York City, I’ll leave you with a classic favourite which describes our feelings about the “Big Apple”.

Ciao for now,

Mark
PS: Sorry I forgot to mention that I had to stop by The White House and make an announcement and sign a bi-lateral agreement.