OUR NATION'S CAPITAL & MORE

We ventured east to our nation's capital, Washington, DC, plus the surrounding areas of Maryland, Virginia & West Virginia. It was the third trip for each of us to Washington, DC, but our first together & the first in over twenty years. As always we packed in a ton of sightseeing - my feet are still protesting! 

Being a huge architecture fan, Lou always finds interesting but obscure things to find  & enjoy. The Thomas Viaduct was commissioned by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. At its completion in 1835, it was the largest bridge in the United States.

Our first full day began in Annapolis about twenty miles away. We had cold, but clear & sunny weather the first few days. The Maryland State House was also our nation's first capitol. The trees were lovely but blocked our view for photos.

I try to keep these blog posts to a reasonable size which means I limit which photos to include in order not to bore everyone to death. There were so many sights on this trip that made editing difficult. We also visited the U. S. Naval Academy & the Paca House & Gardens in Annapolis. William Paca was one of four Maryland signers of the Declaration of Independence.

It was early enough after exploring Annapolis that we headed north to Fort McHenry National Monument to take advantage of the beautiful weather. A battle at Fort McHenry was the inspiration for Francis Scott Key's poem that became "The Star Spangled Banner". 

Apparently anyone can bring a flag to Fort McHenry & the park rangers will help visitors raise their own flag above the fort for a brief moment. This picture shows a personal flag about two thirds of the way up the flagpole beneath the official flag.

Due to the possible government shutdown by our illustrious leaders who couldn't agree on a budget & some nasty weather, we changed our itinerary around a few times. Fortunately, nothing closed & we worked around the couple days of rain still seeing everything we planned on plus a couple of extra sights!

We spent day two in Baltimore before the rain hit. This is the Baltimore Aquarium in the Inner Harbor area of the city. The yellowish building on the left is a 27 story office building with an observation deck called The Top of the World. We took photos from the top but they didn't impress me enough to include.

This is Oriole Park at Camden Yards where the Baltimore Orioles play. I took a tour of the ballpark while Lou headed to the B & O Railroad Museum a few blocks away.

The grave of Edgar Allan Poe is located at Westminster Hall & Burying Ground in downtown Baltimore. James McHenry of Fort McHenry fame is also buried here.

The forecast for Friday was rain all day long in the entire area & it was accurate! That morning we visited the Hampton National Historic Site which preserves part of a vast 18th century estate. The wet, cold afternoon was spent at the Baltimore Art Museum which we added to avoid the weather outdoors.

The manor house at Hampton National Historic Site. The Georgian home tour is inside & we pulled out our umbrellas & hoods to visit parts of the grounds.

The first of two weekend day trips was to Harper's Ferry National Historic Park in West Virginia with stops at Monocacy National Battlefied, the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historic Park & Great Falls Park in Virginia. There was still a fair amount of rain but not steady like the previous day. Our umbrellas got a bit of a workout again.

 Monocacy National Battlefield figured prominently in saving Washington DC from falling to the Confederates in the Civil War. This farmhouse is one that was taken over by the north to defend the Union. Families who lived there were hurried into the basements to wait out the fighting. A six year old boy witnessed the battle through a small opening & later wrote a book detailing the events. Six years old! That is a year older than Charley - I couldn't believe it!

Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, where John Brown planned to take over the U. S. armory & abolish slavery with just 22 men. I couldn't quite wrap my brain around how he thought that could possibly be successful.

Part of the old Chesapeake & Ohio Canal system used to tow supply boats along the Potomac River since it was unsafe for navigation. The lock keeper lived in this house & had to be available 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

The traffic is terrible all over the area - it almost makes the Bay Area seem only slightly congested. While looking for a place to eat at the end of the day & hopefully wait out the worst of the traffic, we stumbled onto this beautiful diner. It's hard to see the name but it was called "Silver Diner" - for me? It also had great food - yummy meatloaf & crab cakes! 

Day trip number two found us heading south to Virginia for a couple of house tours before exploring many sights in the southern part of Maryland.

Woodlawn Plantation is built on the property of George Washington's Mt. Vernon estate. This home was a wedding present for Martha's granddaughter, Eleanor Custis, & her husband, Lawrence Lewis, who was George's nephew. It was designed by William Thornton who also designed the U. S. Capitol.

The Frank Lloyd Wright designed Pope-Leighey House was moved to the same location as the Woodlawn Plantation. This was a late addition to our itinerary since we somehow missed it. Both homes are available to tour, which we did, of course.

The next stop after crossing back into Maryland was Fort Washington almost directly across the Potomac River from Woodlawn Plantation but it is about 10 miles north to the nearest bridge then south again.

From inside the fort I took a flash photo to light up the giant wheel, used to raise & lower the drawbridge, while seeing a building through the opening.

Further south in Maryland is the home of Thomas Stone, another of the four Maryland signers of the Declaration of Independence. The moving story of his wife Rachel, who he adored, is that she contracted smallpox & was given mercury to "cure" her. Of course, that poisoned her leaving her bedridden for years. Stone quit politics to devote himself to her care until her death.

By the time we reached the southern tip of Maryland both lighthouses were closed but we were still able to see them & grab a photo. This is Piney Point Lighthouse which is no longer in service but part of a local park.

Just south of Piney Point Lighthouse was this small beach area.

Cove Point Lighthouse was on the other side of the peninsula. The gate was closed but apparently it is still being used since the light was rotating.

The next three days were spent in Washington, DC, visiting lots of memorials, museums & other attractions in the area. Since we had both toured the U.S. Capitol & the White House a couple of times we skipped those & concentrated on new memorials or sights we hadn't seen previously.

The National Museum of African American History & Culture. This is Washington DC's newest museum. It requires timed entry tickets which we didn't have since they needed to be reserved weeks or months ago. BUT while exploring their website I saw that active duty or retired military veterans would be admitted at anytime if it wasn't at capacity. Lou took his discharge papers & we walked right it.

There are a lot of depressing & discouraging displays in the museum from early history but I tried to focus on the positive things. These are Carl Lewis's Olympic gold medals. He won one more which Carl placed in his father's coffin when he was buried. There is a huge display for Oprah Winfrey & of course, Barack Obama, as the first black presidnet.

This is the World War II Memorial located between the Washington Monument & the Lincoln Memorial. Our weather was once again beautiful for our final days. 

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is about a year old. "Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope" - that quote is the inspiration for the design of the memorial.

Some of the 200+ aircraft on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles International Airport, an extension of the National Air & Space Museum.

The Pentagon Memorial honors the 184 people who died in the structure & the airplane that hit it on September 11, 2001. A "Memorial Unit" or bench represents each person along age lines from the youngest, a 3 year old girl, to the oldest, a 71 year old man. We have now visited all three memorials where innocent people perished at the hands of terrorists - it is a sobering & humbling experience.

Union Station which is a shopping mall, food court & train station.

We visited The International Spy Museum, a combination of real life spying around the world & James Bond type spy paraphernalia. We had to choose an identity then memorize the facts that we would be quizzed on later. Lots of fun!

The National Postal Museum used to be a working post office. 

We did see all the familiar sights in our nation's capital once again. They are pretty hard to miss when you are walking yourself silly up & down the National Mall. Here are the obligatory photographs that must be taken when visiting Washington DC.

The Washington Monument

The Lincoln Memorial

The Jefferson Memorial

The White House - Lou took this photo while I visited the Phillips Collection Museum a few blocks away.

The United States Capitol

As we walked to the Capitol, who should be there on the steps but Bernie Sanders! He approached a group of teens & quizzed them on U.S. government before organizing a photo op with both the kids & their parents.

On our final afternoon in Washington, DC, Lou headed to the National American Indian Museum & the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum while I headed to the National Gallery of Art. I was in heaven with about 15 Claude Monet paintings & numerous other Impressionist artists represented. It turns out I wasn't alone - story below.

One of the hallways in the National Gallery of Art.

As I sat admiring this Monet painting, a young middle eastern man asked if I would take his photo with the painting. I said, of course & obliged. He thanked me saying, "He is my favorite". I replied, "Mine, too. They are so beautiful." I added, "I stood on that bridge," pointing to the painting. He was amazed & asked, "Where?" I explained that Monet's house & garden in Giverny, near, Paris, France, can be visited. He exclaimed, "I have to go!"

Our "Farewell Dinner" at a street cafe near Dupont Circle. 

And, of course, I have to include some of the beautiful flowers in bloom & a few birds who managed to stay still long enough to snap a photo.