We gradually made up way back north slightly to visit Washington DC. Having looked at places to stay with Shaun, we couldn’t find any Harvest Hosts or campgrounds close enough to make travelling in easy. We decided to do another house sit, and found one in Arlington, which gave us easy access to downtown Washington. We really enjoyed looking after two labradors for 5 days; they were great company and we managed to see everything we wanted. As we were there over the Thanksgiving period, Washington was probably busier with tourists than we thought for November. In the UK we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, but we really like the idea of taking time to stop and give thanks for what we have , we are very lucky and it was good to take time to reflect on that.

We started out with visiting Lincoln Memorial, and were really moved by it and the quoted speeches on the interior walls. We saw the spot on the steps that Martin Luther King, Junior, gave a speech from and also saw the memorial to him.

Particularly moving were the memorials to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial and the World War II memorial.

We had a great visit to the United States Capitol, a good tour inside the building telling is all about the building and statues. We also saw inside the House of Representatives and the House of the US Senate, although as it was close to Thanksgiving there was no business going on. The Library of Congress was an impressive building, lots of art and beautiful features, the main library itself would be an awe inspiring place to work in. These were all built with the purpose of impressing visitors, and they surely achieve this.

The other great thing about Washington DC is the museums! Such a great variety, Smithsonian collectively operate 21 museums, mostly within Washington, and the great thing is they are free to visit. In fact most of the things in Washington were free, including visiting the Capitol, a nice change from New York! So free museums meant we could dip in and out and just enjoy what we liked. We spent time in :-the National Air and Space museum, the only one we had to pre book for; The National Museum of Natural History, so we could see the Hope Diamond, 45 carats, and really beautiful; The National Museum of African American History and culture, very interesting and a beautiful modern building. Mark visited the National Archives Building to see the original copies of the Declaration of Independence whilst Julie went to National Gallery of Art and saw, amongst many other things, Leonardo da Vinci’s Ginevra de’ Benci, a very beautiful painting. A particular favourite of both of ours was the National Museum of American History; it had the great Entertainment Section, full of exhibits about how entertainment has the power to captivate and influence and inspire us. We saw Dorothy’s red shoes, Rocky’s robe and R2D2 and CP30, to name but a few. We were transported back in time and it was interesting to read how this influenced wider society. For us this section was really important as visitors to the USA as it is through films and TV shows that we have got our impressions and ideas of what the USA is liked and a frequent refrain as we are travelling is ‘just like the movies’! Another good section was about the American Democracy and The American Presidency, very timely for us given the recent presidential election!!

One of our most moving visits during our time in Washington was visiting the Arlington National Cemetery. Rows of white headstones marking the dead from many different conflicts, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and its guards and President John F Kennedy’s memorial. There are bus tours around the 639 acre large cemetery and you can even view the home of General Lee, who led the Confederates during the civil war and get a great view of Washington. A very thought provoking place to visit.

With all this history and education we needed plenty of refreshments! We enjoyed plenty of multi-cultural foods. We tried Ethiopian food, interesting, but not an experience we feel compelled to repeat, Mexican food, Indian food, and American food. Washington is a very cosmopolitan city and there is a great range of food and drinks to try, we even found a roof top bar for a tasty drink and even better views!

We really enjoyed our time in Washington, it was less frenetic than New York and easier to sightsee around. As ever though, we were glad to get away from the city and back to a slower and more rural pace of life.

See going South to see what we get up to next, thanks for reading.