Saturday 20 January - Washington DC

Not sure all of the sightseeing team were all that happy with me this morning, calling an 8am start. However, I’m sure in the future everyone will forget about the early start, and instead remember all the good things we were able to see, which was a higher number as a result of starting early anyway...

The sightseeing team consisted of myself, Libe, Rebecca, Becky, George and Carly.

First stop – George W’s place. Our tour was limited to a few photos opportunities in various places along the fence and a walk around the outside perimeter. The house certainly is in the middle of the city – this is supported by the fact that George W’s neighbour is a bloke named Treasury; first initials U.S.. Not much privacy George W if he wants to put a keg on in his backyard. Can’t fault the place all the same. Have just looked on Domain.com but doesn’t appear as though there’s any room to rent....

The White House is immediately north of the National Mall. This is a long park strip, ending at the west end with the Lincoln Memorial and at the other by The Capitol (the US parliament or ‘Congress’). Between these two buildings are the Reflection Pool, the World War II memorial, and the Washington Monument; flanking the Mall to its north and South sides are numerous museums, the US Botanic Garden, the White House, embassies, other memorials etc.. It really is a terrific setup. For a sightseer, it means that most of what needs to be seen (as opposed to what ‘should’ be seen) is situated somewhere on or close to this Mall.

The Washington Monument is a giant erection (built by the good people at Viagra Inc.) built to honour George Washington. More correctly, it is an ellipse.

Across the road is the World War II Memorial – best described by the pictures below. Engraved on the surrounding walls were numerous famous quotes about the Great War.

On the other side of the WWII Memorial is the Reflection Pool. On a clear day, and when the lake is full, you are able to stand on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and clearly see the reflection of the Washington Monument in the pool, hence the title. Unfortunately the Pool had been drained, and contained only waste water, so it didn’t appear as great as it generally would.

The Pool is perhaps most famous for the scene in Forrest Gump, when Forrest (or was it Michael O’Brien aka Poose?) stands in front of the Vietnam War protest gathering and is interrupted by Jenny running through the Pond. Fair to say there was a couple of calls of “Jenny!” in the Forrest Gump twang made.

The conditions at this stage of the morning were quite uncomfortable. The freezing westerly wind was blowing into our faces and really burning the skin. The hands were also painfully frozen, despite being covered with leather gloves.

The Lincoln Memorial – the steps on which Forrest stood in front of in the aforementioned scene – was the final leg of this part of the National Mall. The Memorial is really well maintained, with near faultness marble floors and of course, the perfectly sculptured statue of Abraham Lincoln. Again I thought of something on film – this one being Lisa Simpson’s trip to the memorial during the Simpsons episode where Lisa takes part in the patriotic essay writing comp in DC. On either side of the memorial, engraved into the wall, are his famous Gettysburg address and his famous 2nd inaugural address. The photos below carry the best description of the monument altogether.

The Korean War memorial is adjacent to the Lincoln Memorial and was another quick stop before heading to the Arlington Memorial Cemetery, the final resting place of US military personnel and US presidents. Between the two runs the Arlington River, separating the District of Columbia, or DC (which houses Washington DC, much like the ACT with Canberra, although Washington is the only thing in DC), and the state of Virginia, so by walking over the Arlington Memorial Bridge we actually went interstate.

The bridge was amazing painful with the freezing breeze.

Among the highlights in the Arlington Memorial Cemetery were:

• The resting places of the Kennedy family, including JFK, and Jackie O (who is a dead ringer for Libe’s sister Zan)
• Rows and rows of gravestones of US war veterans
• Top views of Washington city over the river
• Many amusing gravesites (refer pictures below)

Lunch was at EPSN Zone after a quick subway ride back into the city. At the very least, this place proved once again how big the US meals are. Even more interesting was the TV in the men’s cubicle, so one could (pardon the pun) watch some crap sports while having a number two.

To work off lunch (which was taken close to tea time than lunch time) we went for a stroll through the cold to the Capitol, the home of the US Congress, where the most important US decisions (an inevitably decisions made for Australia as well) are made. Unfortunately, like a lot of attractions in this city, it’s hard to get a gig to see this place, so we were resigned to a few photos out the front. To defrost, a nearby trip to the US Botanic Gardens, a near completely indoor facility, was in store, so we spent an hour or so browsing through there. It’s funny how a place like this can have so many exhibits providing a strong case for global warming possibly being a critical issue, yet less than a kilometre away the key decision makers are so slow to consider such an issue as important.

Beers and a feed tonight were held in the pub next door to Rebecca & Becky’s apartment, where a couple of the guys let their hair down solidly. Unfortunately I watched again as the Celtics lost a close one (this one in overtime); their record in tight games so far is unbelievably poor.