SIDE TRIP

Our last day in The Big Apple. The weather is cold and threatening rain; unfortunately there is no snow for Julie to experience.

We decided to take a side trip to visit the capital today so we set off early for Pennsylvania Station and the train to Washington DC. It is Obamas presidential inauguration on Monday so it was a good time to check the preparations and make sure they are doing it right!

It’s a three and a half hour ride on Amtrak so we thought, “What the heck, let’s do it”!

We arrived at 11.30 am and booked ourselves a ‘Hop-on, Hop-off’ tour to take us round the main sights. We only had 7 hours in DC so were well aware that it would be a flying visit.

Most of the views on this tour were external, mainly due to time constraints. However, it was interesting to see these places and get a feel for the city.

Capital Building was the first stop. Lady Freedom stands majestic on top. She represents Freedom and as such no building in DC rises above 15 storeys since nothing is higher than freedom.

We saw the Lincoln Memorial set in its marvellous grounds.

The Washington Memorial is currently closed to the public whilst undergoing repairs to damage sustained in the August 2011 earthquake.

Next stop was the Martin Luther King statue.

Our drive took us past the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. This place even has its’ own police department! According to our guide they print $900,000,000 every day. No wonder the country is going broke!

Lunch was had in a fancy French Restaurant around the corner from the White house. Of course, everywhere is decked with the Stars and Stripes in preparation for Monday.

Our view of the White House was severely restricted due to the viewing platforms etc. but at least we got a glimpse of the joint.

Our final stop was the Arlington cemetery.

This is a beautiful place of peace and of course the resting place of JFK.

His memorial is central and has an eternal flame at its’ core.

An interesting snippet of information here; Kennedy said just 1 week before his assassination that “This place is so beautiful I could live here forever”! Hmmm! 

Had we had more time I would have loved to have visited the Air and Space Museum but that was not to be. Who knows maybe one day in the future we will be fortunate enough to return and spend more time in the capital.

There are so many Smithsonian Museums here that one would need a month just to take in Washington and all its’ splendour.

But for us it was sadly only a flying visit. We returned to Union Station ready for our ride back to New York.

Tomorrow we check out of the Waldorf and embark on our 5 week cruise back to Sydney aboard the Queen Victoria.