Walking in Washington

Today saw us walk from the hotel and start our adventures in the Air and Space Museum.  This was kinda cool as there was bits of old space shuttles, space suits, missiles and airplane stuff.  Obviously as you can see the space side was more entertaining. We spent about an hour here before walking back up to the start of the hop on and off bus to take us out to the National Cathedral past Georgetown.

We spent about half an hour out there looking at the stained glass windows and the architecture of the beautiful building.  Unfortunately there is a bit of scaffolding around the place and some netting hanging from the roof inside due to some repair work.. This is necessary due to some damage sustained during the earthquake in 2011.





Once we had finished at the cathedral we boarded the bus again to take us to Georgetown for lunch.  We wandered one of the main streets to find a cafe.  We have grown tired of having to find food for each meal so when we do find a good meal then we get a little excited.  There is however also many days of food envy and some days of disappointment.   Yesterday Gordo was disappointed with lunch and today it was Toots turn. Gordo discovered the deliciousness of a Philly cheesesteak and had vowed to eat one again while on the trip.  Toot very envious and sampled on many occasions. Toot was also disappointed when ordering a lemonade only to find it wasn't up to scratch or even close to the goodness of a Woodies lemonade at home.  It was lemon cordial!

After lunch, guess what? Back on the bus.  We headed back to the end of the route to change to the other line so that we could visit the Holocaust Memorial Museum. The museum is dedicated to helping leaders and citizens of the world confront hatred, prevent genocide, promote human dignity, and strengthen democracy. We spent about 1.5-2 hrs here without even realising it.  There is so much information and so much to see that you could spend all day in this museum alone.

Once we finished up at the museum it was time to head up to Chinatown to find some dinner.  We wandered the street with not much luck and then just as we were about to give up we stumbled across a little hole in the wall restaurant that was full of Asian people.  Usually a good sign in Chinatown.  The food was good and not too expensive.  We were certainly full when we left.  On our way back to the hotel the sun was setting and there was a chance for a couple of photos.

You may be able to see in the photo below the scaffolding around the Washington Monument.  This is due to repair work going on.  The monument was another casualty of the earthquake.  It is due to re-open in 2015.

We started to head back to the hotel to repack when on the way we made a decision that we would get an ice cream.  The only thing around that was still open that sold ice cream was macca's a couple of doors down form the hotel.  We walked in, placed our order and was then informed that the ice cream machine was broken.  Poor Toot almost cried.  The bottom lip was out and I am sure that there were almost tears in the eyes.  It was obviously a sign that we didn't actually need it.

So here we are, all packed and getting ready for bed.

Until tomorrow......Niagara, here we come!