Travels in the USA: Washington DC

Jessica and I are lucky enough to have an Amtrak station in our small town of Southern Pines, NC. Ever since we moved here a couple of years ago, we’ve wanted to take a trip on the train. The two lines that run through our town go from Chicago (or New York) and end up in Miami. We decided to take the train north to Washington DC, about 8 hours away.

We woke up early and were at the train station by 7am, and in short order we had our seats and were on our way. The seats are comfortable, we could take our suitcases (they even help with getting them onboard), and, for a quite reasonable round trip price, we settled in and watched movies and read books, and in no time, we were at Washington Union Station.

The train station itself is really impressive and was a nice way to arrive in DC.

It is very cool to step outside the station and see the Capitol in the background; and while we were a little worse for wear after our train trip (though, to be fair, it felt much better than taking a flight, going through security, baggage claim, and the tight seat on the plane).

The taxi stand is right outside the train station entrance, and we queued for a bit, under the hot sun. Quickly enough, we were in a taxi and on our way to our hotel in Georgetown. There is a lot of traffic in DC, and we soon learned that going only a few miles would usually take 20+ minutes, at best. We were on the top floor of the small, boutique hotel, and they also had a courtyard that provided a nice place to wait for the rideshare.

It was dinnertime once we had checked in and unpacked, and we made our way to an excellent Italian restaurant nearby, recommended by our dance instructor (yes, we are taking dance classes and it is very fun), and it was so good; the best ravioli I’ve ever tasted! A nightcap at a nearby bar wrapped up our first night in DC.

Our dance teacher also recommended a great place for Lobster Rolls, so that’s where we started the next day.

Very full, we caught a ride to the National Arboretum. We knew they had a Bonsai exhibit that was worth a visit, but we did not know they had a massive Azalea garden (called the Morrison Azalea Garden), and, as luck would have it, most were in full bloom! The Glenn Dale Azaleas, of which B.Y. Morrison, the first director of the Arboretum, developed, are all on display (more than 450!).

As there are so many things to do in DC (and most of them are free!) at some places (not on the National Mall), there are a lot less people, and the Arboretum was no exception. We were able to wander through the serene Bonsai exhibit at a leisurely pace, which is how it should be enjoyed; save the massive amounts of carpenter bees that were ever present.

Here are a few of my favorite trees:

Some of the trees are hundreds of years old, and the most famous of these was gifted to the US by the Japanese in 1976; the tree itself, a Japanese White Pine, dates back to 1625, that’s 400 years old this year!

We returned to the hotel and walked down by Georgetown Waterfront Park; there are a lot of restaurants with outdoor seating but we were only there to stroll and enjoy the nice weather and view.

After we walked to a nearby Doner kebab place, split a wrap and fries, and were then on the way to meet up with our National Mall at Night tour, led by a friendly Eritrean named George. He had lived in the US for many years, and regaled us with knowledge of US history (some of which was definitely forgotten since junior high) and the appropriate amount of Dad-jokes for the 16 of us tourists that joined the 3-hour evening tour. Our first stop was a drive by of Ford Theater:

Our first real stop were pictures just after sunset in front of the Capitol and a selfie with the Washington Monument. No building can be taller than the Washington Monument in DC, so it is often in the background, and cool to see it from so many angles all over the National Mall.

The smaller tour size definitely helped us get to the monuments in a time efficient way; George gave us about 10-15 minutes at each monument for pictures and then on to the next one (the three hours flew by). He would tell us about them on the bus, then let us loose. DC is so pretty at night, and the monuments are open 24 hours a day.

We stopped at the WW2 Memorial, followed by the Jefferson, then Martin Luther King Jr, Korean, then Lincoln Memorial. All are stunning at night especially. This was the time of year of the junior high DC trips (and I went to DC in the 8th grade), so at every monument there were hundreds upon hundreds of kids, and they were everywhere. Seeing them again at each stop was even funnier as they couldn’t be avoided; the universe’s sweet revenge.

Our tour ended outside the White House at around 10pm; we milled about in front, where we were somewhat surprised there was not much more going on; there was a booth protesting many things, but it was quiet, three police officers stood around, talking, and about 20 or so people, tourists like us, taking pictures. While bright, it was more serene than expected.

We returned to the hotel, half our DC trip in the books; stay tuned for more: Museum visits and a trip to the Symphony ahead!