Railway Rick - 06: A Capital Offense

I had only been in Washington DC once before, the weekend of the Women’s March in 2017. And since I didn’t really get to see many tourist attractions or monuments then, I was really looking forward to this 2 day stop in the Capital. I spent research time to set up 4 tours ahead of time. My first day I would do an evening monument tour and on day two, I set up tours of the FBI, the Washington Monument, and the Capitol Building. Very excited.  But thanks to the dysfunction of our wonderful government, the day 2 events were all wiped out. 

The train trip from New Orleans to DC was probably my least enjoyable. It was definitely the most crowded train of the journey which made it the most uncomfortable. It was a day and a half ride including an overnight. But this was my first overnight train where I could not spread out. I always had a seat mate. The first few hours the young lady next to me I believe had Turrets Syndrome. Seriously. About every 2 minutes or so she would have a quick “convulsion” where her hands and legs and head would jerk around for a few seconds. Try relaxing next to that. Then when she left the train, she was replaced by a woman who had some lower body spread going on. When she sat down, her butt was immediately and forever overlapping into my seat. Groan!  Then eventually, for most of the overnight hours, she was replaced by a gangly young man who was all arms and legs. So I was continuously bumped and jostled every time he did anything. After about 3 hours of fitful sleep, I finally spent the rest of the night sitting up in the cafe car reading my phone and watching Bosch on my iPad. I did capture shots of Lake Pontchartrain and Birmingham AL, and a 5am shot of Charlotte along the way. 

 

 

I arrived in DC around 2pm so I had some exploring time before my monument tour. A beautiful St. Agnes church, Ford’s Theatre where Honest Abe met his maker, and the Washington Post, home of Woodward and Bernstein of Watergate fame. Then an early steak dinner at Hard Rock Cafe and onto the National Mall passing the closed FBI headquarters and the closed National Archives. No matter where you turn you have a great view of the Washington Monument and my best views of the White House came on this self guided walk. 

    

  

 

 

  

Then onto the Navy Memorial where the buses picked us up for the evening monument tour. First stop, the Capitol building with the super moon highlighting the pictures. 

 

One far away shot of the White House 

The World War II Memorial

Jefferson Memorial

Washington Monument at night

Martin Luther King Jr Memorial

Vietnam War Memorial 

Korean War Memorial 

Lincoln Memorial 

The next day, with no government tours available, I was able to visit a couple of the Smithsonian Museums; the American History Museum, and the Air and Space museum. Here are my highlights:

Early Locomotive and first car to drive cross country, and some other cool cars

The actual furniture from Appomattox where Lee and Grant sat to end the Civil War

Actual clothing worn by Washington, Andrew Jackson, Custer, Eisenhower 

   

Some great movie and stage and TV artifacts. The Oscar is Irving Berlin’s for the song White Christmas 

Miscellaneous greatness

Air and Space greatness: Gemini and Apollo, actual Wright Brothers first flight plane, Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis

Finally, this a picture from a book I bought. The actual Star Spangled Banner Flag is behind glass in the American History Museum. You cannot take pictures in the room that houses this 42 ft x 30 ft flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. It was this very flag that Francis Scott Key saw flying in the night, inspiring him to write our National Anthem. Standing in the darkened room viewing this flag will leave you speechless. 

I was wiped out. From walking around the hilly DC streets, the sleepless train ride from New Orleans, and from the emotional impact of all that I had just seen. I returned to the hotel and crashed for a nap. I woke ready for one more DC adventure, some good dinner and some jazz music. I found online a little club in the Georgetown suburb that had a jazz trio that evening. I grabbed a Lyft ride and headed out. It was an amazing evening. This place, called Blues Alley Jazz, was literally down an alley. If you weren’t looking for it, you wouldn’t find it. Small place, crowded tables, great vibe. I splurged on huge stuffed mushrooms, some great jambalaya, and some cheesecake. And the 3 person jazz combo, led by Eric Scott Reed on piano, was fantastic. A great way to close down my Capital adventure.

          

The monuments dedicated to our nation’s history, and our country’s growth, and our fight for freedom and independence left me with an incredible feeling of pride and awe. Our country over the past few decades has lost that sense of wonder and greatness. Now we fight with each other instead of for the common good. After basking in our historical greatness, I can only hope that someday we find our way back to that greatness.