Washington D.C.

Finally - I've returned to my holiday updates. I realise all of you have by now forgotten about the fact that I went on holiday, let alone that I never finished posting about it, but not to worry. I haven't forgotten and I'm finally organised enough to return to telling you about my adventures.

So. The Smoky Mountains trip is where I last left you. Thus we arrived in D.C. After Leesburg, and lunch at TGI Friday's. Would you believe our waiter was called Randy! What are the odds! I daresay he failed to appreciate my amusement at his name... we drove off in the rain towards the capital, and actually managed to find our hotel without any mishaps. We heard that D.C. is notoriously difficult to navigate but we had no problems!

We stayed at the M Street Hotel, predictably not on M Street, but on New Hampshire. Still, it was very nice and lovely, although the concierge wasn't quite as in Charleston. There really was no question about what we would spend the remainder of the day doing, once we dropped off Randy (we had some trouble finding the car rental drop off but it was all due to BAD SIGNAGE!!!!). So yes, you got it, we went SHOPPING!!! We headed off to Pentagon City which is clearly near the Pentagon. Now I always thought the Pentagon is out in the sticks but it actually has a suburb all its own. And a Mall! A big huge giant mall! It's so pretty!

We spent the first hour and a half in Benetton where Miss S knew all the staff and they kept dressing her up like a little doll. $700 later we moved away from the green and on to other shops. Please note I bought a hat for $20, I felt slightly inadequate. But we had much fun looking around the shops and eating pretzels and McDonald's. Now for the record, I never eat McDonald's. I saw Supersize Me, it put me off for life. The only time I ever have it, is after a drunken night when it's the only place open. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that McDonald's in the US is actually much nicer!

The next day we were up nice and early, ready to investigate the city. Miss S is a seasoned capital-goer so she knew all the places to go. We had planned to walk up the Mall, then head to the Smithsonian - American History Museum, but found it to be closed. That was disappointing.

We started off at the Lincoln Memorial, it was all rather strange to be walking around places I have seen so many times on films and TV. Now for those who don't know I am a HUGE West Wing fan. So D.C. has a very special place in my heart and I was very excited about the day. And all the stuff we learned on the Charleston trip helped too! So we walked along from the Lincoln Memorial to the War Memorials with its fountains and a pillar for each state, and the Washington Monument, which was rather weird as there really is nothing else around for miles. Everything in D.C. is pretty flat, there are rules about building heights etc, and this really could be seen when standing around the Washington Monument.

It was here we espied our first glance of the White House. And yes, you got it, the WEST WING!!! We decided to take a stroll up there but were rudely interrupted by POTUS who was having a press conference in the Rose Garden so the back of the White House was closed. Now personally I think this was just very inconsiderate of him - how dare he schedule a press conference for the only day we were in DC! But we went to the front anyway and took some pictures. We were highly amused by the man with cardboard cut outs of Bush and Clinton, who would take a picture of you with them for the not-very-reasonable price of $8, $5 if it was your own camera. Really really bad photos too.

So we trooped on up to Capitol Hill. The whole White House Capitol thing was so surreal for me. Especially with the whole West Wing thing... so up we went, took lots of photos, and even had one taken of us by some kind German tourists.

The failure to attend the Smithsonian threw our day a bit out of whack but since by this point we were getting hungry, we decided to regather the troops and have some lunch. We headed to Union Station and had proper food for the first time in ages. No junk food, nothing fried, nothing in crispy greasy paper but real gorgeous pasta. As we had the afternoon to do more sightseeing, we decided to take the trolley tour around the capital.

The trolley tour was great fun, although we had already seen the Mall, we got to see so much more on the tour! The trolley took us around the Jefferson and FDR memorials, Arlington Cemetery (our fourth visit, we liked it so much and DC really is THAT SMALL!), the FBI and the theatre where Abraham Lincoln was shot. It's still there, how exciting! We swapped onto the other trolley route which took us up to the Cathedral and to Georgetown.

Georgetown is gorgeous. It's like Hampstead but better. All the houses are lovely, and very narrow, since they did use to have frontage tax. Unlike Charleston, as some may remember if you've actually paid attention to what I've been writing. Unfortunately we didn't have time to get out and have a wander but it truly was lovely. But the law states that the houses can't be destroyed or defaced in any way, only painted, so everything is very cute. And expensive. Real estate gets pricier the higher up the hill you go!

In true Susie Law School geek-style here are some interesting facts:

The White House wasn't built white, it used to be brown but got painted to cover up all the bulletholes.

The Museum of the American Indian has no corners because the Indians believe eagles lurk behind them.

There used to be a direct line of sight from the Capitol to the White House but Jackson (Possibly...?) built the Treasury to block it because he didn't like the government.

Mr. Smithson of the Smithsonian never set foot on American soil but is buried there.

The Jefferson statue in the memorial looks into the Oval Office.

There are 61 Starbucks in D.C. One for each square mile.

That will do for now, there are plenty more I'm sure but I don't want to bore you.

The evening was a Friday, and one of our few going out nights. We had dinner on K Street at McCormick's and Schmicks Steakhouse. Lovely lovely lovely. I had lovely salmon and although a bit pricey it was truly gorgeous. Miss S got chatted up by an old man at the bar but managed to escape. We carried on at a random bar on M Street, fully intending to just have a few drinks but it started getting busier and we stayed to chat to some random men. Somehow Miss S got a bit drunken so although we did do some dancing and stuff we headed home reasonably early. Probably a good thing since we had the Greyhound to catch the next morning! And NEW YORK BABY!!!

I seriously loved D.C. I could live there. It is gorgeous, full of history and a much more exciting place than some give credit for. I've heard that its dirty and boring and stuff but we really enjoyed ourselves. Obviously it was summertime so it was pretty empty everywhere but I would love to go back when Congress and Senate are in session!

I promise I will finish the story soon with New York! Be patient little ones!