We set out for Washington DC with a little trepidation. All had gone according to plan so far, too good to last. I drew the short straw & was driving on this session. I hate driving in big cities at the best of times - never mind on the wrong side of the road in someone else's country. We weren't disappointed & the famous Grumpy sense of direction, or lack thereof, finally came into play with a vengeance. We had hotel reservations so it was important we found the right hotel. Getting to DC was easy but which turnoff do we need? How the heck do I know? ??? Try this one.
So...... after crossing the Potomac Bridge 5 times we realised we were getting nowhere fast. It's a mighty fine bridge & all that but this is beyond a joke.
We finally discovered that we were asking for the wrong street. How were we to know that there was an E Street & an East Street?
They both sound the same over the phone. Good job we both have a sense of humour & don't get easily stressed out.
We drew up outside the hotel entrance exhausted but triumphant 8) - 1 1/2 hours after first entering the city. At this point I remarked that there's no way I'm driving in NYC & that's that. We decided unanimously to cross the Potomac Bridge once more & dump our faithful gas-guzzler at the airport.
The outskirts of the hurricane caught up with us that evening & we had a severe storm. It didn't last long but I saw the biggest hailstones I've ever seen in my life, I swear they were the size of golf balls & the rain was coming down vertically. The raindrops made splashes on the pavement below our hotel window the size of dinner plates. Did I mention I found a bullet hole in the window of our room?
I have no idea how long it had been there but this was an old hotel & there didn't seem anywhere outside that it could have been fired from. It had definitely been fired from outside & we suspected it had been there since the 30s, before some of the buildings were there. The Olympic torch came through while we were there & the flame blew out in the storm. That was a tad embarassing & the President helped relight it, we suspected with the aid of the Presidential Zippo.
Here's a few impressions of Washington DC.
We couldn't leave DC without seeing the NASM. I could have done with another day here.
After two days in DC we left by train for Manhattan. Here's the main railway station, the finest example I've ever seen.
Next, the Big Apple. This will take a while as I have to scan the photos.
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