Traveling during Covid
Read moreWashington, D.C
by Richard and Melissa TerrisOn August 4th, Melissa and I made a short trip to D.C. This was a first for me, whereas Melissa had been to the city a few times.
The flight from LaGuardia Airport in NYC was around 40 minutes, and was my first flight since December 2020. When we landed, it was even hotter in D.C than in NYC, at 90 degrees. A quick Uber ride from the airport took us to our hotel, the Mandarin Oriental, which is a 1/2 mile from the National Mall. Inside the hotel was very fancy, from the marble floored lobby, to the spacious rooms with large bathrooms.
We arrrived in the afternoon, and decided to relax in the hotel for the first night. We had dinner in the hotel restaurant, and both the food and service were excellent.
The next morning we awoke early, and after a swim in the hotel pool, took a short walk to the National Mall. The Washington Monument, which you've likely seen in photos and on TV, is even more impressive up-close. From there we walked down the hill to the World War II memorial. The memorial is pretty impressive too, and I took the opportunity to sit with my feet in the water (which is encouraged) to honor the fallen troops. As someone who is not only a great lover of history (something I inherited from my father), but who also grew up in the UK, World War II is something that I've always been acutely aware of; my father was born in 1951, so he was born after the war, but he grew up with parents who lived through it. He loved history, and was always watching WWII documentaries which I enjoyed watching with him. For these reasons, I found the memorial to be more than just a photo opportunity, and as I sat quietly with my feet in the water, I took some time to reflect on the lives of people who lived through that time, and the sarcifices they made.
We continued our walk to the Lincoln Memorial; I had no idea the reflecting pool was so long until we walked the length of it! Fortunately, the pool is tree lined so we were able to get out of that 90+ degree sun. The steps up to the memorial were steep, but certainly worth the walk up. The Lincoln Memorial was equally as impressive as the other memorials; the sculpture itself is very detailed and is much larger than it appears in movies, at least to me anyway! After taking some pictures, and reading his famous Gettysburg Address which is carved on a display, we sat for a while in the shade and did some people watching. Even in these Covid times, the memorial still got a lot of visitors and each person we saw stood and read the speech.
We made our way north to the Founding Farmers restaurant, which sits amongst the George Washington University campus buildings. The food was good but not great, fresh ingredients but pretty plain in taste. Not the best place we've been to.
After fueling ourselves with food, we walked a few blocks to The White House. Pennsylvania Avenue in front of The White House was being resurfaced so we couldn't get up close to the gates, but we still managed to get a few good pictures from across the street. After marvelling at the building (and the snipers on the roof) we sat in Lafayette Square and enjoyed a slushie, before Ubering back to the hotel.
Friday was a day of rest. We walked about a mile away from the hotel to get some food, and then watched a couple of movies in the hotel room. At night we had dinner in the hotel restaurant and called it a night.
On Saturday we started the day with another swim, and then headed out again to walk. We walked back to The White House in the hope of getting some pictures of the back, but sadly the park and surrounding area at the back were closed off to the public. We took some time out of the rain and had lunch in the 'Old Ebbitt Grill' which is a great pub/restaurant with a rich history. The food was excellent and the place had a great atmosphere. I enjoyed looking at the framed newspaper articles discussing some of the history of the pub. This is definitely worth a visit if you're in D.C.
Our final destination was of course the Capitol Building! We walked the 1.6 miles from the pub, and saw a few historical places along the way such as the National Gallery of Art. The Capitol Building is a stunning piece of architecture, even more so in person. I enjoyed posing for pictures next to the Capitol police officers on the steps! We walked from there across the street to the Supreme Court, and took some pictures before heading back to the hotel.
I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in the nation's capital. If you're a fan of history then it's definitely a city worth visitng, as it's absolutely packed with historical sites and buildings.
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