0
0
HOHO Bus Tour
Our last full day in Washington and indeed the US so decided to use the Hop-on, Hop Off bus to see more sights. We picked the bus up by the Old Ebbitt Grill – the White House stop and started on the Red Loop. This took us past Union Station and the Capitol before heading down to the other end of the mall.
It was much hotter and more humid than it had been all fortnight – and thunderstorms were forecast this evening.
We got off the bus so we could wander around the Jefferson Memorial – Jefferson was the third President of the USA and penned the Declaration of Independence. One plus point, it was very cool (as in cold!) inside the memorial! On the lawns outside, a wedding was taking place – over looking the tidal basin across to the Martin Luther King memorial. What a fab location!
From the Jefferson Memorial, we walked over the bridge and walked around the Tidal Basin. We walked past the Ball Park – and surprisingly a game of cricket was in progress – not a baseball insight!
The next memorial was one dedicated Franklin D Roosevelt. A lovely memorial to walk through made from stone with quotes from his four terms of office as President of the USA. Statues of both FDR and his wife feature in the memorial.
1964 Independence Avenue is the Martin Luther King Memorial – the address chosen in reference to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The Granite Wall leading up to the Memorial features 21 of his most inspirational quotations – I Have A Dream was intentionally left out so as not to detract from his other speeches.
Martin Luther King stands proud, carved into a block of white stone, taken – slid out – from the centre of a larger piece which sits behind his statue. It’s a fitting tribute to an inspirational man.
From here, we heading back onto the Mall to head to the Lincoln Memorial and the other war memorials that feature on the Mall.
First up was the impressive Korean War Veterans Memorial. Statues of soldiers rise up out of shrubs. Impressively, the memorial also honours the soldiers from overseas that fought and lost their lives in this war.
At the end of the reflecting pool stands the Lincoln Memorial. 36 pillars around the memorial signify the 36 states that comprise the Union at the time of his Presidency. Around the top of the memorial the names of the States are all etched into marble along with the date they joined the union.
The number of steps up to the Memorial are also significant. 2 steps for the number of years Lincoln served at President and a further 56 steps for his age at the time of his assassination. It is a very impressive memorial and you don’t appreciate just how imposing it is until you are up close.
Inside the memorial is a large statue of Abraham Lincoln facing down The Mall to The Capitol. Much warmer inside here as no breeze an blow through – it’s only open on one side.
From here we made a short detour to have photos taken with the Albert Einstein Memorial. He’s fab although was too hot to sit on and have our photos taken with!
After here, we walked across to the Vietnam Memorial. All names of every soldier killed in action – or missing in action – was etched into the wall of granite. It’s very highly polished so the path and everyone walking down the path is reflected across the names.
A lot of people visiting were looking for specific names and taking rubbings, leaving mementoes and paying their respects.
We headed then through the Constitution Gardens to the WW2 Memorial. Every state along with Puerto Rico and the Phillipines had a memorial topped with a wreath – the wreath depicting the industry from that state. All the pillars surrounded a pool with waterfalls. At either end was a tower depicting the two fronts of the conflict for the US – the Pacific and the Atlantic. A quotation from Dwight D Eisenhower about D-Day was etched into one wall. Again, the memorial recognised all parties involved in the conflict, not just the US.
Back to the bus stop and off to get whichever bus would take us up 7th Street. Refreshment was needed and we decided to head back to the Gordon Biersch Brewery, conveniently located next to the Red and Yellow Bus stop.
After lunch we hopped on the Yellow Bus which took us up to the historic Dupont Circle area and picturesque Georgetown. Back to the Mall and we switched onto the Blue loop to head over to Arlington and The Pentagon. Alas we had run out of time to explore these (and the ginormous shopping mall!) and headed back to the White House and our hotel for liquid refreshment.
The first “proper” rain of our holiday arrived this evening – it arrived in style complete with thunder and lightning! The Old Ebbitt Grill was just around the corner from the hotel so we made a quick dash out and had our last meal US Style. Again it did not disappoint and was one of our favourite restaurants of the holiday. The thunder and lightning had disappeared when we’d finished so we dashed back to the hotel.
