DC

Washington DC , our first stop in a 3 leg journey to the East Coast of the United States . I must admit my interest was low when this was suggested as a place to visit . I had concerns . The kids : are they gonna hate it ? Myself ….yeahhhh not sure that I was that interested . There’s not a lot of media enticing people to come to Washington . On the other hand there has been a lot of news on Washington and more to the point ; the Trump insurrection rally on the Capitol . . Yeah ok there is a macabre interest in seeing where all the Trump numpties thought they could gate crash the incoming Biden presidency .

After getting in on Friday night we were up and off Saturday morning . It was cold , Winter Melbourne like with blue skies. First impressions were that this place has a hard edge to it , not grimy or mean but architecturally . Sharp edges , square , rectangular, bold . There is a status that is planned in the design and building . It’s not subtle. Everything is big . There is no doubt that this place is to project power . When you finally stand in the centre of Washington, take a deep breath in and scan your surrounds you feel as if you are in the centre of a massive amphitheatre . They call it the Mall , which is such an unfortunate American term to describe this long rectangular and most striking piece of park space . The 2 mile (3.2 km ) long park is bookended at one end with the large bold Capitol building and the other with the grand Lincoln memorial . The middle punctured by the amazing Washington memorial . You feel as if you are standing in the most powerful place on the planet …… gee that’s hard to say as an Aussie . The statues are amazing , the memorial buildings like Roman coliseums with domed roofs , thick columns and arches all in white . , There’s grand water fountains ( all empty for some reason ) long rectangular gardens , monuments , features and structures that leave you in no doubt that America holds its young and recent past in a reverence that we Aussies could barely comprehend . Americans love their history . They are a super proud country and we’ve dropped ourselves in the middle of the American Mecca .

It’s a 20 thousand step a day mission , a roller coaster thats going to push you to the edge . There’s no doubt you’ll go through thoughts of divorcing your family as you endure the kids complaining of boredom , sore feet , being tired or wanting to go back to the hotel so they can get on their devices as per usual but it’s manageable. You might have to do what I do regularly and that’s walk off and dump them for an hour whilst you do your own shit . I did try and find a bar so as I could get a beer , people watch and send a photo to Emma , but alas that’s the one thing that’s hard to find in Washington . There’s plenty to see . I think 48 hours would do it , without the kids you’d throw on another day .

Martin Luther king memorial

We crammed the best we could . The Smithsonian and its natural history exhibit, did it . The futures exhibition , that too .

Throw the White House in too

We did the Spy museum with its interactive approach a winner for the kids . Incidentally this was the only place we had to pay to see . That’s one of the bonuses of coming here ,most of the best places are free .Emma had us visit Georgetown , just up the Potomac river . DC had to have more than memorials , government buildings and federal police . We found it’s cool , young , wealthy and highly educated community . This is more like places we know . Think South Yarra , Hawthorn and Chapel street . Brick and terraced facades , independent stores , bakeries , coffee shops , high end fashion ,hip bars and Italian restaurants. The boys noted that this place reminded them of Melbourne . Me too .

On the last morning Emma and I crept out of our room at 7 am . We left the kids to sleep , jumped on some city rent bicycles and rode for 20 minutes to the Arlington National cemetery .

It’s a huge cemetery . A shocking reminder of how many mostly young men have died in war . We visit JFK s grave site , Ruth Bader Ginsburg too. The tomb of of the unknown soldier is the place that really had the hair stand up on the back of my neck . A beautiful sunlit morning , a soldier marching , turning , adjusting his rifle and repeatedly keeping guard .

This place is worthwhile coming to , just at least as an outsider to get a scale on how proud America really is . Even if you don’t care for all that stuff the park , it’s memorials , museums and cherry blossoms are pretty special . Washington DC is powerful . You need to see it , just for a minute .