A week in Washington DC - Day 2

[Claire L]

Sunday June 14th 2009

We were up and about at a reasonable time, for a Sunday morning! So headed off to find breakfast. Luckily just across from the hotel was a nice little restaurant that served breakfast. As it was Sunday it appeared busy but we were soon seated and had the obligatory eggs, bacon and toast with juice and tea :thumbsup2 Feeling more human we headed for the Metro and bought our one day ticket. As this is a single line station on the red line we went directly to Union Station. The main concourse area is very ornate.

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/US_11.JPG

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/US_21.JPG

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/US_3.JPG

The station is still a fully functional Metro and AMTRAK, but it also has an area for shopping and eating.

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/US_5.JPG

There were quite a few trains headed out today.

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/US_4.JPG

The station from outside is very impressive as well.

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/US_6.JPG

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/US_7.JPG

It was then time to head off to the Capitol as it was a lovely sunny day for walking :)

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/Capitol_side_view.JPG

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/off_to_the_capitol.JPG

We started on the front side facing away from the Mall.

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/Capitol_1.JPG

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/Capitol_2.JPG

It is amazing how big the Capitol building is and how long it took to fully build.

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/Capitol_3.JPG

Just to show we really were there!

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/Capitol_Nathan.JPG

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/Capitol_Me.JPG

There are a lot of interesting buildings here such as the Supreme Court.

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/Supreme_Court_1.JPG

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/Supreme_Court_2.JPG

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/Supreme_Court_3.JPG

The huge doors had some interesting carvings on them.

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/Supreme_Court_4.JPG

Just across the road you could clearly see the Capitol dominating the whole area.

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/Supreme_Court_across_to_the_Capitol.JPG

Next to the Supreme Court was the Jefferson building.

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/Jefferson_building.JPG

We then made our way to the far side and got a glimpse down towards the Washington Monument.

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/Capitol_towards_Washington_monumnet.JPG

[Claire L]

The side of the Capitol facing the Mall is very pretty.

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/Capitol_rear_1.JPG

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/Capitol_rear_2.JPG

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/Capitol_rear_3.JPG

The Washington Monument looked to be a fair distance away.

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/Capitol_towards_WM.JPG

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/Nathan_and_WM.JPG

As we looked at the map we decided a must do was the Air and Space Museum and as the Botanical Gardens were on the way we stopped off there first, briefly.

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/BG_1.JPG

Once inside the glasshouses were so hot, no wonder some of the plants loved it!

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/BG_2.JPG

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/BG_3.JPG

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/BG_4.JPG

The view out and towards the Native American Museum was quite nice as it was so green and didn't give the impression of being in such a big city.

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/BG_4.JPG

There were also some outside exhibits that we saw as we left.

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/BG_6.JPG

By now it was approaching lunchtime and as it was very warm we were thirsty so first stop at the Air and Space Museum was lunch! Not a great deal to choose from but at least we knew what we were getting :teeth

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/McD_lunch.JPG

It was then time to have a look around the museum.

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/ASM_1.JPG

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/ASM_2.JPG

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/ASM_3.JPG

Once again a Disney reference was found.

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/ASM_4.JPG

We must have spent a good 3 hours looking around.

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/ASM_5.JPG

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/ASM_6.JPG

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/ASM_7.JPG

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/ASM_8.JPG

As we left it was still only 4pm se we made our way to the Pentagon Mall and had a look in the shops until they closed at 6pm, although we had only done 2 of the 3 floors! At least we had made some purchases, I got a polo shirt and Nathan had two sweaters.

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/PM_1.JPG

Once back at the hotel we decided to read through the guide books for a restaurant that evening and decided on going back on the Metro to Dupont Circle as it was only one stop away and the area looked full of restaurants. After arriving in Dupont Circle we had a look around and finally settled on a place called ‘The Front Page’ (http://www.frontpagerestaurant.com/ ). As we had eaten a bit at lunch we shared a chicken quesadilla starter.

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/Quesadilla.JPG

I then opted for the salmon.

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/salmon.JPG

Nathan decided to try the crab cakes.

http://www.disab.co.uk/photopost/data/538/crab_cakes.JPG

The meal was washed down with a nice cold bottle of Pinot Grigio. After dinner we made our way back to the hotel, tired after a day with a fair amount of walking.

Claire ;)

[cazzie]

Lovely photos, Washington looks a great place to visit I love the steps to the Capitol building.

[suzycute]

I would LOVE to visit Washington - sounds like an amazing place. Look forward to hearing more:thumbsup2

[irongirlof12]

your piccies make Washington look like a great place to visit. I think i have sort of missed the sheer scale of the place in shots i have seen before.

your salmon- how yummy does that look!

[mandymouse]

What a great day Claire, and lovely pics too. I like the look of the Air & Space Museum, I think I'd like it there :thumbsup2

[UKDEB]

That's brought all the memories flooding back! What a gloriously sunny day you had and your photos are fabulous - I'm really feeling the urge to go back now!

[natalielongstaff]

great pics Claire of places ive read about but never seen ( they are on my to do list !)

[Pinky166]

What a great day. DC is on my "to do" list & these photos have made it move even closer to the top of my list....as Andrea said I too am shocked by the scale of the buildings much bigger than I thought from seeing them on the news.

Looking forward to reading more.

[Tammy Stringer]

A lovely report - I am really enjoying it.

Tammy

[Pugsly]

Love the pics, Claire - especially the one of the columns (looking up toward the top of the building).

[cap'njack.]

Love the pictures. DC looks awesome