Our Nation's Capitol

It is amazing to me that this is my fourth visit to our nation's capitol. If anyone would have told me that would happen when I was in high school, I would have laughed at such an impossible idea.

We stopped again because we wanted to tour the White House. Accomplished. It is a tour limited to parts of the East Wing, crowded. Still it was interesting to see the size/scale of the rooms and learn the history. That history and our traditions are so important.  

This trip we walked about 10 miles around DC. That sounds like a lot but it was a leisurely stroll on an absolutely beautiful day. We were fortunate to stay in the Capitol Hill area, close to many Washington 

landmarks. Here are some we visited.

We stopped by the Department of the Treasury. Papa checked his wallet. Nope, nothing in there. We visited the massive World War II Memorial with huge fountains, and pillars representing every state. The nearby Reflecting Pool provides a great photo of the Lincoln Memorial in the distance.  

Memorials to other wars: Vietnam, Korean as well as recognizing military service and POWs. 

Memorials to leaders like Lincoln, the Roosevelts, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King Jr. and Washington. 

Well-known gathering spaces like The Reflecting Pool, the National Mall, and the Tidal Basin. It was fun to see groups of school children touring. People having picnics, flying kites enjoying the grassy national mall. 

Many famous buildings, like the White House, Supreme Court, Capitol, Senate office and park. We stayed at the Phoenix Park Hotel, another place on the Historical Registry. We could see the Capitol dome up the street. 

The reward for walking 10 miles was dinner at the top of a hotel across the river in Arlington, VA. For two hours, our dining room slowly rotated around to provide spectacular views of the Pentagon and downtown DC as the sun set. One. Fantastic. Day.