Second Day In Washington DC

11 September 2014
Weather: 31C and sunny

This morning we stopped at Au Bon Pain again for breakfast only a couple of doors down from The Quincy Hotel.  I had a pumpkin Danish and Justin had the pumpkin coffee cake with a pumpkin latte.  All this pumpkin is because I wanted to try pumpkin pie while in the states and at this stage it was the closest we could get.

Poster in Au Bon Pain

After breakfast we took the train to Union Station so we would know where to go the next day when we would get the bus to New York City.  Then from Union Station we got the metro to L'Enfant and walked a couple of streets to the Air and Space Museum.  This museum is the third most visited museum in the world.  We cleared the security check which only involved putting your bag on a tray while they scan it and you walk through a metal detector machine.  We went to the front desk for a map, exchanged our print out for the IMAX ticket and purchased a ride simulator ticket.  We joined the 10:30am tour of the museum our guide Leslie Graham shared many interesting facts and stories with us.  He explained that they have to do a 9 month course to become a volunteer guide.  He took us too many of the popular attractions - The Apollo Project, Wright Brothers display, early aviation area with the plane flown by Charles Lindbergh and others flown by Amelia Earhart.  He talked about the fastest plane which does over Mach 6 and a number of other planes including the Bell-x.  We finished off the tour in the space section in front of the moon lander.

Inside the Smithsonian Air and Space Musuem

Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

By this time it was lunch time and McDonald's is right there, hence we tried the bacon haberna ranch burger.  Mine had more sauce which was very hot on my tongue.  After lunch we went to the IMAX to see the screening of To Fly.  This film mostly talked about early flight, with man using hot air balloons and then the barn stormers.

Next stop was the ride simulator, we wanted the F18 Experience but it wasn't displayed as an option so we did the Red Baron.  It turns out if we had of requested the one we wanted it would have been screened for us.

We walked around the rest of the museum to find the U-2.  

U-2 Bomber

We spent half an hour outside in the 31C humid weather at 2:00pm at the observatory to look at the sun through two different telescopes.

Observatory at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

Once inside again we visited the planetarium to see the Space and Back show which explained how space travel helped to lead to technology used today from mobiles, navigation devices to heart surgery devices.

Apollo Project

Moon Lander

Once we had finished looking around the museum it was 5:00pm so we found the place where the Washington DC Night Tour started from.  This tour was also booked through Viator.com.  Since the tour didn't start for another two hours we decided to look around for somewhere to have a drink and have dinner, we found Sport Tavern at the Penn Quarter across the road from the memorial.  I chose a salad and Justin went a burger. 

Afterwards we sat at the Navy Memorial, the meeting place for the tour and watched the numerous mentally ill people hanging around the memorial.  The memorial has an image on the world so we had a look at it and discovered that the only part of Australia showing was Northern Territory and Northern Queensland.  A little after 7:00pm the coach arrived, it had American Tours on the side, so I checked that this was our tour.  Since we had already met the driver he introduced us to the guide, Andy.  Andy had a background in radio, his experience meant that he was very knowledgeable about past and current politics.  He was a "squirrel loose", as he had a toy squirrel in his pocket.  We visited most of the monuments within the Mall starting at the Capitol Building then the WW II Memorial, Jefferson Monument, Lincoln Memorial, White House, Martin Luther King Jnr Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial and Arlington Cemetery.  The tour finished back at the Navy Memorial and we took the metro back to the Quincy Hotel for the night.

Thomas Jefferson Memorial

Martin Luther King Jnr. Memorial

Korean War Memorial

Reflection Pool and
 Washington Memorial

     

First Day In Washington DC

10 September 2014
Weather: 28C and sunny.

Today was our first real day in Washington DC, we had breakfast at Au Bon Pain Cafe Bakery.  I had a blueberry yoghurt with muesli and water whereas Justin had a raspberry and cheese Danish with a vanilla coffee.  We walked down L Street, 23 Street and E Street where we found the office of City Segway Tours - Washington, DC.  We booked this tour using Viator.com, they get you to sign a waiver and another form with your details.  We chose our helmets put sunscreen on and watched the safety video before being divided into two groups.  Our guide was Jill, she told us everything we needed to know about riding a Segway.  We were all asked to get on the Segway one by one under Jill's guidance, we were matched to our Segway’s but height; Justin's was named Dutch and mine was Topango.  We had a short ride around the courtyard then in an alleyway, then we were off and cruising down the streets of Washington DC.  We passed George Washington University on our way to the Whitehouse.  The president was in the Oval Office at the time as there was a marine guarding the East Wing.  We continued down Pennsylvania Avenue pass the Old Post Office, Department of Justice, National Archives, and Newseum to the Canadian Embassy.  Three of the seven people on the tour were Canadian's, a family from Saskatchewan.  Off again passing the National Gallery of Art to the US Capitol.  Next we rolled down the National Mall passing many of the Smithsonian Museums including the Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Castle and the Natural History Museum. We headed towards the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, along Independence Avenue to the World War I Memorial, then the Lincoln Memorial for photos looking over the Reflection Pool to the Washington Monument.  It was at this point we headed back to the Segway company's office passing the US Institute of Peace and Department of State.  Three hours had passed and it was now time to rely on leg power.  Segway’s are great fun and I really do recommend you give it a go.  You don't need to have great balance as I can't ride a bike yet I could get around on the Segway.

Us on the Segways in front of the White House

Us in front of the Reflection Pool and Washington Monument

Our group in The Mall with the Capitol behind us

It was a long walk to the Arlington Memorial Bridge and back to the Lincoln Memorial to climb to the top.  We then strolled, okay it was a speed walk, along the edge of the Reflection Pool passing the Washington Monument to the Natural History Museum.  By this time we wished he had our own personal Segway’s.  

Justin at the Lincoln Memorial

Reflection Pool and Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial

On entering the museum we took photos of the elephant in the rotunda, visiting the mammals and ocean exhibitions before heading upstairs in search of the Tucson Ring, Hope Diamond and Carmen Lucia Ruby.  To our surprise every gem was spectacular and worth seeing.  The minerals display was interesting along with the meteor display.  We then headed for the dino lab and backyard dinos.  On the ground floor we saw the T-rex skull and the urban bird habitat displays.  That day we only stopped for water and chips (cold ones in the packet) before seeing the elephant exhibition and finishing off the mammal exhibit.  

Tuscon Ring

Now it was 5:00pm and we both could hardly walk so we struggled out to the National Mall where we sat and watched squirrels before heading back along Pennsylvania Avenue to the Whitehouse for more photos.  Once we had walked away from the Whitehouse we heard a lot of sirens sounding as we saw eight motorcycle cops followed by a police van and then a number of black vans followed by another police van, we guess it was the president in one of the black vans.

White House

Back at the hotel we rested by watching the news but there was nothing about the president on it.  We headed out again to find something for tea that night stumbling upon Noodle and Company which was cheap and healthy.  Justin ordered the Bombay Curry with Garlic Parmesan Chicken and I ordered Backyard BBQ Chicken Salad, sharing a Margareta Flatbread as entree.  The food was fresh, quick and tasted good.

Stephen F Udvar-Hazy Museum

9 September 2014 - Dulles, Virginia

Weather: Maximum 19C (degrees Celsius) with humidity but no rain.

We awoke to American time to start our first day of sightseeing, checking out of our hotel room but leaving the bags at reception.  We took a taxi to the Stephen F Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum.  My husband is fascinated by planes, space and space travel so this will be the first place we are to visit to kick start the trip, visiting the first of four space shuttles.

Stephen F Udvar-Hazy Museum

We arrived before the museum opened so that we could get the maximum time in the museum as we didn't have the full day to see it in.  Once the museum opened we were one of the first people in.  From the upstairs foyer you have a view over the SR-71.  We wanted to get to the space shuttle before anyone else.  But we were caught up by the volunteer willing to show us a Cessna.  He explains how to fly a Cessna and we sat inside it moving the steering wheel and peddles on his instructions.  Once we politely listened to his explanations we rushed off to join the other people viewing the Discovery Space Shuttle.  It is truly awe inspiring due to its size and the "romance" of space travel.

SR-71

Discovery Space Shuttle

I am not a plane expert and thought I would be bored in this museum but this was not the case.  It is an interesting place to visit and you can take guided tours.  Luckily hubby had read up on many of the planes and as a mechanic he was very interested in there designs and capabilities, sharing much of this information with me.

Sabre

Tom Cat

After seeing the Sabre and Tom Cat and a number of other planes it was time to have a snack at the McDonald's on site.  This would be our first fast food experience in the US, so why not McDonald's?  It was different to those at home, such as Biscuits instead of McMuffin’s.  These biscuits are not like the ones we know of in Australia but more like a scone.  It was strange to us to eat a scone in this manner, they are meant to be eaten with jam and cream, not eggs and bacon.

Next stop was to get the IMAX ticket email exchanged for the actual tickets and then buying flight simulator tickets.  The first flight simulator we tried was the fighter plane F-4E Phantom II.  Justin was the pilot and I was the gunner.  We had a practice go outside the simulator on a small screen where Justin found it difficult to find the planes for me to shoot at.   This was the case within the simulator, he certainly hasn't found another profession.  Having just finished a large hot chocolate, being turned upside down a number of times in a row was not ideal and I spent most of the time saying "God, Justin".  After a while I stopped being mad and just laughed every time we rolled in pursuit of the enemy.  We managed to shot down two planes, but if this was life or death we would have had no hope.  This flight simulator was so much fun we decided we would give the space shuttle simulator ago, which was so tame after the fighter pilot one.  Note do the space one first or choose the one which best suits the type of experience you want.  A plus to the space shuttle simulator is to experience what it would be like to re-enter the earth's atmosphere when returning from space. This makes it totally worth going on.

The planes from the viewing platform in the Stephen F Udvar-Hazy Museum 

Then we spent more time looking at the remaining planes until it was time for the IMAX screening - The Dream Is Alive, giving an interesting insight into the space shuttle, the training required by astronauts and the work carried out on the shuttle when in space.

After the IMAX screening we decided to do the guided tour.  Robert Covey was our guide, he was knowledgeable and showed us most of the planes and the restoration area. This made our tour blow out to, two hours but worth it.

Restoration Area of the Stephen F Udvar-Hazy Museum

Sadly it was time to leave the museum to get back to the hotel to grab our bags.  Luggage in hand we got the hotel’s shuttle (bus not space) to the airport to get the Washington Flyer to the Wiehle-Reston Metro.  It took a bit to work out the ticketing system and no one had time to help us.  After purchasing our tickets, not sure if we under or over charged ourselves we got a train to Farragust West, where we had around a six minute walk up 18 Street to the Quincy Hotel.  That night we dined at the Grill Daily having Blackberry sauce pork chops with fries and Justin had the Brick cooked chicken with fries.  The food was nice but pricey.

Our room at The Quincy