The Nation’s Capital

I’m in America’s capital today.

The District of Colombia is a walking museum of history, power and influence. 67 square miles of wide criss-crossed boulevards lined with trees bursting into blossom, monuments, memorials and just about every federal government building you can imagine.

I have visited a few times, and today with a deep blue sky as a canvas it was a lovely day for a stroll. DC is truly a captivating city to walk around, and if you have never been please add it to your to do list.

Previous CA travelogues are here and here.

I am staying in the west end, just across the canal from lively Georgetown, and I made a bee-line down 23rd Street NW to the awe-inspiring Lincoln Memorial, built to honour the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.

It’s vast exterior replicates a Greek temple, but inside are three chambers with a statue of Lincoln carved out of white marble sat on a chair 60 feet up presiding over those that have come to visit. It is one of my favourite memorials, and I could stare at old Abe for hours. The chambers either side have engraved on them Lincoln’s second inaugural address and his famous Gettysburg Address.

From there I walked the 2,000 ft the reflecting pool, which was sadly empty as it was having it’s annual spring clean, and skirted past the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the World War II Memorial to the magnificent 555 ft Washington Monument. Once the tallest structure in the world, the obelisk took 40 years to build.

I then headed to Pennsylvania Avenue to check in on Joe Biden, to see if he was at home. You can do tours, but these days sadly you can’t walk anywhere near the White House.

I had a nose at the Ford’s Theatre, where Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, before continuing back on Pennsylvania Ave to admire the U.S. Capitol Building, home to Congress, the legislative branch of the United States federal government. The building, marked by its iconic dome was completed in 1811 but was then part destroyed by the British in the War of 1812, only to be rebuilt in 1815.

I stopped for a bite to eat and an Americano, which seemed appropriate at CityCenterDC, then walked back through the downtown area, nosed at the cute houses in the fantastically name Foggy Bottom neighbourhood before getting back to my hotel room to put my feet up.

18,000 steps. Boom💥.