Memories and Memorials in the Capitol City
Those who are interested in American history a visit to Washington D.C. is probably near the top of their list. The city itself represents a huge amount of historical significance for those who live in the United States, or who find themselves interested in the history of the country. For me, after 13 years of traveling around the world and across all of the US, this was the first time I was coming here for actual work.
I’d been to DC twice before. In 2011 I took a geocaching trip with two other guys to Warren County, Pennsylvania and made DC a stop on our tour of some of the eastern US states. I remember getting a chance to snag a ton of virtual geocaches and see all kinds of places I had recognized from TV, including the White House. In 2017, DC was a quick stop on my 4 Guys In A Car trip as we were heading toward Delaware. This time I would actually have some time to enjoy at least a bit of the city while here for four days.
Although most of my trip centered around work, I did get the opportunity to do some walking and exploring of the area, including spots I had seen before and some new ones. But the first real outing into DC was to a place called Carmine’s which was located just outside of Chinatown. My colleague and I wanted to have some Italian food and although the hotel had given us a list of places to eat, the concierge told us to check out Carmine’s and that we would not be disappointed. He did however give us a very useful warning before we left the hotel.
We were told that the portion sizes were enormous and that one appetizer and one main entrée would probably serve both of us. He wasn’t lying.
The photo depicted here shows me “eating” from a plate that was actually shared by both me and my colleague. This came after we had ordered the mushroom caps which themselves were also massive. We ate, and ate, and then ate some more. Our server was incredibly helpful and had given us some great suggestions and by the time he came by for us to decline dessert, we were both stuffed beyond belief. The food was incredible and tasted fresh and not “flat” like a lot of Italian places can be.
Unbeknownst to us, Carmine’s is a chain so I will be keeping an eye out for them in other cities I visit.
The real adventure in DC would happen on Wednesday night. Neither my colleague nor I had the chance to go anywhere during the week beyond or dinner plans so we knew this was our last night to get out and explore. Although I had seen a lot of the monuments, my colleague had not so once work was done, we dropped our stuff at the hotel, and made our way to the White House.
As expected, there was a crowd of tourists taking photos of the North side of the White House. One thing that was notably different about this visit to the area was that a lot of the streets directly surrounding the White House were blocked off. Cops and security were all over the place. I didn’t recall seeing anything like this when I had been here before. I don’t know if this had become the norm or if it’s simply because of the controversy around the current president. Regardless, we took our photos and proceeded west to 17th street where we headed south and made our way to the Washington Monument.
The weather in Washington that day was quite nice. We had been battling a bit of rain throughout the week and back home it was unseasonably cold so it was nice being able to walk around the area with no coat on and just soak in some sunshine.
We headed into the monument park and I couldn’t help but keep thinking of Spiderman: Homecoming and how he had saved his classmates from tumbling to their deaths while they were out on a team trip. The monument itself is quite large and pretty amazing to see up front, but yet again there were more barriers. The entire base of the structure was wrapped by some fencing which made getting close to it impossible. I took a handful of photos from the pathway we were walking on and then spotted a couple of helicopters flying in pretty low. From what it looked like they were headed towards the White House. Maybe it was Trump’s latest cheeseburger order?
For me, I wanted to head over to Capitol Hill as it was part of the city I had never seen before. But since my colleague had never seen the Lincoln Memorial or the reflecting pool there, we headed west again and made it to the World War II Memorial, and the reflecting pool.
In 2011 I had spent a lot of time in this area getting information for geocaches I was trying to find. This time I had one specific spot I wanted to find and after snapping some pictures of the general area, I started on the hunt for the cache. When all was said and done, I found the virtual but then realized I had done that one before. My map said I had never logged it so I grabbed the information I needed, logged the cache, and we continued on towards the memorial.
Walking along the reflecting pool, I was reminded yet again of something from populate media. When my wife and I first got together, she introduced me to a show called Bones which was set in DC. Although the show was actually shot in Los Angeles, there were always exterior shots of places in DC to make the audience think that’s where they were. When I posted a photo of me at the Washington Monument, my wife commented that it was the big tower we always saw on Bones. The reflecting pool was also one that was used numerous times on the show. I smiled as walked along it and then noticed a little family hanging out.
Regardless of where you go in the world, there seems to be ducks and ducklings just about everywhere. DC was no different.
At the end of the pool I turned around and got quite a look at the view from here.With the pool on the bottom at the monument at the back, with no rain or other obstructions in the way, I managed to take a nice photo which showcased what a great spot this really is.
Walked up the stairs to see Abe Lincoln and then we headed over to see the Vietnam memorial. I had not seen this memorial in my previous visits to the city but having visited similar sites elsewhere, the feeling is always the same.
There’s a long wall that is filled with name after name after name. I don’t know much about any of the “wars” that our country or the US has fought, but I have heard and learned enough to know that Vietnam is one that sticks out for many people. Seeing that stone wall filled from end to end with so many countless names really gave you pause.
If you look on a Google Map to see how far it is from the Vietnam memorial to Capitol Hill, it’s listed as about 3.5km and around 45 minutes to walk to. At this point I was starting to feel a bit sore on my legs so as we progressed through part of the park, I had to make a couple of stops to make sure I’d be able to make it the whole way. Once we got east of the Washington Monument, we started to see people playing all kinds of games in the fields. Football, soccer and several other games were being enjoyed by a series of amateur athletes. I sat on a bench for about 5-10 minutes and just watched them play as I let my feet take one last break before we hit the capitol.
The Capitol itself is quite a cool building to see. Again, it’s been shown on countless TV shows and movies but had been a spot I had never had the chance to actually see with my own eyes. Took a few photos then we headed off to find a place to eat before calling it a night. 17,690 steps was enough walking for me.
I’d say that DC was a friendly place to visit with a ton of history and amazing place to eat. If you’re into political history and war memorials, this would be the place to come.
Notable geocaches: GC25E1