This was a terrific day for adventuring in the D.C. area because we had our own private chauffeur. Jana isn't working this weekend - so we could all go adventuring together.
We started out at the Secret Garden cache which was a community garden in the middle of Rock Creek Park extension. I waited in the car while they went strolling down the path to find the cache. It was a very nice neighborhood for waiting.
Then we stopped in at CQ to use the bathroom and shower because Jana had walked through some poison ivy in her sandals and wanted to scrub her ankles.
Did I mention what a beautiful building CQ has? It was quite unusual to have our own private facilities right there in the heart of D.C. We had the building to ourselves, with the exception of Carlos, who seems always to be there.
We purposely avoided the mall area today because there's a huge anti-war protest going on there today. I saw one woman heading in that direction with a fluorescent green sign that said, "It's the incompetency, stupid!"
Driving through Georgetown we were lucky enough to find a parking place smack dab in front of Johnny Rocket's Original Hamburger. There are many, many eating establishments there, and we had decided that we would eat wherever we could find a parking place. We felt extremely lucky! Our waiter was Ijaz, from Pakistan. You just have to love D.C.
Next, we went across the bridge to Arlington, Virginia to find a cache called No Bricks in this Wall. It turned out to be a section of the Berlin Wall displayed in the Freedom Park. It's a small but important display, and we were all surprised to learn that a piece of the wall is in this area.
The Freedom Park is unique - we saw a statue from Tianamen Square, a toppled headless statue of Lenin, a ballot bin from South Africa, and cobblestones from the Warsaw ghetto in 1943. The Freedom Park is located at the Newseum in Arlington. We listen every day to NPR and often their shows originate from the Newseum. It was very enjoyable to see it and to walk around a bit in the Freedom Park.
By the way, on this trip we saw the NPR building in downtown Washington - the Bank of America was on the ground floor, and NPR in the rest of the building.
Dick and Jana also found the Dark Star Cache.
There was a virtual cache at the Iwo Jima Memorial, which is right next to Arlington National Cemetery, but it was difficult for us to locate the entrance. Once you get on the correct street, there are plenty of signs thank goodness. It's a beautiful big monument - a statue of the famous flag-raising on Iwo Jima photograph from WWII.
We didn't claim the cache because the other stages were over by the mall, and that's what we were trying to avoid.
For the U of M vs. Wisconsin game, we went to Tommy Joe's in Bethesda. There we met Spank, Nico, and Jared. We called Tom right before the kick-off and passed the phone around so everyone had a chance to talk to him. The food was good, the company was excellent, but the game was a huge disappointment.
This from mgoblue.com:
Wisconsin's John Stocco scored on quarterback draw with 24 seconds left in the game to give the Badgers a 23-30 win over the No. 14 U-M football team Saturday, Sept. 24, in Madison, Wis. The loss snapped Michigan's 23-game winning streak in conference openers. After Wisconsin scored 13 unanswered points to go up 16-13, Chad Henne found Mario Manningham on a 49-yard flea flicker to give U-M a 20-16 edge with 9:03 remaining in the game. The Wolverines head to Michigan State next week for a noon kickoff on ABC.
Added by Jana:
Anyway, this was a very fun day. My Dad and I had a nice walk in the woods to the garden, it went through a dog playground with lots of happy dogs running around and nipping at each other. 3 of them came up to us, my favorite was a little guy with doberman coloring that looked out of place on his little wriggly body.
I got to show Mom and Dad the Methodist church in Rosslyn that has a gas station in it. I was really excited about the berlin wall sections -- I didn't know that was there at all.
It was a great visit on my end, I hope it won't be long 'til Mom and Dad come back, there's so much else to see! The FDR and WWII memorials, the Japanese-American WWII memorial, the Museum of the American Indian, and like 8,947 caches! Have a safe and fun trip home!!
