This is the day that we want to sit up top on the Hop On Hop Off Double Decker Sightseeing bus. Consulting their brochure, it was determined that if we took a cab to the Museum of Women's Art, we could catch the bus there and not have to go all the way to Union Station. When we got there, it was hard to figure out where to wait because there weren't any signs or anything. Reading all of the fine print, we thought we would be better off waiting at the Hotel around the corner. After waiting for more than an hour, we examined the brochure more closely. What we held in our hot little hands was the Winter Schedule, which ended a few days ago. The Summer schedule says that they no longer come this way.
Waiting for the bus that never came!
So, a couple of hours later than we had planned, we took a cab to Union Station and caught a double decker. We weren't able to sit up top right away, but after a bunch of folks exited to go sightseeing, we went up and achieved our goal at long last!
You get a much better view sitting upstairs in the bus. The weather was perfectly wonderful. The sunshine was warm and comfortable. We put on sun screen for the first time in 2010. After yesterday, we felt much more familiar with the city, and recognized mostly everything, remembering what we had heard before. The traffic, of course, was still horrible - stop and go most of the way - but then we weren't driving! No stress!
Traffic, traffic and more traffic - a combo of Cherry Blossom Festival and Spring Break.
Paddle boats on the Tidal Basin
Mob scene at the Lincoln Memorial - swarms of people - it was a never ending stream of people!
Jefferson Memorial
Because of Good Friday, there was a re-enactment of Christ carrying the cross to Golgotha. From the bus, we could see the Roman soldiers leading Christ through the streets of D.C.
A portion of the World War II Memorial
We got off again at Union Station for lunch. It is a beautiful, huge, functional railroad station with shops and restaurants and lovely public spaces on the ground floor.
Downstairs, the Food Court is loud, messy, crowded, noisy, cramped - and did I say loud and crowded? And huge? This picture shows one half of the Food Court - it stretches as far as the eye can see.
After lunch we wanted to switch from the red line to the blue line - that turned out to be easier said than done! I'm sure that the entire bus system was overloaded and overworked because of the massive crowds in town this week - so we tried to be philosophical about the waits! I won't go into all of the details, but we did a lot of philosophical waiting.
Mobs of people enjoying the cherry blossoms.
Judging by the boot on this car, the District Police are serious about enforcing parking regulations!
Our beautiful Capitol Building!
After our bus tour, we met with Jana at the Pentagon Center Mall. Why they have palm trees there is a mystery to me.
One of Jana's favorite places to eat is the Union Street Station in Alexandria. We liked it, too !
These figures were under the stairway, peeking up at the people coming down - you just have to grin.
This was a full, full day - and most of it was very enjoyable!
Then off to the Eastern Market - we found a good place to sit and have something cold to drink.
After they had toured the Capitol grounds, and some of us had walked around the Market looking for a good souvenir, we discovered a Baskin-Robbins kitty corner from the Metro stop. Who wants to pass that up?
The Metro ride back to the Airport was so funny! We were jammed in like sardines, but we all had good seats. Mr. D. wanted to stand up all the way - he enjoyed the jerking around! It was so interesting - two people boarded the train with their bikes! There was really no room, and they held the bikes vertically up im the air - one of them had a wheel rubbing his chin - luckily they were only there for a couple of stops - I'm sure they were not comfortable!
Back at the Airport, we went back to the car and drove to the Comfort Inn in Alexandria.
