Washington D.C

where rain and museums collide

After an 8 hour drive from Savannah, which was mostly plagued by heavy rains, we finally made it to America’s capital city, Washington D.C.

We made it to our airbnb just as the day was coming to a close, still bright but only just. The neighbourhood wasn’t all that great looking but from what we read that was pretty typical of D.C and there was plenty of reviews to say that though the place looked dodge, it was still fairly safe.

Making it through a series of digital locks we got into our home for the night, it was nice, but definitely run by professional airbnbers who lived elsewhere (ie. this wasn’t a family home).

We finishing off the day with an unfortunately all too common dinner of leftover Pizza Hut pizza and some typical late night adventure planning – it could be worse really 🙂

We were up early the next morning and driving into the capitol at 9am, it was like a ghost town – what time do these people wake up at?! We did a loop around the White House and found a parking spot right in front and it was free to boot.

Just like the two days previous, it was lashing again, so first thing’s first – purchase a cheap umbrella from a nearby entrepreneuring merchandise stand.

Following the crowds, we wandered up Pennsylvania Avenue arriving in front of the White House…well, the White House was behind the crowds of tourists. We looked, we took pictures, we posed – we were done.

One of us was more into this city than the other and so, to maximise time, hit a bunch of spots at once within a short walk and reduce the chances of an argument,  we headed towards the Lincoln Memorial.

Within a relatively short amount of time and in between rain showers we worked our way round to see ALL the memorials – the National WWII Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial and finally, the Washington monument.

Washington Monument and reflecting pool

Lincoln Memorial

Mr Lincoln himself

Korean War Veterans Memorial

Then it was off to the National Mall and the Smithsonians for the afternoon. We had wanted to visit a few of the museums but in the essence of time we chose the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Top tip: unless you want to pay outrageous prices for mediocre food – don’t eat here. Expensive restaurant food aside, we wandered leisurely through here for hours, exploring different parts of America’s past from the evolving transport industry to history of the stars and stripes flag.

However, after the third flood warning alert message came through on our phones and figured we better get on the road to Philadelphia.

The drive took around three hours and involved passing through about three tolls, of which at least one we skipped accidentally. Rocking into Philly in the late evening, we miraculously found a parking spot outside our friend’s apartment and quickly got to catching up for the evening.