We arrived in DC on Friday evening after a 12-hour drive (which included time getting lost and retracing our steps), then had a meal and a drink in the hotel pub, then hit the sack to rest up for the weekend activities.
Saturday morning we spent at the National Zoo. This time I actually got to see the pandas, which on my last visit had stubbornly refused to emerge for viewing. They actually are not as big as I had imagined, as I had envisioned something about the size of a black bear. They aren't - they are more the size of a St. Bernard dog. But they are well worth seeing. The first one that came in for viewing stared at the people on the other side of the glass while rhythmically scratching his backside against a (fake) boulder. He looked pretty happy.
Of course we had to visit the big cats - tiger and lion - and the smaller ones, cheetahs that were very interested in the zoo keeper who apparently had the bucket of meat scraps for dinner. The cheetah enclosure is next to the zebras, and one cheetah kept venturning that way - he really wanted that zebra but there was no way he could get to it. This must have been an old game because the zebra just went on grazing. He would not have done that in the wild.
After the zoo, and a wonderful brunch, we got on the Metro for a trip to the Mall to see some of the monuments. We passed by the Washington Monument and spent a little time at the World War II memorial - not my favorite by a long shot - there is way too much froofraw on it. It was an important war but the iron wreaths and iron eagles and stone plinths are awfully aggressive. I wish they had done better.
The Korean War memorial is new since my last trip. That was a better one - the statues of the soldiers were solemn and sad. On a wall facing them are etchings of faces of service men and women.
Then we went to the Lincoln memorial - I had been there several times but not all of our group had, so we stayed a while there, then walked the Vietnam memorial wall to finish our tour. That one is my favorite and always is moving. Of course, Vietnam was "my" war - it ended when I was in my teens, but it was high in my consciousness for obvious reasons.
Across Constituition Avenue is the National Science Academy with a huge statue of Albert Einstein out front. He is sitting casually there - and apparently wearing Birkenstocks. Tourists were climbing up into his lap for photos, so I did too.
Then we walked north past the State Department - and quite a ways longer - onto the campus of George Washington University. Even more walking finally got us to a Metro stop, and we headed back to the area of our hotel to find a restaurant and have a drink and dinner. We had done more walking that day than I normally do in a week, so we were all ready for food and beer.
On Sunday, we all participated in the National Equality March. As with all marches, one can count on the fact that it will never start when it is supposed to. With a scheduled noon kickoff, the staging area was so full and crowded that it extended for several blocks and filled the side streets as well. We stood in the sun for over an hour before we detected movement. After about a block of marching, we were told that the front of the march had reached the Capitol Lawn, 2 miles away. Hmm. Sure seemed like there were a lot of people!
Anyway, we did make our way around the White House and down to the Capitol, listened to some speeches, then drifted off to the National Air and Space Museum for a while. Then it was on to the metro to the restaurant we had chosen the night before. Good move. We got there before the dinner rush and had another wonderful meal. I was the only one who skipped dessert, trying to be good after a weekend (so far) of eating things I probably shouldn't have - but the desserts my tablemates shared were pretty awesome, too.
Then it was back to the hotel to take our shoes off, relax, and repack for the trip home on Monday. A nice drive, good weather, but as always, it seems longer when you are going home.
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