Day 7 - Washington, DC (2nd day)

Waking up and early the next day, we decided to have breakfast at the Inn and check out and head out to explore the city some more.

Our hotel payment comes includes free continental breakfast. Being a converted apartment, breakfast was served at the ground floor where you share the big table with other guests. We also shared breakfast with the hotel cat who is just so cute and cuddly.



We checked out afterwards and tried to find the train station. When we passed by a local McDonald's, I could not help but go in and buy another breakfast meal. Somehow, the continental breakfast that we had earlier did not hit the spot. Besides, I wanted to know if it tastes the same as what we have back home.



After finishing that meal, I learned afterwards that there's not much difference as what we have back home.

We finally found the subway station after a few more blocks. Here's what the station looks like. I like the architecture.



We got off the station near Capitol Hill and the Library of Congress. After a short discussion, we decided to see the Library of Congress first. I knew I have to see this place being the mecca of book lovers everywhere.

There was a short line entering the premises as we had to go through a metal detector and security inspection. It was difficult as we were carrying our backpacks with us. We entered through the first floor and found ourselves in the Great Hall. We took pictures including me all giddy and excited.





We tried going into the main reading room where all the books are located (and where Nicolas Cage shot a couple of scenes in his film National Treasure: Book of Secrets. But there was an ongoing tour so we decided some other parts of the building.

One thing I love about the Library is that you can get a "passport" before you start your own tour. At each exhibit that you visit, you insert your "passport" inside a machine which automatically logs your visit. Afterwards, you access a certain website where you can virtually recall all the rooms that you saw during your tour.

After going through the rooms (and getting lost in the basement), we tried going back into the main reading room. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures so I just had to make do with a picture on the steps leading up to the balcony of the reading room.



When I got to the balcony, I just stood there and took it all in. Books everywhere! The book lover in me wanted to scream out in delight, but I just stood there until tears started pricking my eyes. It's such a beautiful sight and so far, it's the most heart-tugging sight that I have ever seen.

I searched the web and found a picture of what I saw, this is what the Main Reading Room looks like from the balcony:



(Thanks to the DC Traveler for that picture)

From the Library, we took a short detour at the Cannon House Office Building where I dropped off a couple of postcards. I saw different offices of US Representatives. When I told my husband it and mentioned seeing the office of a certain Nancy Pelosi, he asked if I saw her and said that she's the Speaker of the House. If I've known that earlier, I would have exerted extra effort to peek into her office.

After the Library, we walked to the Smithsonian and entered the National Museum of American Indian.




The second picture is the roof of the building from the Potomac Atrium.

Taking into consideration the recommendation of Leo's boss, we ate at the museum's restaurant the Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe. Leo ordered cold tomato soup and fried bread while I got pork Soft Tacos. Both are just SO yummy!




Our train was not due to leave until 2PM so we had time to spare. We went around the museum again and crossed The Mall again to go into the National Gallery of Art. Here's a nice picture of The Capitol.



And here's Leo posing on the steps of the National Gallery of Art.



We were asked to leave our bags in the coatroom. Believe it or not, this is the room beside the baggage place. Makes you want to sit on the sofa and get comfortable.



Posing at the fountain on the Rotunda.



This sculpture is the Capitoline Venue which is on loan from Rome.



We then proceeded to the Union Station where we bought tickets for the Amtrak Train back to New Jersey. If the bus ride took 4 1/2 hours, the train ride should only be 2 1/2.

The Union Station looks also very grand. The place was packed to the seams with people trying to get in and out of DC. Tickets were kinda expensive at $140 each (I think). Ride was comfortable too.




My brother-in-law, Jeff, picked us up at the train station near Woodbridge and we were able to make it home in due time.

Day 6 - Washington, DC (1st day)

Washington, DC was not initially part of our plans but it was highly suggested to us by my in-laws. Moreover, my husband's boss resides there so it's a good chance for them to meet up and talk business for a night.

After debating how to get to DC, we settled on taking the Megabus. I'm glad we did as even if the trip was longer (at 4 1/2 hours), the bus had free wifi and you can charge whatever equipment you want.

We also booked a hotel online, Windsor Inn, which was the relatively cheap hotel/inn that we found. It's supposedly near Dupont Circle but I've forgotten what constitutes "near" here in the US. It was actually 4 LONG blocks away from Dupont! Here's their front door.



We arrived in DC after lunch time. As we didn't bring any food on the bus, we were very famished when we arrived at the parking lot bus stop. We made the mistake of not hailing a taxi and taking up the offer of one of the people standing their for a taxi. He charged us $20 but according to Leo's boss, it should be around $10 only. Oh well, lesson learned.

When we got to the Inn, our room was not yet ready. So we left our bags with the Front Desk and looked for a place to eat. We walked four blocks to Dupont Circle and found a Starbucks. I readily devoured my sandwich and water afterwhich, we walked the four long blocks back to the Inn where we checked in.

After freshening up, we decided where we wanted to go. Feeling very touristy, we decided to make The White House our first stop and walk our way towards the Lincoln Memorial. Here's a summary of all the places we've visited.

So we had a cab drop us off at the White House. Here we are posing for mandatory pics:





We realized later on that this was the BACK part of the White House and not their front door. Oh well, at least it's still the White House.

From there, we walked towards the Washington Monument. We passed by The Ellipse and arrived at the Washington Monument. Though it's just near, we didn't want to walk towards it was just too hot with no shade at all. So we just contented ourselves taking pictures from afar:



After another short walk, we arrived at the World War II Memorial where The Philippines has its own marker. I wanted to take a picture of it but there was this group of obviously Filipinos hogging the area. We decided to just take a picture in front of the Memorial:




Here's another view of the Washington Monument from the vantage point of the WWII Memorial:



We then made our way to Lincoln Memorial. We saw the Memorial from afar and tried to find the Reflecting Pool but all we saw were dirt and machines. It took awhile to register that the pile of dirt was the Reflecting Pool and was being renovated:



We took another picture of the Washington Monument and Reflecting Pool when we got to the Lincoln Memorial. It would've been perfect if they left the Pool alone:



The Lincoln Memorial was just awesome. I wanted to just stand there and reflect on the history that this place inspired but there were too many tourists around jostling for a nice shot. I just had to make do with the moment and took a few pictures of our own.






After the Lincoln Monument, we caught a cab to take us to the Smithsonian. We were supposed to walk but we were so drained by the heat. Being from Manila, I know we're used to the heat but in this case, the sun got the best of us again.

We first visited the Museum of American History. Their exhibits are more on the mode of transportation in the US. I like the trains more. Here are some of our photos:






We decided on the Air and Space Museum next. Turns out we had to cross The Mall to get to the next museum which is on the other side of the complex.

The National Mall is between Constitution Ave. and Independence Ave. surrounded by the different Smithsonian buildings. Here are some of our pictures there:





The Air and Space Museum showcased space shuttles, planes and such.




We went around for awhile and waited for Leo's boss to pick us up. We had dinner at a restaurant at Georgetown called Das. It features Ethiopian cuisine which was interesting. It's not something I would rave about but at least it was something different.

After dinner, we walked around Georgetown and had dessert at a place called Sprinkles.



I had a Milk Chocolate cupcake as shown below. Quite yummy. I was told that they're part of a show called "Cupcake Wars" although I have yet to see it. I did see the DC Cupcakes store but we were not able to go inside the store or take a picture of it.


I found Georgetown charming with its red brick buildings although populated with yuppies and young people (probably because of the university nearby). The photo below was taken between 830 to 9 in the evening.



And that's our first day at DC.