Washington DC

August 15th

We left S. New Jersey today and headed for Washington DC. -- College Park to be exact and we arrived at a really nice RV Park. They are very good at helping you get around DC and showing you the best transportation, etc. I called my good friend Chuck Waespy who is my Daughter, Julie's, Godfather and we made a date to get together tomorrow for dinner with Chuck and his friend, Diane.

August 16th

This is our 5th wedding anniversary and what better way to celebrate than to have dinner with a good friend at a very good Irish restaurant. We met at Chuck's house in Chevy Chase. He has done amazing things to his house. The house is a show piece complete with an exercise pool, (the kind you swim in one spot). We had a great dinner and good time and made tentative arrangements to meet them tomorrow at the Washington Nationals baseball park.

Chuck, Diane, Kathy & Dave

August 17th

Off to a Washington Nationals game via the Metro subway. It is a very good system and we used it a lot during our stay in Washington. Chuck & Diane did meet us at the park and we had a good time--except the Nationals lost. There was very little energy at the game. It will take awhile to get a good team and fans going. Chuck and Diane took us to Georgetown for dinner and to tour us through the area. We even went by Chuck's old condo that he referred to as his "safe house."

August 18th

This is our day to head to Baltimore and Camden Yard and see a game between the Orioles and the Red Socks. What a game! There were more Red Socks fans than Orioles and the park was packed. It is a very good park but it took us over an hour to get out of the parking lot and on the road back to College Park. This looks like our last game for this year; however, we have fourteen pins for our baseball hats that we're very proud of!

Balitmore's Camden Yards





We took the next day off to recuperate and get ready to tour Washington, DC.

August 20th

We took the Metro to Union Station; it is really nice. From there we signed up for the "hop on/hop off" double decker bus tour, did a complete loop of DC and went to the Smithsonian. We toured the Smithsonian Castle, Museum of Natural History and the Freer Art Museum. One could spend days just in the Natural History Museum. Our legs finally gave out and we headed back to Union Station to catch the Metro home and stopped at the bar, what else, and met the bartender who has been working there for 18 years. He talked us into a 2nd vodka tonic (pretty easily).

Smithsonian Castle Union Station

August 21st

The National Cathedral - what a place. We got a complete tour of it including several small chapels on the lower level. It is the 6th largest cathedral in the world and it took 83 years to complete. Everyone who visits DC should see it. That took us most of the afternoon so back to our home in College Park via the Metro.

National Cathedral

August 22nd

Off to Arlington Cemetary via the Metro. We watched the changing of the guard, saw John F. Kennedy's grave site and took the tour of the park. It's really something to see. We then went into town and toured the Holocaust Museum and finally ran out of steam. Everything is very far apart and you do a lot of walking. Back to Union Station and home.

Tomb of Unknown Soldier John F. Kenneeddy's Grave
Changing of the Guard

Changing of the Guard

August 23rd

Chuck and Diane came out to our R.V. park and we dazzled them with our motor home. They had volunteered to take us on a tour of Annapolis where Chuck had graduated from the Naval Academy in 1951, and Diane had grown up. We arrived just in time to see a naval wedding at the chapel complete with crossed swords, toured the building where Chuck lived while at the academy, the grounds and then onto a wonderful dinner overlooking the Annapolis harbor. Another great day with our friends.

August 24th - A Day of Rest?

Ha....Kathy got the bright idea that we should wash the motor home, top to bottom. 5 hours later we collapsed for the evening and had 2 old fashioneds. It's quite a job!!

August 25th

When we got up, we were so sore from washing the motor home we could hardly move. Back on the Metro for a 10AM tour of our nation's Capitol. We called our Texas Senator earlier in the week and they were happy to provide the tour. We were fortunate that there were only 4 of us so the tour was the equivalent of a private one. The Capitol is very impressive and we were able to sit in on a debate in the House of Representatives on the need to pass an energy bill. We limped the entire day.

From there we went to the Lincoln, Korean and Viet Nam Memorials. All of which are very impressive and stirring.

Korean War Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Vietnam Memorial

August 26th

We drove to Dulles Airport and to the new Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. Very impressive with the SR71, Enola Gay B29 that dropped the atom bombs on Japan and a bunch of old restored aircraft with a lot of history. We finally decided to leave as it was so cold in there you could hang beef.

SR71 Blackbird Enola Gay

August 27th

Back on the Metro to the National Zoo. We watched Panda's eating bamboo, cheetahs, hippos, elephants, meercats, prairie dogs, river otters and a mess of other animals. What we didn't realize is the zoo goes down hill for a very long way and the only way to get back to the Metro is to go all the way back up. I was exhausted but we made it.

August 28th

Kathy did laundry, I did some minor repairs on the motor home, shipped a wonderful piece of art work Chuck Waespy gave us, to my Brother Roy for safe keeping, and prepared to head for Williamsburg, VA for a week. We had a great time in Washington and there is still a lot to see when we come back. We could have spent two weeks just at the various Smithsonian buildings - so we hope to come back and see the rest someday.