A week in DC.
 

Last week, I travelled by Amtrak to DC to see the sights in a self-guided, urban hiking sort of fashion and had a great time. Arriving Monday around noon and departing on Friday at 4 p.m...

Got myself a room at the Hotel Harrington on the corner of E and 11th streets, which is an old (est. 1914) and kinda quirky hotel. But, at $145 a night, dirt cheap by DC standards. The location was also wonderfully central from a tourism standpoint.

The first stop was the International Spy Museum, which was fascinating for me. I had no idea that Josephine Baker and Angela Merkel were both spies. During WW2, Baker "extracted" valuable information from German and Italian officers and passed it on to British and American intelligence via the French Resistance. Extremely brave of her, all things considered. Merkel had been recruited by the BND to spy on the Communist East German government, proving to be a valuable asset in bringing down the GDR.

I visited the Capitol Building, Whitehouse, National Archives, Botanical Garden, WW2 Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Iwo Jima Memorial, Lincoln, Washington, FDR, MLK, Taft and Garfield Memorials and Lafayette Square. Also wandered around at the Smithsonian Castle, S. Dillon Ripley Center, Air & Space, American History Museum, Constitution Garden, Hirschhorn Gallery and Gardens, Lady Bird Johnson Garden and Arlington National Cemetery.

ALL ON FOOT, in 3-1/2 days.

Dave

Cool. Lived there from '68 to '80. Fun times. I still miss it.

It's probably changed a little.

As opposed to Bob. ;)

Just check out his playlists! :D

(Good morning, Bob!)

It's a great city for tourists in that most tourist attractions are free.

Wish I had known you were in the area I would have bought you a drink.