Weekend "Warriors" in Washington,DC

We decided to be “weekend warriors” and tackle Washington, DC last Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Most people would think we are too old for that sort of thing, but never underestimate the determination of a senior citizen! We can still hold our own……for at least a minute or two.

We got to Union Station around 7:30 AM. Here you can see Sandy and Jerry actively discussing our plan of attack.

We caught our tour bus at Union Station. A beautiful day awaited us.

Here we are, on the open top bus, “armed” with our cameras, backpacks and water. Let’s get this bus rolling!

One of the places Sandy wanted to visit was the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial, so she could look up the names of two classmates. Don helped her find both of the names in the directory, which provides the section and line for each inscription. Day one also had us at Arlington Cemetery, the Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Veteran's Memorial, and walking to the WW II Memorial before we caught our bus back to Cherry Hill Campground at 5 PM.

Day Two had us back at the RV park bus stop at 6:30 AM and taking the complimentary bus into Union Station. It was a bit hard for us to get up that early two days in a row, but it sure was an easy way to get into DC. Don and Jerry didn’t have to drive, and we didn’t have to take the bus and subway system. I remembered the years I had to get up at 4:30 AM to go to work, so rising at 5:30 AM to do something fun was a whole lot better.

We started out at Union Station again, and got off at the Capitol building.

Don is pretending to hold up the Washington Monument…and he’s doing a pretty good job of it. As you can see, it was another beautiful sunny day in DC. The weather was in the mid-80's the whole weekend, with lots of sunshine. Just what we ordered!

Sandy and I peeked out of the vines that were by the U.S. Botanic Gardens. This was the beginning of the day, while we still had a lot of get-up and go. By the end of the day, it was G-O-N-E.

The Air and Space Museum was really interesting. This is my kind of place….Don says I’m “flighty” at times. Wonder what he means by that?? As you can see, everything was in "plane" sight and easy to find.

After lunch and much walking, we boarded the bus again so we could go to the National Cathedral. Wow! This was an absolutely beautiful church. The official name is the Cathedral Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, and is Episcopalian. It reminded me of the huge churches in Europe. The first cornerstone was laid in 1907, and the last finial was placed in the presence of George H.W. Bush in 1990, so it took 83 years to build.

Inside, I was in awe of the stained glass windows and the huge altar. This view is looking toward the back of the church. Martin Luther King delivered his last sermon here. Five days later, his memorial service was held in this cathedral.

On Sunday we took a Washington by night tour, getting off the bus at three different stops. Don got the picture of the Washington Monument with the night sky in the background. It was warm enough that evening to walk around with short sleeves.

Below is the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. Currently, they are doing some restoration around the base of the monument. This is one stop that the daytime tour bus didn't make, so I'm glad we took the 7 PM tour.

I managed to capture a picture of the top of the Jefferson Memorial and the moon above it. It was almost the end of our warrior weekend. By the time we got back to Cherry Hill Campground, it was 11 PM . Our feet and legs were begging to go to bed!