Ahoy there!

We know, our e-mails are like buses - none for ages then two in quick succession!

As we mentioned before we snuck in a trip to Washington  while we were staying in Baltimore . We had originally intended to sail up the Potomac but after investigation found that the bridge re-building works could be a problem to our mast height. The train from Baltimore takes about 45 minutes and at only $14 return was a bargain. As we had left everything to the last minute we did little hotel research but booked into the same hotel that Carol & Roger has found (thanks chaps it was great!) It was only a few stops on the metro from Union Station and easy walk to all the sights. We dumped our bags and went walking.

The hotel was near the FBI and all the US government buildings (i.e. Departments of the Environment and Agriculture). Most of the buildings are HUGE and built in a Romanesque style with pillars and colonnades. A definite case of subduing the natives!

 

The Smithsonian Institute administers about a dozen different museums, nearly all in the same area and all free. We were on our way to the Air & Space and got side tracked by the Museum of Art . There were some stunning displays from the early Italian & Dutch masters through to the Impressionists. Our favourite was an Italian sculpture of a girl reading. The museum building itself was lovely, huge marble pillars and staircases and several indoor gardens with pools and fountains.

 

Next stop was the Air & Space Museum . Although crammed with exhibits - space shuttles, planes of all ages and lots of buttons to push - we felt that there wasn't much cohesion or flow. There was the history of flight from the Wright brothers through to space travel but no mention of the development of the jet engine or even Concorde! But it was still worth a visit.

 

 

Back at the hotel we had our first baths in four months! A definite birthday treat for Sharon . And we dressed up for dinner in long trousers! A short walk from the hotel took us to China Town where we had a fabulous meal.

 

The following day we left our bags at the hotel and walked up to the Washington Memorial, which although a very tall building bemused us with its purpose (apart from blocking the view to from Lincoln to the Capitol). This then led us down to the WWII memorial which was thought provoking, along the reflecting pool and up to the Abraham Lincoln Statue. The scale of all of these is very impressive. Walking back to the Smithsonian area we passed the memorial dedicated to the Korean War which was moving.

 

Desperate for air conditioning we went into the Freer Gallery which has both an Asian art & Whistler collection and is outstanding. There were some beautiful examples of very early Japanese pottery as well as paintings and calligraphy. We spent a long time here.

 

Eventually we had to leave the museum and Washington  and arrived back at Baltimore tired but very pleased to have made the trip.

 

We've now started travelling again and are currently in Rock Hall for the Labour Day weekend. It seems any one who has a boat is out at the moment. The weather is gorgeous, sunny but with a cooler breeze and much drier.

 

Warm regards

 

Sharon & Andrew