Our Nation's Capital

The Watergate!!!!

The Kennedy Graves at Arlington

The Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington

Judi and the Congressional subway we didn't get to go on!

Our adorable guide at the National Cathedral and Jesus at the Children's Chapel

The Old Stone House in Georgetown

The living room in the Old Stone House

In the Rotunda of the Capitol

My favorite statue in the Rotunda

Well, what an incredible couple of days this has been. We love the hotel where we are staying. The Harrington. It is sort of old, funky, jumping, and in the middle of everything. We have actually extended our stay by one night and contemplating another!!!! It is also very nice to stay in one place for a few days. I think we needed this. Also the weather turned this morning. We had the forecast for windy and cooler weather. Well, we walked outside and almost were blown over! But the Gotta Go Girls never say die and we headed to the Hop On Hop Off double decker bus.


Brrrrr, it was brisk but we rode all the way to the National Cathedral. What a wonderment of Gothic goodness. Our guide for a tour was very knowledgable as well as funny and delightful. The other picture from the Cathedral is Jesus as a child welcoming the children. It welcomes you to the Children's Chapel which is delightful and the hands are burnished to a gleam by children and adults touching the hands. High on our recommendations of places to see.


We hopped on and then hopped off in Georgetown. Narrow streets, interesting shops, incredible traffic, and zillions of people out and about. In the midst of all this hubub we came upon the Old Stone House which is administered by the National Park Service. Built in 1791 it is a little gem on this bustling and busy street.


After a great lunch at a quaint restaurant we boarded the bus again and got off at Arlington Cemetary. Took a shuttle bus to the Kennedy grave site and also the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns. It was very moving to be at both those sites and thank goodness for the shuttle as there are lots of hills in the cemetary. I would still be huffing and puffing.


The windy ride back to the Mall was invigorating and I got off at the Washington Monument and walked about 10 minutes, at my old lady pace, back to the hotel. Judi and Lee stayed on for a bit more of the ride around Washington. Our ticket is good for a second day and will probably be using the bus again tomorrow.


Yesterday was a full day for us also. We went for our scheduled tour of the White House which was fantastic. But......the East Room was set up for a documentary screening that the president was hosting for a marching group of young people. The screen obscured the Gilbert Stuart painting of George Washington and I could only see the top of George's head! I whined to the Secret Service agent in the room but to no avail. Will have to be satisfied with the copy hanging in the Senate in Sacramento! (boo hoo)


After a deliscious hot dog from a street vendor (we will eat anything, anytime, anywhere) we hustled on over to the Capitol where an intern from Congressman Sam Farr's office took us on a 4 hour tour. Carrie had only been on the job a few weeks and we were her third tour. She was a delight and let us linger as we strolled along. The place was crawling with people and she kept us together somehow and I got to have my picture taken in front of the famous picture of the signing of the Declaration of Independence that has been in every history textbook I have ever seen. And there I am in front of it! Another favorite picture is of Judi and me looking up at the beautiful rotunda dome. We particularly like the picture since there are no wrinkles in our neck. In all pictures from now on we will be craning our necks and looking up. (smiles) I did a little bow in front of the interesting statue of three other gotta go girls, Lucretia, Elizabeth, and Susan, who got us the right to vote. Right on, Girls! You rock! (Ouch! bad pun)


We walked some more past the Supreme Court and on to Union Station where we wandered around window shopping and had dinner. It is really beautiful and we are so glad it escaped the wrecker's ball. Perhaps you can understand why last night was so brief. We are wearing our feet down to nubs but enjoying every minute. It's only pain. We are all crashing and will make more plans tomorrow. We are so well situated that we can head in any direction and be where we want to be.


Better go rest up. Good night from the Gotta Go Girls.