A weekend to remember.

Management would like to sincerely apologise for the disruption to your regularly scheduled blog but we are now back in operation and urge you to sit back, get comfortable and read.

I'll cut to the chase since you're such an impatient bunch! This weekend was memorial day weekend so in the interest of doing something useful Gary and I were doing some research on things that would be going on during the weekend that might provide some bloggable moments. During the research, Gary stumbled upon the official parade site, according to the site the parade was held in Washington DC. With a moments contemplation, simultaneous acknowledging smiles accessorised with coetaneous nods sealed the deal; we were off to Washington.







We booked our bus and hotel (unfortunately all the motels had sold out or were in gang-land) tickets on Thursday with the plan to leave on Saturday staying through to Monday. So we were up and out at about 5am (yes, am) on the Saturday to begin our voyage, the coach down was actually quite comfortable as we got some great seats and took about 4 hours.

Once we got there we were struck with a hot and heavy greeting, courtesy of the sun. It went on to be a record breaking day for heat, we can vouch for that. After the mandatory meanderings around the bus terminal to figure out where we were, we headed for capital hill and it's surrounding buildings. One of the things that caught our immediate attention was how clean the city was, it was a very welcome change of scenery and the big and bulky yet intricate buildings were often more impressive than the heights of New York City.

Capital


It was painful to sit there, hot, hot, hot.












The sight of so much water was torturous, it was very, very tempting.

After a walk around the Capital Hill region, we made our way toward the National Mall. It was around this region (and indeed in quite a bit of Washington) that I had my first serious bout of nostalgia from my previous trip. The area is so unique and impressive that it is hard to forget. Although they do have a new monument now, a WWII one which was finished in 2004 I think. The whole area is very overwhelming and I had a much greater appreciation for the historic significance of everything this time around, where as last time I was more interested in the squirrels than Ab Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. We also got a chance to see the Vietnam Memorial at a great moment, as you will see later, there was a large biking contingent down for the weekend for a dedication to the Vietnamese Vets and so there was veterans mourning at the granite which was a provoking sight.

The botanical gardens, this is where hay-fever realised he hadn't visited in a while. He too was feeling nostalgic I guess.


American Indian Museum.






New WW2 feature.






Some bikers arrive.




I realise I have already done the "Rose in focus, background blurring" shot already, but if it ain't broken...


From here, we decided to make our way toward our hotel (in Georgetown) to check in. Oh, just so you know, we are very warm at this stage, hayfever is teasing with an introduction and water is surprisingly sparse, just thought you might like to know. We walk the few blocks to the subway (which is vastly superior to NYC's in terms of cleanliness, noise and comfort) and take what we assume are the correct trains. Of course, as seems to be standard fair at this stage, I was wrong and while we were on the right street, we were about 2000 houses from where we needed to be. With the heat draining our energy and every step becoming one of survival we sourced a taxi and happily coughed up the money (I even tipped, although only when he actively denied me my change...grr).

A very cool building beside the White House.


Canal beside our hotel in Georgetown.


I bet they didn't see that one coming when they bought the deeds.


Once inside the hotel we presented our case and were greeted with some pleasant news "Sir, you have been given a free upgrade". Thank you very muchly. The room was fantastic, and worth 3 times what we had paid, tables, cookers, fridges and freezers, two TVs, it was all there. Plus the bed and pillows were a welcome relief from a mattress on the floor. After some cooling showers, we made our way out again, first for a spot of dinner followed by a walk down Pennsylvania Ave.

I may be older, but I still have time for squirrels.


Also ducklings.


White house back...


...and front.


Monument by night; possessed.


Sunday morning we started with a walk down Pennsylvania Ave again to see it during the day. Once we got there we saw a collection of people on Segway's and our interest was peaked. We inquired as to how we might be able to obtain a jaunt on their fine devices and were sent in the appropriate direction. The price was within our range and so hope were beginning to build, considerably. Unfortunately, once we got there, the place was closed. Fair enough, we will go visit something and return later when they will hopefully be back from lunch or what not.

Before we pounced and launched our vicious interrogation it was imperative that we analyse the target.


So, where did I park again?


Had I seen this lake with paddle boats on Saturday, nothing could have stopped me from renting one and "falling" in.


Jefferson was a big guy.


Vroom vroom.


On our way to the Jefferson memorial our ears were assaulted with the roar of "Rolling Thunder", the airwaves vibrated and the humidity rose as tens of thousands of bikers rained down into DC to honour and remember those who fought in Vietnam. There were bikes everywhere with a great sense of unity and camaraderie to boot.





After the Jefferson Memorial we wandered back to the segway tours to try and force our money upon them. Our progress was halted half way by the bike parade as it growled past. We sat and watched for a while before heading off, it would continue for another 3 hours! The tours office was still closed when we reached it, so disappointed, we went to get change to try calling them. As we collected our change, the segways zipped past the front door, so we quickly commenced pursuit. We were greeted with a fairly numb and brassy instructor and when we finally got into the office we were told that the tours had sold out. Depressed is too light a word to describe our mood. We trudged down to the parade as the sun lapped up the last of our energy. After sitting for a while, we made our way to the natural history museum but hunger, thirst and depression were taking their toll, we made a brief visit before heading for food.

About the only shot of the natural history museum I have.


After food, I was ready to go back to the hotel for a while but Gary suggested that we pay a visit to the Air and Space museum as I had expressed interest on the Saturday. It was another great break for us as we made our way toward the museum and spotted "Segs in the city", a small cabin offering segway tours. There was a 2 hour tour at 7pm (it was about 3-4 at this stage) so we eagerly signed up for it like giddy school-girls. After a somewhat nerve-wracking signup process involving credit card details repeated numerous times and the data being openly available we had our places booked. Spirits were through the roof as we skipped toward the museum, nothing was going to stop us now.

A nostalgic walk around the museum provided ample entertainment and with a few minutes to spare we even managed to run around the art gallery (literally, we had about 4 minutes).

I vividly remembered a lot of the things in this museum. Two thumbs up for science.


These guys!


Rembrandt isn't too bad (it's no focused rose though), more fun at speed too.


As we made our way to the tour for 7, the sky began to darken and it wasn't due to the emigrating bikers. It rained, it thundered, and lightning split the skies. "Your cards won't be charged, but the tour is cancelled". Well, there goes that, tomorrow is Memorial Day, no chance for that going ahead...or was there? We asked, and sure enough, there first tour was a two hour trip at 10am. "We'll take it". Re-signed-up, we ran for cover. The rain died down a little eventually so we took the subway as close as we could to the hotel and walked/ran the rest.



Memorial day arrived, we ate well at breakfast and even helped ourselves to some spares for brunch/lunch/snacking/second lunch ( bless you mam! ). The sun was out and we were confident that the tour would go ahead. Bursting with beans, we arrived at the tour, ready to go.

Watergate hotel, 5 minute walk from our hotel.


Segway wants YOU!


Like a general of the 21st century.


The tour was fantastic, I can't really put it into words just how much fun it was. The guide was a young guy going to college in George Washington University and was a big history buff, so while we had seen most of the sights he provided a welcome insight into their more intricate/illicit details. The Segway's were an absolute blast and I urge you to try them if you get the chance (yes, even if they have feckin' pink wheel arches), they are great crack. They drew a lot of attention and compliments/inquiry from everyone and it was all really good fun. Legs were a little sore after the two hours, so we went for something to eat. I might put up a compliation video of the Segway soon.

To signal the end of a great weekend, we went to the parade and it was great to be able to just sit and look on as everybody else sweat. The parade was good, about 3 hours in length and had a good variety of things. I particularly enjoyed the marching bands from various high-schools, they were very impressive visually and aurally. No pictures of them, but have some video, they didn't turn out as I had hoped though.





These pooper scooper guys got plenty of cheers throughout the day. Scarle'






Does this remind anyone else of M.A.S.H? (I hated that show)




For some reason, the parade had young guys in fancy cars, doing wheels spins. Perhaps representing the boy racer wars of the modern day.


Once the parade was over we made our way back to the bus stop with tired bodies( and fairly burnt) but vibrant minds, it had been a fantastic trip from beginning to end. We squeezed our way onto the earlier 6pm bus and managed to get back to New York at about 10pm. It was dirty, it smelled and it was loud, but it was home and that was more than enough.



So there you have it my antsy assemblage, hope it was worth the wait, we certainly enjoyed it. (although it has taken me 2 hours to write this and I am only now going to sort out the pictures!) Hopefully Seamus (With a capital 'S' mind you) has not been fired for dossing.

PS - If you're ever going away for a long weekend and it's going to be a hot one, take out the rubbish bins before you leave. P-U.