Back in DC

Our business trip to New York originally included a stop in Philadelphia to meet with one of our key suppliers.  However, some last-minute changes resulted in them travelling up to New York to meet us.  As a result, we found ourselves with 48 hours to spare while waiting for our transfer flights to Nuremberg.

On a whim Garry and I decided to hire a car and drive to Washington DC for a whirlwind tour.  We left New York about 9:30pm and eventually reached our hotel shortly before 2am.  Garry can now boast of driving through Manhattan at night.  Getting out of the city proved relatively easy. Likewise, Washington DC was equally easy to navigate.

DC was bitterly cold…! After a lazy morning resting from our late-night arrival, we took a walking tour through the Mall.  Our route started at the Lincoln Memorial before finishing with an afternoon at the recently opened National Museum of African American History and Culture.  Along the way, we visited the new Martin Luther King Jr memorial.

Garry and I were last in Washington DC in 2005.  We visited the city while on our way to start our expat adventures in London.  It was wonderful to see visit again.  Washington DC really is a timeless destination.  In many respects it looks no different to my first visit, or this third visit decades later. 

The inauguration of Donald Trump had happened the week before our visit. (We'd watched him depart the White House for the Capitol Building ceremony just prior to boarding a flight from LA to NYC). As a result, many parts of the city were still in the throes of returning to normal.  The massive inauguration platform was still standing in front of the Capitol Building, protest marchers were still crowding the local streets and temporary fencing and media towers were still blocking streets around the White House.

The African American History Museum was a fascinating venue.  I learned a lot about the early slave trading economy and was appalled by the barbaric practices of the slave traders. The museum does a superb job of tracing African American history from its infamous beginning to the history-making inauguration of Barack Obama.  One of the venue’s most memorable places is its room of reflection.  A circular curtain of water falls from the centre of the room while the surrounding walls carry quotes from some the nation’s most celebrated African Americans.

Our final day in the city was spent revisiting the Air & Space Museum, plus a few hours shopping for a winter wardrobe to keep us warm in Nuremberg.  We then retraced our steps back to New York and on to JFK Airport for an evening flight to Europe. For me, the highlight of this airport transfer was another opportunity to drive over the graceful Verrazano Narrows Bridge.

Decades of American memories

In 1983-4 I spent a year as an exchange student living in upstate New York. Here I shared my life with the Kimball family in Syracuse. I was 17 at the time and had never travelled beyond the shores of my birthplace, New Zealand. This was also my first time visiting the USA (and Canada).

More than twenty-two years later,  the experience undeniably fuelled my love of travel. Since then I've been lucky enough to visit more than 45 nations, setting foot on every continent except Antarctica (don't worry, it's on my list of destinations to explore next).

Many of my childhood memories of America came to life during a two-week tour of the US East Coast in October 2005. Garry and I stopped off in Washington DC en route to London. This gave me a chance to see many of the places I recall visiting in 1983 and take in sights I’d missed the first time around. Meanwhile, Garry had his own set of memories to renew as he’d spent several weeks in DC four years ago.

For me, new experiences on this trip included a sodden visit to the Vietnam War memorial. It didn't exist 17 years ago. It's an incredibly poignant monument. One that strikes an emotionally stirring balance between sombre remembrance and simple reflection. 

However, it wasn’t the only new venue that affected us profoundly. We had the same reaction after visiting the Holocaust Museum. Its exhibits were incredibly confronting. You could see our mood change dramatically following such a moving experience.

We also caught a lift to the top of the Washington Monument for a stunning city view.  In 1983 I visited DC in Summer. At the time, we never ventured up to the monument's observation deck as a lengthy queue snaked around its circumference - and then some! 

However, this time, the weather was damp and misty the day we visited. As a result, our photos weren't exactly "award-winning". However, the observation deck was relatively quiet - so we could take our time.

I was delighted to also finally see the interior of the Ford Theatre where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on 15 April 1865. The theatre box where he was shot is easily identified. It's framed by flags and fronted by a portrait of the president. However, its elevation, almost four metres above the stage was unexpected. John Wilkes Booth lept from here onto the stage after firing the fatal bullet. I'm not surprised he sprained his ankle in the process.

We also enjoyed the popular tidal basin walk to the Jefferson Monument through the gnarled Cherry tree groves. When I visited in 1983, my host father and I drove there one evening. The monument was spectacularly lit but the surrounding grounds were shrouded in darkness. This time I got to see it in the light of day.

Garry showed me a few of his favourite haunts. This included a street near Dupont Circle where we discovered a new, mouth-watering variety of sushi. Called a rainbow dragon roll, it bore more than a passing resemblance to a Liquorice Allsort log.

During our time in the US capital, we took time out to visit many of its iconic institutions. This included a guided tour of the Capitol Building, the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court, and the National Archives.  The Library of Congress was a revelation for me. I don't recall visiting it in 1983. I'm sure I would have remembered the collonaded reading room and the soaring ceiling in the Thomas Jefferson Building. Likewise, the library's Great Hall is equally stunning.

I loved the National Archives. Here you can see an original copy of the Declaration of Independence signed by the nation's founding fathers, plus a copy of the US Constitution signed 11 years later. There's something magic about seeing the signatures of historical figures with your own eyes. I still recall how excited I was to see these founding documents two decades ago. A second viewing invoked the same sense of awe.

Finally, as you do in DC, we visited several museums including the Air & Space Museum. Sadly, this Smithsonian institution hasn’t aged well. Most exhibits were surprisingly dated and appeared unchanged since my first visit in the early 1980s. 

I think the Natural History Museum has aged far better. Its dinosaurs were as mesmerising as ever, and its dramatically mounted African Elephant exhibit is just as breathtaking. We also drove out to Arlington to visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and pause at JFK's grave with its simple eternal flame.