Thanks to our reconnaissance the previous night we were able to cart our 4 cases and 5 backpacks the 3 blocks to Penn station with sufficient time for a quick breakfast and coffee before boarding. The boarding process was relatively smooth, except there were no reserved seats so we had to make a good dash to secure 5 seats together on a full train.
Travelling by train gave us an opportunity to travel through smaller towns and get a different perspective of the USA. Although vastly different to home, each town seemed naively familiar thanks to the plethora of movies we have seen set in America. Irrespective of size, each town had a bar and many churches of different denominations, unlike the UK’s formula of a church and many pubs.
We arrived at Union St Station in Washington DC 3 1/2 hours later and were pleasantly surprised to walk straight out and find a cab to take us to our hotel. We had a big splurge on our hotel in DC because it was where we would be spending New Year’s, avoiding the crowds and stupidity in New York. We were staying at the Hilton Embassy Suites with views of the Capital Building from our room.
After checking in we dropped our bags at the room and made the short walk to the White House. As we walked around the city we couldn’t help but draw incredibly close comparisons to our own capital of Canberra. With the city being mostly populated by Government workers from around the country it was a ghost town for the holidays. The buildings were largely height restricted but the clear difference to Canberra was the history and beauty of the buildings. The Government buildings and museums stuck out like dog’s bollocks as they were grand, ornate and made mostly of sandstone.
Before reaching the White House we were surprised to find the Treasury Building to be the first on the block. The grandeur of the building was equal to its influence in running the country.
As we approached the White House we were disappointed to find our view of the site to be heavily obscured by temporary fences. The fences, of course, were being erected in preparation for the inauguration of Mr Trump later in the month. The infrastructure which was being set up was a sight in itself. We decided to take a punt and walk around the fencing to the other side and were rewarded with a much clearer, although still slightly obscured, view. The building, of course, was exactly as we had seen it on TV although perhaps a little smaller than we had expected.
After some photos we decided to walk the block and look for the clothes line in the backyard. As we were leaving we were forced to stop at the driveway for the Obama moving vans. Sharing the block with the Treasury and White House is the Roosevelt Executive Offices of the Government’s administration. Unfortunately we didn’t see the clothes line or the slip n slide in the backyard but we did see the familiar grassed hill leading up to the house. We were excited to see a kitchen garden taking up part of the lawn.
From the back of the White House we could see the National Christmas Tree, Ellipses and the Washington Monument which looked particularly impressive in the sunset. We could have explored the monument closer but instead chose to return to the hotel where a 2 hour manager’s reception was waiting with free drinks and snacks.
We arrived at the hotel and Yvette and the kids joined the queue for complementary MnMs, corn chips, pretzels, crisps and gummy bears while I headed for the bar for free lager, cocktails, wine and juice. After gathering our supplies, we discovered that another area of the lobby housed a kids snack and drink buffet with board games and console games. This allowed Yvette and I to enjoy more drinks and a relaxed chat while our kids mingled with other kids. After filling our boots with free food and drinks we retreated upstairs. Unfortunately, we chilled a little too much in front of the TV and before we realised our anticipated early night had disappeared.
Mark (on behalf of the wandering winrows)
wanderingwinrows 