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Published: September 19th 2007
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Capitol Hill
Not a lot of action here cos the fat cats were on holiday Having spent a number of years studying politics at Monash University, I was always interested to see Washington with my own eyes. I was particularly curious to see if the typical Capitol Hill politician did in fact have horns, a forked tongue, and a barbed tail tucked inside his three piece suit. While my nose was not instantly assaulted by the fetid stench of corruption as soon as I stepped off the bus, I was later to learn that almost none of the greasy palmed fat cats were in town at that moment. They were either back at home, tirelessly serving their constituents, or playing golf with shady figures representing Big Oil somewhere in the Bahamas. I am actually inclined to believe somewhere in the middle of these two scenarios, but no doubt I would be branded a blind ignoramus by my cohort in the Politics department. Abe Lincoln once said: "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time." I am altogether somewhat fooled most of the time.
Enough editorialising for now. I was greeted
Mention the war
Iwo Jima statue with the Washington Monument and Capitol behind at the bus station by my cousin Suzie and her fiancé (husband by the time most will read this!) Casey, which was a fantastic start as it now seems that we may well have lost her to Uncle Sam forever. After a short driving tour around the nerve centre of the Great Satan (perhaps a bit of licence taken by Al Qaeda in that tag for mine), we headed back to Casey's folks place (aka 'Casa de Chill') so I could meet the family. This was a terrific opportunity, cos now when I am back home and hear the news from over in DC I will be able to put faces to the names, rather than having to conjure up images in my head of unseen mythical creatures. Casey's family were great - his Mum cooks an incredible meal, and his Dad was a big fan of all sports (Australian football most impressively of all) - oh, and did I mention they were very nice people also?
With Suz and Casey returning to work the following day, I headed back inside the Beltway to see all the sights by foot. Perhaps the first thing that struck me was how
parched everything looked. Aside from those areas kept emerald green for the cameras (eg the lawns around the White House and the Capitol Building), Washington looked every bit as dry as Melbourne was when I left. There was barely a blade of grass to be seen on parts of the National Mall, and most of the sporting fields along the Potomac River looked liked a serious knee or ankle injury waiting to happen. I should probably cut the place some slack if it is enduring a dry spell, but I'd have to say that it didn't strike me as the showpiece capital that I had imagined.
Some other aspects reinforced this view. As I walked along the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial, I was reminded of the great anti-Vietnam protest march scene in Forrest Gump. I couldn't shake the thought that when Jenny waded across the pool to catch Forrest's attention she would have been ankle deep in pigeon droppings as well as waist deep in water. Why spend billions fighting a war abroad when you can't even keep the feathered rats and their mess away from the nation's most photographed swimming pool?
Casting all
Classic Washington
War Memorial with Lincoln Memorial behind my negative whingeing aside, Washington is a great place for a day or two of sightseeing. What it lacks in say Buenos Aires or London's chaotic charm, it makes up for in order and planned simplicity. The views from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial up the National Mall, past the Washington Monument to the Capitol Building, and from the Jefferson Memorial across the Tidal Basin, past the Washington Monument (the centre of it all) to the White House perfectly illustrated the elegant design of the city. The closest thing I could compare it to anywhere else in the world would be Canberra - perhaps this is partly why we are such staunch allies of the US.
Equally impressive were the Smithsonian Museums. With only two days up my sleeve and a lot of things to see, I had to jettison most of them if I was to do any one or two of them justice. In the end I decided on the Air and Space Museum and the Museum of Natural History. The Air and Space was particularly good I thought, tracing as it does the journey from Kitty Hawk in 1903 to the moon landing in 1969
and beyond. Though I can often tire quickly of museums and have been very selective in which one I have visited throughout my travels thus far, I could have easily spent a few full days wandering around the rest of the Smithsonian Museums but in the end time conspired against me.
On my last night in town, Suzie and Casey decided that I needed to experience some genuine Southern cooking and took me out to the local Southern BBQ restaurant. You know a place takes their BBQ seriously when they offer eight different varieties of BBQ sauce. The presentation of the colossal mixed grill we all shared was priceless: it all came served in an upturned garbage bin lid. On first sight it appeared that there was enough food there to feed a whole battalion of the Confederate Army, but we all dug deep when it mattered most. By the time we were through there was little left on the bin lid other than the bare remains of a pig's rib cage.
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