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Published: October 7th 2009
Yorktown
Or is it Marlow? Henley? Definitely a little bit of England on the wrong side of the ocean. I was in two minds about leaving North Carolina. Part of me loved the beach, the fresh air, the solitude. The rest of me was eager to be moving on and rejoining society. It didn't take long to make the transition. Just a couple hours after leaving the Outer Banks I had already arrived at my next destination, namely Virginia's Historic Triangle (Yorktown, Jamestown and Williamsburg). When did everything get so close together? I'm used to driving for at least six hours between overnight stops... Montana this ain't!
On the advice of a North Carolinian friend who is a complete history buff, I stopped in Yorktown, Va, to check out the old-for-America Grace Episcopal church. The town's historic centre is somewhat peculiar, with the buildings restored to their 17th century glory. Meaning it looks like a small English village. Somewhere in Bucks maybe? Whilst it was pretty, and the church interesting as a large number of my friend's ancestors (including a certain Thomas Nelson who signed the Declaration of Independence - how cool is that??!) are buried in the churchyard, I didn't see much need in hanging around for long. I mean, we have English
villages at home!
As I drove along a plan evolved in my mind to spend the night in Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the US. Certainly sounded like a cool place to hang out. Turns out Jamestown is simply a heritage site. There's a visitors centre but nowhere to stay. Nowhere to eat. For the first time on this trip I sat in my car and didn't know what to do. I drove round the car park. And just sat. With no desire to drive anymore. Huh? What's happened? Can't really go on a roadtrip if you don't want to drive? Unless you can afford a driver? Home James....to the exceedingly lovely, quaint Williamsburg.
After a highly enjoyable and revitalising evening of take-out and watching the delightful Patrick Swayze in
Ghost at a run-of-the-mill motel, I hit Colonial Williamsburg. Again, a random place. I wasn't sure what to expect from the nation's largest living history museum but cannot deny being underwhelmed. Or maybe I just wasn't in the mood for wandering around another, slightly larger English village? Which, essentially, is what Colonial Williamsburg looks like: a collection of restored 18-century buildings, and stunning cottage gardens which
reminded me of home. My lovely home. Okay, I'm not doing this justice. Williamsburg was once home to Virginia's state capitol and played a pivotal role in the run up to America declaring independence from the British back in the 1770s. It's a significant landmark on the map of American history. Any normal person would be delighted to be there.
I tried to be excited, interested. Truly, I did. But far more thrilling was walking into the bookstore to find
THE biggest selection of Halloween cards I have ever seen. Honestly, I defy anyone to maintain interest in stories of the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution and how people lived 200 years ago when faced with such an array of cool greeting cards :-)
To complete my shamefully superficial tour of some of the most historic sites in this fair country, I stopped off in Fredericksburg for the night. They have battlefields, a house or two where George Washington (the first president of the United States) and his mother lived and other fascinating places to visit. Very informative places. Cultural places. Shunning interest and culture, I chose to spend my time getting spectacularly drunk with the waiting
staff at Brocks Bar and Grill. Which was actually a surprisingly informative and cultural activity to undertake. I learnt so much in those few hours. Did you know that the 'rule of thumb', i.e. that a man is legally entitled to hit his wife with a wooden stick which is narrower than his thumb, still applies in the state of Virginia? Or that state law only permits sex in the missionary position? Talk about spoilsports...
Uncommon valour was a common virtue Tired and hungover I chose to forego a trip to George Washington's childhood home. In case you hadn't already noticed, the Historic Triangle just wasn't doing it for me. Best to move on. To Quantico. And the National Marine Corps Museum. Talk about excitement! Now, I know some of you would think I say this tongue-in-cheek, but I really had been looking forward to this museum ever since Uncle Cliff mentioned its existence way back in June. And for once - what an achievement on their part! - I was NOT disappointed. Most definitely the BEST museum I've been to. Quite unexpectedly I spent almost three hours wandering around all the exhibits, searching for my father in all
the photos (silly habit I've grown up with), finding out that I am undoubtedly NOT Marine material (was there ever any question?!) and fighting my hangover with a huge, delicious chili cheese dog. Yummy.
From Quantico to Arlington National Cemetery just outside D.C., I continued on my military adventure. Driving along the freeway into Washington I practiced my newest hobby: almost crashing the car. So, I'm driving along, minding my own business. When out of the blue, this big building appears to my right. Oh my god, it's the Pentagon. My mind's racing. I'm thinking about how cool it is to be driving past the Pentagon, wanting to send Melanie a text message to say I'm driving past the Pentagon, so distracted that I drive past the exit for the Cemetery. I'm forced to turn right, across a bridge, and lo and behold, the Lincoln Memorial, with the Washington Memorial and the Capitol in the background, are right in front of me. I was star-struck. You guessed it...I almost crashed the car. I end up in a one-way system. I see a sign for the Vietnam Memorial. Oooh, I want to go there too. But tomorrow. Right now I
want to go back to Arlington. I find my way back over the bridge. But I'm in the wrong lane and yet again miss the entrance. Instead I end up driving up the west bank of the Potomac river for a good 10 miles, practically back to Montana, before I could exit the highway and make my way back to the city. I don't know how it happened but all of a sudden I was at the Cemetery. My arrival was so abrupt that ... you got it ... I almost crashed the car into the Cemetery gates. I spent a couple of emotionally-charged yet hours wandering through the gravestones (including that of J.F. Kennedy) and popping over to the Marine Corps War Memorial. In all honesty, I was hiding. Terrified at the prospect of D.C. rushhour traffic. But not wanting to spend the night kipping between headstones, I eventually headed out, drove somewhat kamikaze-style through the city to Dupont Circle and parked Betty Boy at the Gallery Hotel Inn which would be my home for the next few days.
All the president's men What can I say about Washington? My first impression: the striking juxtaposition of bustling, pasty-white
bureaucrats and homeless black men and women. It's like any big city. Although I can't remember the last time I saw so many untanned people. People here look like they have actually been working all summer. In offices. Without sunshine. Weird. London's going to be a real shock, isn't it? And the ipods. Everyone walks around listening to their ipod. I have definitely returned to civilisation. If only for a fleeting moment.
I spent two days being a tourist, standing in line, visiting the Capitol building, the Washington Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Lincoln, Roosevelt and Jefferson Memorials, the White House Visitors Centre, The National Archives, the Holocaust Museum, the National Museum of American History. Apart from the White House Visitors Centre, which I would deem a complete waste of space, I was captivated by everything I saw. Maybe because you've seen it on TV? Or because of what it all stands for? America started as an experiment in democracy. A way to do things differently. Whilst wandering around the presidents' memorials, pondering the idealogical roots of this country, I was struck by a quote from Roosevelt: 'the test of our progress is not whether we add more to
the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little'. It is incredible to think how, in some ways, we have made so little progress... not only in America, but around the world. I don't know much about Roosevelt, but he seems like my kind of guy :-)
There's so much more I could have seen, you could spend days and days exploring all the Smithsonian Institute museums. But that's not me. Personally, my time in Washington was made by:
1) seeing the Vice-President, Jo Biden, drive by in a motorcade with about 14,000 police cars and motorcycles
2) buying a dress for Alex and Mark's wedding
3) buying a dress I saw in L.A. in June - I waited all summer - t'was meant to be.
4) possibly seeing Ben Affleck running past the Jefferson Memorial
5) seeing a copy of the Magna Carta for the first time in my life (despite living maybe 10 miles down the road from where it was originally signed!)
6) eating sushi three days in a row
7) standing in front of the White House and realising it's hemmed in somewhat
like 10 Downing Street (although on a much bigger scale) rather than being in the middle of a big...field...which I always thought it would be
8) stumbling across the Armed Forces Vietnam Memorial....
Yep, Uncle Cliff, I found it!! It was a surreal moment. I was standing at the Vietnam Memorial and I found myself recalling a conversation with Uncle Cliff back in California in June. About a memorial in Washington which represents all the armed forces but only the Marines come out on a daily basis and polish their ensign. He told me to look out for it. Walking away from the Vietnam Memorial, I made a mental note to e-mail Uncle Cliff that evening as I couldn't remember the exact details. I was so focussed on remembering to send the e-mail that I almost walked into a flagpole. Not quite as bad as almost crashing the car, but still dangerous. I looked down and recognised the Army emblem emblazoned at the bottom of the pole. Walking around, I then saw mucky Navy and Air Force emblems, and finally - glistening in the sunlight - the Marine Corps Eagle, Globe and Anchor. Truly serendipitous.
What's next, Me
See, Alex, I'm not that brown! I hear you ask
It's time for bed. I am still recovering from my latest hiking tour through New England which finished yesterday and which I will write about next time. But, on a final note, in response to Alex's request, I feel compelled to provide an update on my tan. Suffice to say I really stuck out in D.C. Clearly I'm not a pasty bureaucrat!
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Welcome back!
It's great to hear from you again. Holly and I were chatting last night, trying to figure when your 11 day hiking tour would be over and I'd get another wonderful installment of your trip. You look great - and a lot browner than you would have been, had you stayed in England for the summer. It sounds like your visit to Washington DC was wonderful - what an overdose of sightseeing in just three days. I don't blame you for not being excited by Virginia's historic triangle. Very touristic, and as you say, very English. I loved the descriptions of your latest fad - almost crashing the car, particularly your attempts to find the Arlington Cemetery. Really looking forward to hearing about the hike. On an English note: after a very dry September, it has started to rain at last, the trees are changing colour and many leaves are now carpetting the roads and lanes. For us, the summer that never was is over. It's been great sharing your summer with you. lots of love from us and from Auntie Holly and Uncle Laverne.