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Published: October 19th 2016
We're here! Hurrah! After 9 months of planning, waiting, working and generally amassing an appropriate amount of annual leave, we have made it to the USA!
As planned, Leo (John's dad) joined us on Friday night from Edinburgh and we nipped down to our favourite curry house in Tooting - Lahore Karahi (if you haven't been and are local - do go!) where we strolled past Sadiq Khan (Mayor of London) on our way to our table - only the best for us! A relatively early night and we were ready and raring to go on Saturday morning... until we discovered we had no water. Luckily I was both a brownie AND a scout - some inventive use of leftover bottles of water, the scraps from inside the kettle and a quick trip to our very kind and local relatives means the flat was at least surface cleaned. We were not so fortunate but luckily our fellow passengers didn't seem to notice.
A very smooth United Airlines flight later and we were in Washington D.C - administrative capital of this mad country and starting block for our adventure. We picked up our transport - a ginormous Jeep Cherokee which is a VERY different driving experience from my little Skoda Citigo - and wound our way into the city. My lovely friends Lindle and Tom have been here since 2014, Lindle on secondment with the BBC, and we took advantage of their lovely hospitality to get over our jetlag. They were wonderful hosts and I'll take this opportunity now to send them a big thanks!
Sunday: Food. Oh my god. The food. I've been joking about coming back from this trip a few stone heavier. Well. We kicked off Sunday morning with a trip to Ted's bulletin, a beautiful old diner with tall ceilings and simple booths. My crab cakes benedict was topped off with a banana and strawberry milkshake the size of my head and followed by 2-3 hours of food fog and a promise that I would never over-indulge like that again...
So what better to wash away the sins of gluttony than a good Sunday service? We strolled up the road in the beatuiful 26C sunshine to the St Augustine's RC church. This church is well known for having the largest African American congregations in the country. It's well known for its gospel choir who have performed for, amongst others, Pope Francis himself. What an amazing way to kick off the music side of this tour. Although the full choir is reported to have around 165 members, we estimated about 40 up in front of us on Sunday. And, though I'm not a regular churchgoer, I think it's hard not to be completely uplifted by a group of voices singing passionately and loudly about faith. The congregation were very welcoming of the number of tourists sitting at the back and it was a joy to share their celebration.
We finished the day with a rooftop BBQ at Lindle and Tom's apartment building. A truly glorious sunny Sunday.
Monday: Cameras at the ready... Monday was our day to stick on our tourist hats and check off some top USA iconic sights. As recommended by our hosts, we took a short stroll into Georgetown, a fancy bit of town we were trying to equate with somewhere like Notting Hill- beautiful terraced housing, little boutiques and wide streets. We headed down to walk along the Potomac, past the famous Watergate complex and to the National Mall. We met Leo for an iced coffee (it's now 12.30pm and 29C!) and then headed out. First stop - the Lincoln memorial. It's a huge monument, housing a huge statue, full to the brim with selfie-stick-toting tourists, however it still manages to be a space for contemplation. You can find quieter spots to ponder the words of the Gettysburg address (although, John was accosted by an American tourist who was flabbergasted that a Yorkshireman would know the origins of these words where half the kids in his school did not...) and marvel at the majesty of Lincoln himself.
We then wandered over to the moving memorial to the Veterans of the Vietnam war. Two simple bronze statues in the park, and then a long wall of granite which is cut into the grass, etched with the names of all those killed in action and missing in action following the war. It is simple, and understated, and very moving as a consequence.
We walked along up to the WW2 memorial which is somewhat grander and then to the Washington Monument. Sadly due to internal damage following an earthquake in 2011, we weren't able to go up - however it was a great opportunity to look around the views across the national mall and rest our now weary legs! A quick hop on the metro up to the Capitol for a tour of the main house of political activity. As you may expect, we didn't see much action but were given a tour of the beautiful rotunda, saw some pretty good statues and given a quick history of the houses of senate and representatives which was new to me at the very least (pretty sure Fog and Leo were already schooled up!)
Our evening finished with some beers in the Foggy Bottom (tee hee) area next to the White House and dinner at the grand Old Ebbit's Grill - a former haunt of politicians which, though slightly more touristy these days, still offers hearty and excellent fare. Leo and Fog managed to see away a platter of seafood I'm fairly sure would happily cater for 4-6 people on an average day.
And that was that. A brief, whistlestop tour of Washington D.C, a lovely catch up with some good friends, some excellent fine food, a great few tourist snaps and a little education in US politics (at quite an interesting political time!)
Next stop: the blue ridge mountains of virginia...
Today's theme song:
