We headed out and got some breakfast at a great cafe at the end of our street. Seems that Washington is full of cafes but this one was certainly a great pick. We sat down to a huge Ham & Cheese omelet and massive coffee (this did help with sleep deprivation:)).
The day in Washington was HOT!!!! Once breakfast was done, we headed past DuPont Circle and down Massecussets avenue to visit the White House (no sign of Mr Obama). Probably a 5-6 KM walk. Police and security presence was massive and they had blocked off Pensylvania Ave to traffic but it was hard to work out why until we heard a couple of helicopters setting to land at the White House.
Strangely there was a sense of feeling safe around there even with snipers on the rooftop. The Secret Service were everywhere and Ian was amused that their bullet proof vests were clearly labeled "Secret Service" and Ian thought, well, not so secret anymore ... We can all see you!
We walked around the Washington Monument, WW2 Memorial, Lincoln memorial and found ourselves on a hop-on-hop-off bus that was heading to Arlington Cemetary, past the Pentagon. Arlington Cemetry was an amazing place to see and we were lucky enough to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier - very impressive.
Sadly we did miss visiting Congress but I think we did pretty well in 1 day. By the end of the day we were hot, tired and a little tinged by the sun. Unfortunately we missed going to a great restaurant for dinner (as recommended by Hel) because we were both pretty tired and done with walking for the day.
We will definitely be back here, as we both love Washington.
** As you can see - having trouble with pics again ... Stay tuned ***
