Saturday, April 09, 2011

Washington on the brink of a shut-down (A Travel Post)



Travel Tips Thursday is a writing prompt hosted at Pseudo's Spot.  Recently, she’s been on hiatus, but she recently resumed hosting the prompt which encourages us to write and give tips about travel to interesting places around the world.  As many of my post are travel related, I often have used this writing prompt.  Coming back from the North Carolina coast the end of the week, we headed a new way, through Washington DC.  It’s a little longer than going through West Virginia, but it did give my daughter her first opportunity to see our nation’s capital (and during the cherry blossom season, no less!).


When we came out of the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum, which is open till 7:30 PM on Thursday nights, the sun had set and the sky was beautiful.  We walked the length of the mall to the Washington Monument, watching the sky change colors and jets from Reagan National Airport take-off behind the monument.  It was a beautiful evening. There was a group of young adults playing softball and another playing soccer.  People were flying (or attempting to fly) kites.  As we walked, I kept looking back at the Capitol, as the lights came on lighting up the marble.  I wondered if the government shut-down at midnight Friday, would they’d turn out the lights…  Climbing the hill to the Washington Monument, we could see the White House to our right.  As I was getting hungry, I wondered what Michelle had fixed for dinner and if they would be open to a few more mouths at the table.   At the top of the monument, a street preacher was shouting through a microphone one cliché after another about the Christian faith.  No one was repenting, but several stopped to watch as park service police officers approached.  He stopped talking about the need to be born again and started proclaiming his rights to free speech and religion.  Turns out such freedoms don’t extend to amplifiers and he was informed that if he wanted to continue, he’d have to do so without the benefit of modern electronics.  As I watched the encounter out of one eye, I gazed down over the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials and the various war memorials, all lighted up.  We walked back down to where we were able to pick up the Circulator Bus (they run about 10 minutes apart and cover much of Capitol area.  Asking the bus driver where a good place to eat near the hotel, he recommended Phillips.  It was a great recommendation as we ate next to the Potomac.  The place is known for their buffets that include crab legs ($16.95 for lunch, $24.95 for dinner), but it was 9 PM and I didn’t want to pig out so I had a flounder sandwich which came with enough fries and carbs to seriously deplete my insulin supply and only cost $10.95.

On Friday, before getting on the road, we went to the Capitol.  After the tour, my daughter decided she wanted to see congress in action so we went over to our representative’s office and got passes.  We first visited the senate, where she saw half-dozen senators hard at work.  After each senator did a bit of grandstanding, they’d leave the chambers, the only on staying the whole time (from my vantage point) being John Kerry.  Kay Bailey Hutchison got up and talked about her bill that would continue to pay those in the military in case of a government shut-down.  She went on and on about their sacrifices and how many senators had signed on…  (There were 50 some senators who'd signed on when we came into the chambers, and by the time she finished, she kept getting notes of new senators signing on giving her over 60 supporters by the end of her rant.)  It all sounded good to me until she came to the closing remarks (she was like a bad preacher who, just when you think is done, goes on—kind of like this blog post).  In closing, before yielding the floor to Chuck Schumer of New York, she noted that her bill would make sure our military and our private contractors got paid…  I wanted to jump out of my seat (but that would have gotten me kicked out) as this was the first time (at least since we’d come into the room) she’d mentioned private contractors.   Of course, since campaign contributions come from those private contractors (and they probably have goons who’d break senators legs if they didn’t paid), what should I have expected?  Next Schumer complained about the “house riders” added to the bill, and then a guy from South Dakota talked about our national credit card being maxed out.  Clichés in the senate seemed to be as common as they were with that street preacher.

On our way back to Michigan, my daughter kept texting friends of hers (who were also traveling back from Spring Break), as they discussed the potential government shut-down.  Finally, at the last hour, they passed a bill to keep the government (and the presses that print money) running.    Oddly enough, I learned the news through the BBC News Hour on public radio.

Travel tips:  If in Washington, use the Circulator buses to get around ($1 a trip).  Also, Phillips is a nice place to eat as is Union Station (it’s walking distance from the capitol and we ate a quick lunch there before getting on the road).   Finally, Priceline.Com got us a 100 buck room on the Potomac, just 4 blocks from the mall.  Our car stayed safe in their garage while we walked or took the bus to see the sights.  If you want to see the Senate or House in session, getting the passes before doing the tour would have saved us the time of another security check.  Of course, to really see all Washington has to offer, one needs a couple of weeks!

19 comments:

  1. It took a moment for me to remember which one is the Washington. It's by elimination from the Lincoln, then the rotunda of the Jefferson that I get there.
    I suppose the graveyard at Arlington is a tad much for a kid. But it would be the very first place I would visit. I'm never sure if it's in D.C or Va given it's the other side of the river.
    I do hope you all have had a good trip.

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  2. Vince, The Arlington Cemetery is nice, but there was no time this trip. The changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier and President Kennedy's grave are special places to see. The capitol was important this trip because I didn't want her to see the UK's Parliament building before she saw our own govt headquarters!

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  3. This sounds like quite a holiday...sneaking in a bit of government study on her spring break;) I like it:))

    Nice photos. I have yet to visit your country's well-known areas and capitol. One day.....

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  4. Actually she wouldn't be all that impressed in London, there are no really impressive vistas and everything is really scattered. And one is never over bothered when you are lifting your head at that high tilt. You cannot sustain it. It's Rome you should have been worried about. Now there's a home court advantage. ;)

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  5. oh man i would have had a hard time keeping my seat if i was there...love DC though, so much history there...you should check out the spy museum some time if you have not...

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  6. It's been awhile since I visited D.C. We stayed a block off the Mall at a Priceline hotel which was a surprisingly good deal then walked where we wanted to go.

    It was as good a few days of exercise as a hike in a National Park.

    Cheers.

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  7. this really made me laugh:
    where she saw half-dozen senators hard at work

    I love your sense of humor

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  8. Its been many years since I've been to D.C. I think I was in the sixth grade. :) Definitely time for a return trip. Thanks for the tips like Priceline.

    Not happy about the "private contractors" situation. ...but not surprised, either.

    You were really funny in this post, Sage. You should grace us with your humor more often!!

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  9. Like the plane in the distance behind the Washington Monument - nice touch.

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  10. You are right about Washington and the surrounding area taking 2 weeks to see! I have been there many times, and I have yet to see it all.

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  11. Sounds like a fine way to pass some good time. My son visited Washington with part of an Air Cadets group when he was in his teens. He loved it.

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  12. One of my favorite places to visit! We Priceline our hotel, park at Ballston Mall for $8/day and metro everywhere. The pre-paid metro card is a must. Love your monument pic!

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  13. I wish I had these tips before we went to DC. We could have used them.

    You make me happy to be back to posting TTT ; -)

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  14. Washington is a place I visited in 2005. Very interesting. Ihave friends from there, but don't think I would like to live there.

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  15. I miss Washington - I've been so many times I could give tours (and actually have.) My sister and brother-in-law used to live there - he was an Army officer stationed at the Pentagon.

    One of my favorite stops is the Smithsonian museum of American History. They painstaking restored the flag written about in the Star Spangled Banner song and it is now displayed. I used to stop by and watch them work on it when I was there.

    Your trip sounds wonderful and good for you that you opted out of the Washington Mall food - so expensive!

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  16. Wish we could see all this. I love your style of describing the shenanigans.

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  17. Interesting post! I'm not sure but I think I've seen that guy's face at our local post office? Glad you'al had a nice trip.

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  18. Sounds like you had just a great time, and I love your photo inside...it reminds me of the photos with the Gnome about town! so cute! My daughter did that tour last year as her aunt works in Washington so she really got the grand tour....she is still amazed one year later....and it's funny you see all the pictures but never get the sense (or at least I never did) that all the landmarks are in a circle!...Very interesting post as always Sage!

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  19. It's been way too long since we've been to D.C.
    Jilda and I've been threatening to spend a week in the car and drive up the east coast and see if things have changed.
    Loved the photos.

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