Finally I’ve got some photos to show you!

I spent five days in DC visiting Karl while he photographed some hotels. We started out with a bang at the Mandarin Oriental, a gorgeous 5 star joint close to “The Mall,” the long strip where all the monuments and memorials are in Washington. We took a mini-tour in the morning when I arrived, then Karl worked while I played.

The Mall turned out to be tricky like Vegas, when it appears you need to walk only a few minutes to reach that landmark, yet distances are much further than they appear. It was startling how drab and deserted - with the exception of tourists - this area seemed.

And it’s impossible to quit trying to get a different angle of the Monument. This is the view across the street from the Mandarin:

This is the centre of the WWII Memorial, with each of the rear pillars representing a US State. Many of the pillars had photos and memorabilia propped upon them, symbols of veterans and deceased.

Beyond the WWII Memorial is the long reflecting pool leading to the Lincoln Memorial.

Lincoln has his admirers:

This spot was a main attraction. I visited it twice during my stay.

Not far away was the Korean War Memorial, with several carved stone soldiers that had a terrific ominous presence. Beside the statues there’s a granite wall with etchings of soldiers. This photo of the statues is reflected from the wall:

This is the view of the Jefferson Memorial on the walk back to the hotel. We could see this from our room:

No trip to Washington would be complete without a peek at the White House! Here’s a shot from the closest possible vantage point for those of us peons lacking security clearance. Plenty of lawn maintenance and building restoration was underway at the time.

Next door to the White House is a beautiful admin buiding with a bright red flower bed on the sprawling lawn. Can you see what the shape of the flower bed is? It’s a gigantic number ONE:

When Karl was finished his work day, we jumped on the train and headed north into an area that actually had restaurants and stuff happening.

We had drinks and a bite at the Post Pub, the watering hole for Washington Post staff. The place had great charm, with tiny red vinyl booths and plenty of framed pics of unknown personalities covering the (wood-paneled?) walls. Of course while Karl was in the loo I had to ask the waitresses where the nearest karaoke could be found! Sure enough, Monday was karaoke night at the Green Lantern, just a few blocks away, but - we should be aware it’s a gay bar… Perfect! More fun! Shortly after we arrived we discovered the Green Lantern was more of a gay cowboy bar. We were treated to all sorts of sappy / country tunes. I sang a couple myself, then Karl did Zoot Suit Riot! I missed it though, as I was upstairs challenging the deaf and shirtless boys to pool matches.

Then Karl dragged me away so we could sprint to catch the last train headed south back to the hotel, where we guzzled complimentary bottles of VOSS water. VOSS for Everyone!

The next morning Karl was irritated at me for practically jumping on his bed to wake him up at 6:30. But he got up to work anyway. I, however lingered in my cushy bed, intermittently sleeping and following Hurricane Ivan on CNN. Eventually I had to get up and out, as I had plans to check out Smithsonian Galleries and Museums. Karl joined me for lunch. We had to walk several blocks to find something, and settled on the food court at the Old Post Office. We had to go through a metal detector & xray to get into the food court.

I started out at the Air & Space Museum, where there are dozens of bombs, missiles, aircraft, and an interesting Apollo exhibit. This is also where the Wright Brothers aircraft is on display.

Next stop was the gorgeous African Art Museum - this is an upward view from the stairwell:

And nearby I stopped at the Sackler Gallery, where there was an incredible photography exhibit, Winogrand 64. There were about 200 black & white pieces by Gary Winogrand on display, all taken in the year 1964, surveying daily American culture in locations across the country. I spent well over an hour absorbing the images.

The main entrance at the Sackler had an enormous fabric installation, Staircase-IV by artist Do-Ho Suh:

I made my way toward the Capitol building, passing the Sculpture Gallery:

And while I was sitting by the pond in front of the Capitol, a group in full fatigues props a flag and this girl recited her Pledge of Allegiance:

I didn’t have the strength to walk closer to the Capitol, so I found some chow at the golden arches, where I encountered (and snuck a photo) of this grown man eating a happy meal and squeeing with glee when he discovered the happy meal toy. “Ooh, a beanie baby!” he said to himself.

Later in the evening Karl & I hooked up with cousin Graham for a yummy Indian dinner near MCI Center (where all the sports teams play). It was great to see you, G, and sorry we couldn’t hook up again!

In the morning we had to prepare for Karl’s next gig - in Gaithersburg, which is a good 20 miles north of Washington and actually located in Maryland. Getting a cab to take us there just wasn’t going to happen, so we had to wait for a trusty Town Car. We were picked up, and then dumped a few blocks away because the driver changed his mind and didn’t want to make the drive. But his buddy took us. Not much going on in Gaithersburg, except for a tasty Chipotle burrito joint, which we very nearly ate at twice in the same day. For the next two days I helped Karl out with prepping his shots, we swam in the Hilton pool, played cards and watched TV. Now I’ve seen the verge of how taxing Karl’s gig can be.

We returned to DC, to a hotel not far from the first, and I set out exploring again. Back on day one, when I initially arrived at the Greyhound depot, the scene was sketchy and there were no cabs around to whisk me away. Soon, a Town Car dropped someone off, and I cracked my head hard on the door because I was trying to get inside that fast. Anyway, the driver turned out to be a Canadian, woot, woot! And he was thrilled to drive me around. He wouldn’t stop talking, in fact, about his views on living in the US and how Americans perceive Canadians. “They have the most ridiculous ideas about us” he said. He was quite intelligent and we had a great conversation. Meanwhile, he’s driving around the diplomats, politicos and dignitaries in the US Capitol. Hilarious. He took a detour and showed me the Canadian Embassy, located a stone’s throw from the Capitol building. SO on this day I returned to get a photo of it. While I was snapping, a security guard came out and asked me to produce photo ID so he could verify my identity. This was the only place in the city where I was considered suspicious, how ironic!

This was also the day Ivan was rolling into the area, and the rain was coming down. Unfortunately my photos suffered for it. Here is the Capitol Building which, I might add, is not built atop any kind of hill whatsoever. Apparently this is the highest ground in the District. Huh?

I ventured into the National Gallery of Art, steps away. All the museums and galleries have free (!) admission, by the way. And minimal security in my opinion, considering these buildings house art pieces created more than 700 years ago. The National Gallery has a wide selection of famous Italian, Dutch, French and US art. Great for educational purposes, but few of the works were the most riveting in the world. Highlights were the Italian Gothics and (my favorites) two pieces by John Singer Sergent: Nonchaloir (Repose), 1911 and Street in Venice, 1882.

I walked toward the National Archives (spot that Town Car):

And then came upon the US Navy Memorial where a dedication was going on. This was snapped just after:

I passed the FBI Building twice, which is closed for tours until 2006. Huge gates were blocking all entrances. I only had the nerve to take a shot on my second pass, as the first time there was a guard at the employee entrance armed with a spankin-ready assault rifle. Yikes! This time though, the guard wasn’t looking so prepared.

This is taken at a corner a couple of blocks from The Mall. Looking a bit more like civilization, however there are drones of people who are card-carrying members of the Establishment. Nearly every second person we saw in DC had an ID necklace.

And in the quest to get that perfect angle on the Memorial:

But this one was the ultimate catch. It’s tough to get those trees positioned just so!

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