October 24 - 25, 2007, Washington DC

Wednesday, October 24th found Monarch in Washington, DC. We are docked at the Capital Yacht Club. We learned that Senators and Congresspeople are members here! The club is located just before the bridge at the Tidal Basin; from the flybridge we can see the Washington Monument. If we were farther out the dock we would also be able to see the Jefferson Memorial. We arrived early Wednesday afternoon and quickly gave the boat a washdown to remove the Chesapeake salt coating she had acquired over the previous days. Then we were in to the showers to get ready for an evening on the town with Marty's college roommate and her husband, Janet and Jim Sass. Spanish Tapas and a fine night were enhanced by their local knowledge!
Thursday morning dawned cool and damp. A good time to get some of the those chores done in the engine room. At noon, we finally decided the weather was not going to break so we got out the foul weather gear and started our walking tour. The first place we stopped was the best local fish market right next door to the docks. What a great place. The stores are on floating barges, moored next to the parking lot.






We ended up stopping here on at the end of the day (5 hours and some sore feet later) to get fresh sushi grade tuna and shrimp. They had just about any seafood you could imagine, and the marketing skills that we have seen at Detroit's Eastern Market. "Step right up - what can we get you today? We have the best chowder in town!" We had the tuna tonight, encrusted with white and black sesame seeds, pan-seared, with Wasabi oriental horseradish!











While we waited to see if the weather would improve, we went to the Smithsonian's Air & Space Museum. This is Jerry's favorite stop along the Mall. We also visited the newest museum of the Smithsonian family, the Native American Museum, a spacious and wonderfully done tribute, including an extensive native attire display and an extraordinary arrowhead collection.





Marty with Dorothy's ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz. We also saw George Washington's military uniform, and Jackie Kennedy's inaugural gown. What a great peek at history.















The weather did not improve, but back outdoors we went. This is Marty in front of the Capital Building, dressed for anything.











The White House - we didn't stop to see if George would let us in after we were thrown out of our anchorage earlier on the trip, when he came to St. Michaels.










This is the Washington Monument, as seen from the new World War II Memorial. Even though the weather was cool, damp and overcast, we were both awestruck as we wandered around the various monuments and memorials. No matter how many times we visit D.C., we have renewed feelings of pride and patriotism.













The Jefferson Memorial, across the Tidal Basin.













The Lincoln Memorial, one of Jerry's favorites.













Ol' Abe overlooking the rest of the Mall from inside the Memorial. Today's politicians should aspire to his integrity and selflessness.
















The new World War II Memorial. One side is dedicated to the campaign in the Atlantic and Europe.











The other side is dedicated to the Pacific theater.













We saw families that were bringing the parents and grandparents who had fought in the war, to see this exhibit. It is surprising that it took so long for this memorial to be established. We saw one wheel-chair bound elderly gentleman, his wife and daughter, who told us he had been in the war. We expressed our thanks for his contribution.












The Korean Memorial.












The Vietnam Memorial. Always an impressive site honoring and listing the over 53,000 Americans who were lost in that 16-year conflict.

Name after name, for what seems like infinity.

Even though it was not the greatest weather to be outside, it was an impressive walk around our Nation's capital.