Washington DC to the Virginia Coast

After leaving Hull, we travelled to Washington DC for 3 fun filled days in our nation's capital. We have been here several times before but it's always exciting to go back. We stay at Cherry Hill RV park in College Park MD. Its great because there is a bus from the park to the Metro. The National Gallery of Art was our first stop, where we viewed art from Spain, Italy, and Germany from the 13th to the 19th centuries. We enjoyed an authentic Spanish meal in the museum complete with recipes.Geri would love to share them with anyone. The Capital Visitors center and Capital tour was our next stop. The Vistor's center traced the history of the nation. The rotunda is spectacular and the tour with a college student from New York was excellent. We encourage anyone visiting Washington to contact their senator's office for tour reservations. After our tour, we were given passes to the House and Senate. Since the House was not in session, we opted for a Senate visit. Sen Diane Feinstein walked right by us as we were waiting to go in. She is very tall and impressive in person. The topic in the Senate was the extension of unemployement benefits due to the lack of jobs at this time. We heard impassioned speeches to pass the bill with no objections. Very exciting to see our government at work. We recognized several of the senators on the floor including John McCain,Olympia Snowe, and Dick Durbin. That evening, a tour of the monuments under the lights impressed us again. The Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington, Marine Corp, Korean War, Vietnam,and Roosevelt monuments are amazing at night.
Our second day started with a bus tour of the city with stops at National Geographic for a couple of photography exhibits, National Cathedral with its amazing architecture and then to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for a tour and a concert. The tour included visits to the 4 different theaters and the Presidential box in each. In the center are gifts from many countries around the world that were sent to be placed here. We saw 37 tons of marble from Italy, a chandelier from Sweden, mirrors from Belgium, and wall hangings from Spain. Each was unique as was the Hall of Nations with flags from every country. Every evening there is a free concert for the public at 6 PM. The type of concert differs each evening and turnout is great. The Khoomei-Taiko Ensemble performed that day. It is a group comprised of a Japanese American flutist, 2 taiko drummers, and Mongolian singers which performed traditional folk music from their countries. What a memorable experience!
Our final day in DC included a stop at Arlington Cemetary to see the graves of John, Robert and Ted Kennedy and the impressive Changing of the Guard. John's grave is marked with the Eternal flame yet Robert and Ted's graves are each marked with a simple white cross. Our next stop was the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. The first thing you see is the 90 foot Diplodocus longus dinosaur which was found in Utah in 1923. There are other dinosaurs on display as well. The Geology & Gems exhibit includes the 45.5 carat Hope diamond, the largest in the world and other gorgeous gems. Many meterorites were on display including one that formed the crater we saw in Arizona last year. A huge model of a North Atlantic right whale and a live butterfly pavillion completed our tour. Our next Smithsonian was the National Portrait Gallery & American Art Museum to see monumental paintings by Thomas Moran of Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon. These giagantic paintings covered the entire walls and brought back the joy of visiting these parks. While there we enjoyed the "Faces of the Frontier" exhibit which included photographic portraits from the West from 1845-1924. Portraits of Buffalo Bill Cody, Calamity Jane, Jessie James, Geronimo, and Annie Oakley were included. The hall of America's presidents is the only complete collection of presidential portraits outside the White House. Some were serious portraits while others let their personalities show. We topped off our final day with a stop at the Old Ebbitt Grill, the oldest saloon in Washington where the bartender was from Chicago and most of the people we met were Chicagoans. The food was superb as well as the conversation. We look forward to a return trip to Washington since there are 17 Smithsonians and we have been to 4 and the Castle. We wish every American could visit our nations capital and feel its spirit and energy.
Our travels took us to the shores of Delaware by way of the farmlands. The Delaware Seashore state park in Rehoboth Beach had a campground that faced the bay where the fishing boats were trying their luck. It was a short walk to the ocean and a beach with a few fishermen and their families. Geri's kayak came off the jeep as there was a launch in the bay. It was a beautiful day to paddle in the area.
Our next stop was past Ocean City to Assateague National Seashore in Maryland. The Assateague State Park campground was one dune from the ocean and a beautiful setting. Wild horses called ponies were known to be in the area. Legend has it that they are descendents of horses that swam to shore from a wrecked Spanish galleon in 1750.Others say that the early settlers brought them from the mainland in 1600's. The first day we wondered where the horses were but by the next morning they were right next to our RV munching on beautiful yellow wildflowers. They were there every morning. Everywhere we went we saw horses, on the trails in the park, on the beaches, and in the parking lots and sides of the road. Another interesting animal that live here is the Sitka deer, a member of the antelope family. Smaller than a deer with two short horns yet ran like an antelop. Hiking, biking on wonderful trails, and kayaking were the "fun of the days". While kayaking, Geri met a couple from NJ who introduced her to harvesting mussels from the banks of the bay. This couple came every year to this area and always kayaked out to pry mussels from the banks, steam and eat them. So, despite having no tools, Geri yanked and pryed about 50 mussels to bring home to steam. Delicious!!
We didn't travel far to our next stop, Chincoteague and the Natl Wildlife Refuge for more wild Ponies and another campsite on the water. Chincoteague is the site of the children's story "Misty of Chincoteague". More great hiking trails thru the NWR there and a dinner of Chincoteague oysters completed our stay.
Travelling south, we continued on the peninsula crossing the 22 mile Chesapeke Bay Bridge- Tunnel to Virginia City and Norfolk. Norfolk was the center of ship building especially in WWII. The Nauticus museum housed The Battleship Wisconsin, which has served in 3 wars, the latest being in Irag and Afganistan. We saw it was in Bahran where our son-in-law, Barry was stationed on one of his tours of duty in the Marines. Now the ship was retired and moored outside the Museum. Other exhibits included ship building, NOAA Ocean & weather exhibits, and touch tanks for horseshoe crabs and tiny sharks. Virginia Beach is the headquarters of the study of the works of Edgar Cayce. It told the story of his life and his beliefs and of those who follow him. First Landing State Park & Back Bay NWR offered trails and cypress trees as well as birds, a snake, and lots of deer to see. It's wonderful to see precious shorelines of the East coast preserved for wildlife and us, our children and grandchildren.