HK, the 3 Pups and I are spending several weeks in Annapolis while we move closer to our goal of purchasing a sailboat and finding a new place to call “home”.
This weekend, we got up early, took the pups for a quick walk, and headed the 40-minutes to Washington DC for some sightseeing on the last day of the Cherry Blossom Festival.

This was my first trip to our nation’s capital. I know. Crazy. I have traveled to many, many countries around the world, and all but a very few of our 50 states, but, until now, had never been to DC. Waaaaaayyyy overdue, but, hey, better late than never, no?

I won’t bore you with a stop-by-stop travelogue, you can read that in any tour book or online. I will tell you what you already know if you have ever visited here…it is IMPOSSIBLE to see all the sights, museums and highlights in a day, or 2 days, probably even a week wouldn’t be enough if you really wanted to soak it all in.

The majority of the sights and museums are free in DC, making this the PERFECT way to spend a holiday, a weekend or just a day off. The only out-of-pocket funds we spent were on parking and popsicles. DEAL!

The Vietnam Memorial was high on my list, since that war helped to shape the culture of my youth. And although I was a bit too young and naive to appreciate what was taking place at the time of the war, the memorial itself had a powerful impact on me. It is difficult, at best, to absorb the vast number of names, representing the dead, etched on the wall.

The Korean War memorial had a personal effect on me, because my Dad served several years there as a captain in the Army. Growing up, we used to watch slide-shows of pictures he had taken while he was in Korea. He had lots of stories to tell, but he also kept some buried, too painful to share, I suppose. I’ll never forget watching the movie MASH with him one night at home, and glancing a peek at his bleary eyes. Although he wasn’t involved in direct combat, he served in a MASH unit, and saw plenty, I’m sure.

The American Indian Museum was a beautiful, vast space, yet was sparsely attended. Maybe people didn’t want to be reminded of the blatant injustices heaped upon the Indians by the white man. And although there is much more to the museum itself, including the histories of different tribes, along with the amazing carvings and beadwork,  I felt very conflicted during my brief hour there.

In one short day we basically raced through as much of DC as was humanly possible. I look forward to returning for a much more leisurely tour of all that Washington has to offer.