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Old 2 Nov 19, 04:00 PM  
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jocat
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Five Days in Washington DC - Day 2 - 27/10/19 - A Museum, a clock tower and shopping

Day 2 - Sunday 27th October 2019

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I first woke up at 5:30 am, but managed to get back to sleep until just after 7am. We could hear the rain outside, so checked the forecast for the day. Unfortunately, there was a tropical storm over us and the heavy rain we were having wasn’t due to clear until the afternoon.

My whole body ached this morning, so we decided to have a bit of a lazy morning, then head to a Museum. We also planned to do a bit of shopping.

We decided to nip for breakfast first, while it wouldn’t be so busy, then come back and have our showers. We went down at 8:15 am and not even half of the tables were taken.





Breakfast was very good, especially considering it was included with the room rate. There was a lot of choice. I had fruit, cereal and toast and Martin had yoghurt and granola, some cereal and then a made to order ham and mushroom omelette, with some bacon and potatoes on the side.





We went back to the rooms by 8:40 am then took our time having showers and getting ready.

As the rain has been so heavy this morning, we were going to take an Uber to the Museum of American History. But as we were leaving the hotel at about 11:30 am, we spotted the sky was brightening and the rain had just stopped. We decided to walk instead.







It was actually really muggy and I was glad I’d brought a bag with me as our jackets were soon being carried in it. We made our way down Pennsylvania Avenue towards the Mall and I was suddenly hungry. I suppose it had been almost 4 hours since breakfast.

We saw a coffee shop called Peets, so went in there. I ordered an apple danish pastry and even though Martin wasn’t really hungry, he joined me and ordered a muffin. I confess to helping him finish it when he couldn’t. We shared a bottle of water too.







Suitable refreshed, we headed on and were soon close to the White House Visitors Centre. We decided to pop in and were surprised to spend almost an hour looking at the exhibits.







By the time we came out, there seemed more blue sky than the rain clouds that had originally been scheduled for all day. It was getting seriously warm now.

It took us about 10 more minutes to reach the museum and we were soon inside and through bag check.







We viewed a few different exhibits there, including The Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz, The American Presidency and First Ladies, plus The Star Spangled Banner exhibition with the original flag that inspired the anthem. We also looked at The Price of Freedom exhibition which explored the history of the nation’s wars. It was interesting to read about World War II from a different perspective but it became apparent that they really didn’t like the British! 😂









I was a bit disturbed to find toys there, which I remember my younger sister having!

After a couple of hours we’d had enough so headed to the cafeteria for a drink. We got a Diet Coke and a bottle of water. Once we’d had those, we left and walked across to the middle of the grassy area opposite the entrance to take some photos of the Capitol Building.







We were supposed to be walking along the Mall for a bit, but it was really warm, and I certainly hadn’t dressed for the heat in my jeans, boots and 3/4 length sleeved top - the sun was burning my arms through my clothes! We decided to head towards some shops. At least the side streets were a little more shaded.

As we walked, we saw signs to the Old Post Office Clock Tower. Martin had spotted this when we were doing a bit of planning, and as it was such a nice day, we thought there might be good views up there. We decided to go in. By now it was 4pm and I believe the last entry is at 4:30 pm.



There weren’t many people around and we were soon on our way up in the lift, getting views of the Trump Hotel lobby as we went.

We spent about 20 minutes enjoying the views at the top and trying to take some photos between the narrow wires across the windows.







Once we came back down, we continued our walk to the shops. We soon came to Macy’s so headed inside. We had a browse on every floor and ended up buying a couple of gifts for our granddaughter. That ended up being all of the shopping that we did.

We were hungry now and we’d spotted a restaurant that gets good reviews, but it was up closer to the Capitol Building. We decided to head there, walking past the Ford’s Theatre where Abraham Lincoln was shot. Just a few minutes further on was the District Chophouse and Brewery, where we’d chosen to eat.









We were seated straightaway and served iced water while we looked at the menus. Martin ordered an Amber Ale and I had a glass of wine. We were also brought some cornbread. I hadn’t had cornbread before, but it tasted just like warm sponge cake to me, rather than a bread and I certainly didn’t want to spread any butter on it, but it was delicious all the same.







We both ordered a fillet steak, mine with a baked potato and Martin had some cheddar mash. It was very tasty, but mine was just slightly under the medium I’d requested that it be cooked, so Martin finished what I couldn’t eat. We declined dessert and paid the bill of $97 + tip.







As we left the restaurant, it had got dark, so we decided to head back towards the Mall and try and get some photos of the Capitol Building and Washington Monument lit up. I was a little surprised at how dark it seemed - I’d expected the pathways to be better lit, but most of the streetlights were off.





I felt a bit jumpy, so was glad when we reached the main road close to the Monument. Our feet were really hurting by now, so we decided to get an Uber back to the hotel. It only took a couple of minutes to arrive, and within 10 minutes we were back. The cost was a reasonable $8.

It was about 7:25 pm by now, so we were just in time to get a free drink from the bar. Martin ordered a beer and I stuck to a Diet Coke. We took them back to our room and it wasn’t long before I was in my pyjamas with my feet up on the sofa. We checked our step counter and saw that we’d walked slightly less today, at around 20,000 steps, but it felt like we’d been stood on our feet for longer.

We managed to stay awake for longer tonight and it was closer to 10 pm before we headed to bed.

Edited at 04:03 PM.
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Old 2 Nov 19, 04:23 PM  
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Your food options look great! I am glad the weather improved - sightseeing in the rain isn’t much fun!

I love the night pictures! Another wonderful day!
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Old 2 Nov 19, 04:56 PM  
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I can not believe the timing of your report. I was chatting to hubby today about wanting to visit The White House. It all looks amazing.
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Old 2 Nov 19, 07:30 PM  
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I'm so glad the weather improved for you!
The museum of Natural History looks interesting, one to add to our list. The views from the Old Post Office Clock Tower are lovely, even better that the sun was shining.
Dinner looks really tasty, I would have ordered exactly the same as you, I love Filet Mignon.
The Monument all lit up looks beautiful
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Old 5 Nov 19, 09:04 PM  
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The post office clock tower views looked fab. What a great find. Your steak looked really tasty to me. This afternoon was roasting it was our last day and after we'd come out of the American Indian museum we checked our phones and then said it was 26 degrees so I'm not surprised you were feeling warm.
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Old 6 Nov 19, 01:19 AM  
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Busy day! I'd not seen the Post Office tower mentioned in other trip reports. Good find!
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Old 9 Nov 19, 02:08 PM  
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Originally Posted by Melbatb View Post
Your food options look great! I am glad the weather improved - sightseeing in the rain isn’t much fun!

I love the night pictures! Another wonderful day!
It was another great day and even better that the weather was so much better than what had been originally forecast.

Originally Posted by Beaker's Fluff View Post
I can not believe the timing of your report. I was chatting to hubby today about wanting to visit The White House. It all looks amazing.
You definitely ought to book a trip and apply for White House tickets if you can.

Originally Posted by smithlane View Post
I'm so glad the weather improved for you!
The museum of Natural History looks interesting, one to add to our list. The views from the Old Post Office Clock Tower are lovely, even better that the sun was shining.
Dinner looks really tasty, I would have ordered exactly the same as you, I love Filet Mignon.
The Monument all lit up looks beautiful
Martin did so well to find the clock tower, and it was even better that there was some blue sky for us.

I thought the Monument was stunning at all times of day, but I loved seeing it lit up.

Originally Posted by Goldia View Post
The post office clock tower views looked fab. What a great find. Your steak looked really tasty to me. This afternoon was roasting it was our last day and after we'd come out of the American Indian museum we checked our phones and then said it was 26 degrees so I'm not surprised you were feeling warm.
We were so lucky that we were in the general area and stumbled across the clock tower this afternoon, as I wasn’t sure which area it was actually in. Martin recognised it, so it was very much a spur of the moment decision to visit.

It was definitely a warm afternoon wasn’t it?

Originally Posted by anji View Post
Busy day! I'd not seen the Post Office tower mentioned in other trip reports. Good find!
Martin definitely did well with his research, but we won’t tell him too much - he’ll be trying to take the holiday planning job off me!
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Old 10 Nov 19, 09:51 AM  
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Glad the rain cleared for you. The museum looks really cool , as did the views from the clock tower. Great sightseeing there by the accidental planner 😂

Mmm, dinner looked a bit disappointing .. not even a loaded potato with the steak. But, cornbread, it’s so yummy. I would have eaten all of it and it’s delish with butter when it’s warm.
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Old 13 Nov 19, 02:38 PM  
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More walking! Washington is definitely a city in which to get sore feet!

Museum looked great, will have to put that on the list for if we ever go back.
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