DC Trip, Day Two: Red is NOT your color

If possible, I think I slept even less last night. Apparently the hotel was finishing up a Barbie doll convention. Really??? I saw women dressed like Barbie and other women (and some men) carrying around dolls. For crying out loud. Who knew those Barbie lovers could party so much? They must have been terribly excited over their doll fascination, because the people in the room next door were SO loud most of the night. By about 2am I was ready to storm next door and shove that Barbie where Ken would never find it. Yeah, I'm not so pleasant when I'm sleep deprived. ;-)

I was up by 6:30am so I'd have plenty of time to get ready, eat breakfast, and get to Union Station where my double-decker bus tour started. I like to have access to these "hop on, hop off" vehicles, not only to get an idea of the layout of the city, but cheaper transportation than taking cabs everywhere when my feet start to hurt. Um, I rode it only twice today. I took it as far as Arlington Cemetery (about the halfway point of the full tour) and jumped off to start my day, but not before seeing the National Cathedral from the bus.



Once at Arlington, I ventured through the sea of white, unadorned, yet stately headstones. Even wearing sunglasses, I found myself squinting at how the morning sun reflected off their smooth, alabaster surface. Very sobering, let me tell you. Definitely not something you can walk past, without stopping every few steps to just stare at the vastness of them stretching across a field of green.



I found my way to the Kennedy graves with the Eternal Flame. Again, so strange to think you're standing so close to one of our greatest President's remains. It felt like there should have been more than a chain between us and the flame.

(Kennedy's grave with Eternal Flame, and the Arlington House atop the hill above)





Then I came across Robert Kennedy's grave, marked by a white, flat head stone and this simple white cross (again with the Arlington House above).



Next was the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, which is guarded around the clock. I happened to arrive right in time to watch the very regimented and formal changing of the guard. So respectful and a bit emotional to see such loyalty and respect paid to our soldiers, despite knowing their names.

Once I finished strolling around the cemetery, I decided to forego the "hop on, hop off" bus, and just walk across the Potomac River to the Lincoln Memorial and the where the true length of the Mall began. It didn't seem so far, after all. Ahem, right. See that speck way in the distance? Yes, that's the massive Lincoln Memorial. But by the time I took this photo, I was already halfway there, so there was no turning back. You know how it is when something seems closer than it truly is? Yeah, well, now so do I.



But, I finally made! The Lincoln Memorial is massive. You don't really realize how much so, until you see it in true scale compared to the size of people. I climbed the many stairs leading up to the marble behemoth and stood in awe of the statue of Lincoln. Well, in between playing photographer for all the people asking me to take a picture of them standing in front of it.





Leaving the Lincoln Memorial, I had a great view of the Washington Monument at the other end of the reflecting pool, which by that time I was ready to jump into because it was so hot. This was probably about the time my sunburn began, as I'd no doubt sweated off my SPF 30. But more on that later.





Next was the Vietnam Memorial Wall. If that doesn't put everything into perspective, I don't know what will.





The Korean Memorial was equally moving, if not more so. Larger than life size statues seem to be continuing their mission, unaware of the throngs of tourists milling about. It's actually pretty eerie to stand there gazing at them. I half expected them to turn and stare right back at me.





The World War II Memorial is another huge memorial. Flanked by marble columns with the Pacific marketing one end and the Atlantic the other, it contains a wall of gold stars, waterfalls, marble wreaths marking every state's name engraved into the perimeter of the memorial, with a large reflective pool and two fountains in the middle of it all. Again, in the midst of the somber moment, I fought the urge to cool my feet in the water. Not only should I have been detecting the scent of singing flesh by then (my own), but my poor feet were feeling the repercussions of my foolish decision to "get a little exercise and just walk."





The Washington Monument not only looks huge in pictures, it IS huge. I actually decided against going up into it, as I was peetering out pretty fast by that point of the afternoon. But it's just as impressive from the base. Until the Eiffel Tower was built, the Washington Monument was the tallest building in the world.





And lastly, the U.S. Capitol. Elegant, stately, even stuffy looking. But it's filled with politicians, so what would you expect? ;-)





So, by the time I finally hop back onto my double decker bus for the ride back to my hotel, my I'm ready to amputate my feet and I'm getting the idea that something might be amiss with my skin. Ironically, I saw this girl on the bus whose back was burnt to a crisp and thought to myself, "wow, she's going to be in a world of hurt." Little did I know that "I" was also going to be hurting just as bad, if not more. The first thing I literally said when looking in my bathroom mirror was, "Sonofabitch!" There were a few other choice words in there, too, but I'll keep those to myself. I was glowing. My entire fact, back of neck, chest and my arms (of course all my arms from the short sleeve mark down). Seriously fire engine red, glowing. I took Advil, lathered on aloe and bundled up because the chills had set in. Not a good sign, is it? Hmmm. So, as my entire body either throbs or glows, I'm signing off for the night.

More to come tomorrow, if I'm able to walk and show my face in public. On the schedule is anything that I can do INSIDE.