Today might as well be called “Washington, DC” because that’s basically what it was. We had a short day on purpose - only 20 official miles - so we had plenty of time to sightsee in the capital. I still maintain that a bicycle is a great way to be a tourist; you can get a lot of places in a short period of time. Even though we weren’t in a hurry, we managed to visit the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the White House, the Capital, various buildings of the Smithsonian, and the Mall, and also have time to ride around town. We stopped at a food cart run by a very nice Vietnamese lady within sight of the White House and had a great conversation and also the worst hot dog I’ve ever eaten. In the morning we went to Arlington National Cemetery and saw JFK’s grave as well as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and watched the changing of the guard. As a theater geek, I approved of the ceremony.
It was a beautiful sunny day. I was very impressed with D.C. generally and would like to go back some time; I had always heard it was kind of crappy but that wasn’t true at all. It was clean and beautiful and I was particularly impressed with all the crazy architecture. One building that stood out was the Smithsonian Castle, which apparently was the first Smithsonian building and was designed to be Gothic Revival. It looks cool, like it came from Norway or something. Anyway it was a fun day riding, if a bit exhausting in its own way.
