Wrapping up DC

We finally left DC on Sunday, May 9. On my last walk that morning as I was passing the south lawn of the White House, Marine One, the President's helicopter, cruised right over me (close enough to feel the prop wash) and landed on the south lawn. About 1/2 hour later, two Marine helicopters flew over the boat. We've seen them pass in tandem like that before and had been told that they always travel in pairs when the President is on board. This is the first time I could personally attest to the fact that these Marine helicopters actually came from the White House.

Saturday the EU nations had open houses at their embassies in Washington. We had planned to walk around Embassy Row the previous week, before I got sick, so we figured we'd do it during the open houses. Big mistake! Neither of us is really a crowd sort of person and Massachusetts Avenue was a mad house, with huge lines at every embassy. We walked from Dupont Circle to the British Embassy, admired the architecture, then took a bus out of there.

One of the "who knew?" moments we had in DC was discovering that that State of Florida has an embassy in Washington. That is right -- an embassy. It is the only State embassy. It was founded in the 1970's by Rhea Chiles, wife of then Senator Lawton Chiles. The purpose is to provide Floridians visiting DC with a place to rest, drink some orange juice, soak up some air conditioning, get guidance on tourist things to do and, if you need to, access the Internet. It is a determinedly non-partisan place, staffed with charming Floridian hostesses. A real hoot! I dropped in one hot day for oj and a lunch recommendation, both of which were excellent. Mrs. Chiles hoped to start a trend of states opening embassies, but it never happened. The house, purchased with donated funds for $175,000 is now worth over $3.5 million. It isn't self-supporting, but does make a goodly portion of its income from renting space for private parties. The rest of the funds are donated by wealthy Floridians. It is at 2nd and C SW, behind the Supreme Court, if any of our Florida friends find themselves in DC.

Speaking of the Supreme Court, we were among the last visitors who entered the Supreme Court by walking up the marble stairs and through the front doors. For "security reasons" the Supreme Court has decided that visitors now have to enter through a smaller, easier to control side door. And Congress is considering a proposal to put bullet-proof glass between the galleries and the floor of the House and the Senate. It seems unnecessary with all of the security checks you have to go through before you can get into a gallery.