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.

Love and hate in DC

I'm developing a love/hate relationship with DC. I'm loving all of the tourism things we are doing, but DC has been a health disaster for us, particularly me.

First the good news, the touring continues. Since last I posted we've gone to Mount Vernon where we learned, at his death, George Washington was the largest producer of white lightening in the nation. He owned and operated a 5 pot still, producing nearly 11,000 gallons of rye whiskey in 1799.

The still was found and excavated in the 1980s and rebuilt in '90s. They are now producing whiskey and planning to sell it as soon as they get the legal stuff done. The whiskey producers of America welcomed Mount Vernon into the business by holding a fundraiser, mixing two special bottles of whiskey and auctioning them off. The picture is of the bottle sold for a $100,000 bid. It was then donated back to Mount Vernon for display.

We took a tour of the Pentagon, which really is just a big office building. The most amazing part of the tour was the Air Force Honor Guard guy who walked backward, facing the attendees, for the full 45 minute tour. Jim facetiously asked if he had to take a walking backward test. The answer was yes.

There was a small white building in the middle of the Pentagon yard. After the Cold War ended, we discovered that the Russians had decided, based on the number of people who entered and left this building (per their satellite photos), that this was the entrance to a secret nuclear storage site. It was actually the hot dog stand.

We went to the Bureau of Printing and Engraving the day after they introduced the new $100. We saw them cutting and packaging the last run of the old style bills and printing the first run of the new bills. The multi-colored bills are actually printed in four separate runs: the color-security features, the black front, the green back, and then the serial numbers/signatures/seals run.

We were scheduled to walk along Embassy Row then have brunch with Ginnie this morning, but that didn't happen. Which brings me to the hate part of my relationship with our nation's capitol.

A couple of weeks ago, I caught a really bad cold which, of course, I shared with Jim. He was laid low for so long, we decided to extend our stay in DC by a week because we missed so much touring time during his cold. Just as he got better, I slipped on a step in the boat and banged my back. After the bruises cleared up the pain remained. I seem to have cracked a rib or torn/stretched the ligaments around a rib. It only hurts when I cough, sneeze, or take a deep breath, so I was prepared to soldier on. Then, yesterday, I developed a bad case of conjunctivitis in my right eye. I don't think Washington is good for me. We're leaving at the end of the week and I think that is a good thing.

More tourist experiences

We started last week by taking a tour of the Capitol. Capitol tours begin in the Capitol Visitor's Center, a lovely, $612 million ($356 million over budget), 3 year late federal construction project built under the Capitol itself. Before we went over for our tour, we stopped by Representative Ileana Ros-Lehitinen's office to get tickets to watch the House of Representatives in action. I am still dumbfounded that anyone can walk through security and then wander, unaccompanied, around the offices of Congress. This truly is amazing country!

The House wasn't in session yet (not back from their Easter break on April 14), but the Senate was, so we snagged some tickets and went up to sit in the Senate Gallery. Did you know that the two community snuff boxes are still available to members, along with the spittoons liberally sprinkled throughout the floor?

We were treated to the sight of the junior Senator from West Virginia speaking on the mining disaster, for the C-SPAN cameras in an otherwise completely empty chamber. That didn't bother me as much as reading the brochure we were given, in which it is explained that even during debates the chamber is usually empty, that you only see the Senators in the Senate when they are voting. OK, they don't want to listen to speechifying on mines, but they don't even bother to listen to each other's position during debates!?! And I wonder why 18% of American support the Tea Party?

On a happier note, we spent Saturday walking to the monuments. We started with the World War II monument which was full of Honor Flight veterans and their "guardians." For those who don't know, Honor Flight is a non-profit group that brings elderly veterans, especially WWII veterans, to Washington to see the monuments to their service. Most of these guys are too old to get around easily themselves, so each veteran has a guardian who stays with them, pushes the wheelchair, helps them on an off the bus, etc. A National Park employee told us there were 15 bus loads in DC on Saturday. The best sight was a three star Air Force general walking around shaking hands, thanking the guys for their service, listening to their stories. No aides, no handlers, no press, just a General saying "glad you could come...Thanks for serving." It was very nice.

We went to Arlington National Cemetery. Saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers and a couple of wreath laying ceremonies. Then, as we were walking to Robert E. Lee's family home (on the grounds - Arlington is sited on what was Lee's home before the Civil War), we saw a funeral in process. The funeral included a full military band, a horse-drawn caisson, and the riderless horse with the backward boots. He Who Knows These Things informs me that all of these signs mean the funeral was for an Admiral or General.

We also drove out to near Dulles to see the Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy facility. This is where the Smithsonian displays all of the things too big to show in its Mall facility, things like a space shuttle and a Russian MiG. They also have a wire and canvas plane (or would be plane) that was put together by a Smithsonian guy named Langley in competition to the Wright brothers.

Mr. Langley's contraption was catapulted off of a boat in the Potomac a month before the Wright brothers flew. It went exactly as far as the catapult pushed it then fell into the river, twice. Nonetheless, the Smithsonian guys stood by their comrade, contending that it could have worked. So much so that they refused to display the Wright flyer. Indeed, it was sent to London to be displayed and didn't come back to the US until after WWII when the Smithsonian asked that it be returned and the British, in a fit of gratitude for the US help in the war, agreed.

Darth Vader gets religion and DC libraries

It's been a tourist and tasks week for us. Our tourist experience started Monday morning with the grand opening of the first new library in DC in years.

Ginnie Cooper and her friends, notably June Garcia who consulted with Ginnie and the Library Board, put a plan in place to build 11 new libraries in DC, creating attractive, interesting public spaces, not using the cookie-cutter boxes approach DC was planning before Ginnie and June got here. The Benning Road Library, opened on Monday, is a tribute to every one's vision of what community libraries can be. It is light, open, airy and decorated with a wall of locally created art. It was wonderful to be there to watch folks ohh and ahh as they entered the space.

Tuesday was a tasks and tourist day. I treated myself to a visit to a local needlepoint shop while Jim took the Metro out to Montogomery County Maryland in search of Jack Daniels. The price of liquor in the District is so high it makes sense to leave town to buy booze. That night we celebrated our 8th anniversary with dinner out.

It was very warm here this week with the temperatures nearing 90 every day. We decided visiting an air-conditioned location was important. Since our friends the Boswells had recommended we see the National Cathedral, we figured out the public transit and went there. We arrived in time to hear a demonstration of the 10,000+ pipe organ, then took a tour of the cathedral itself. Although it is an Episcopal church, because it was built as the US National Cathedral the art, particularly the stained glass windows, tell the stories of US history. My favorite was the space window. This picture doesn't begin to do it justice. The colors are too washed out in the picture. Look in the middle of the red circle at the top. You'll see a small white circle with a black dot. That black dot is a rock from the moon. Buzz Aldrin, an alumnus of St. Albans School, one of three schools associated with the National Cathedral, gave it to the Cathedral to incorporate into the window celebrating Apollo 11.

But the best part of the National Cathedral is Darth Vader. Yes, Darth Vader's image has been carved into the Northwest Tower of the National Cathedral. You need a set of binoculars to see it which we didn't bring. But I may take our binocs back just to actually see Darth. Darth is a "grotesque" which means he carries rain water away from the building. He is up there as a result of a contest sponsored by National Geographic World magazine. School children were invited to design decorative sculpture for the National Cathedral and a young boy in Nebraska submitted a design of Darth as a futuristic representation of evil.

Being in Washington encourages me to get my exercise. Wednesday morning I circumnavigated the Washington Monument. This morning I walked around the White House and watched the Secret Service bomb-sniffing dogs check out the West Wing employee's cars. Tomorrow I think I'll walk to the Lincoln Memorial, past the WWII memorial. All in all, a lot more interesting than cruising the neighborhoods of Cleveland.

Happy Easter from Helicopter City

We have arrived in Washington, DC in time to enjoy the peak of cherry blossom season. With the convergence of the cherry blossom blooming, Easter, and Spring school holidays, the locals are saying this is the largest Cherry Blossom Festival in memory.



I can attest to that. I went for my morning walk Saturday at 7:30 AM and there were thousands of people walking around the Tidal Basin at that hour. I suspect the picture is too small for you to really see it, but the dark line under the cherry blossoms and above the water of the Tidal Basin is teeming humanity. Later in the day we walked up to the Mall and it was every bit as crowded. All in all, it has been a good weekend to keep your cool and go with the flow, because wherever you want to go, everyone else is already there.


But we've been lucky to spend time with friends here. Don and Ruth Kalen, who have the same boat we do, are on the dock with us here in Gangplank Marina. They have come to DC for cherry blossoms many times before. In fact it was their stories about how nice it is that convinced us to make the trip. It is good to have friends with local knowledge about restaurants, places to see and things to do around the marina.


Last night Ginnie Cooper, her husband Rick, his daughter Heather and his two granddaughters joined us for fireworks viewing. The Cherry Blossom Festival fireworks show took place in the Washington Channel which is where our marina is located. We are on the end of a pier, so we had an unobstructed view of the 25 minutes of fireworks. Quite cool! Ginnie and family even brought dinner -- cooler still. Thanks, Ginnie, we had a great time! Tomorrow the granddaughters are invited to the White House Easter Egg hunt.


You are probably wondering why I titled this post "Happy Easter from Helicopter City". As near as we can tell, every high muckity-muck in DC commutes to work in a Marine helicopter. And every agency, from the Marines to the local DC Park Police has its own helicopters. With Reagan Airport just across the Potomac from us, those 'copters have to stay out of the flight pattern of the jets, so they fly over the Washington Channel. That is to say, over our boat. Even on the weekend we get 4-5 helicopters an hour overhead. I can't wait to see what a work day will be like.

The last time we had this many helicopters flying over us, it was the Navy coptering in supplies in Miami after Hurricane Andrew. These are just a few of the helicopters that flew over us yesterday.


The most common ones are the Marine Corps helicopters like the one above. We saw these coming and going from Quantico in the morning as we were coming up the river. These are the ones we figure are ferrying in Virginia-resident cabinet secretaries, etc. After all, you wouldn't want the poor dears trapped in DC traffic.

We're back...

We're back on the boat and ready to begin this year's travels. Actually, to be technically correct, we've already begun this year's travels. As I write this we are in Cobb's Island on the Potomac River, about 65 miles south of Washington DC.

We got back to the boat last week and spent the week "de-winterizing" the boat. To get it ready to spend the winter in cold country, we had to put anti-freeze in the engines and non-potable water lines (shower drains, etc.). For the drinking water lines, we blew out the fresh water with a pump and replaced it with cheap vodka (really cheap, Odesse vodka from Baltimore, that well-known vodka capital of the world). You use vodka in the water lines because it doesn't leave the same soapy aftertaste that anti-freeze can. All the winterizing had to be reversed and all systems checked before we could leave Virginia.

All things considered, the boat had a great winter, very few things needed to be repaired. Jim had the engines checked by a mechanic and we had a boat detailer come down to give the outside a good thorough cleaning. After a trip to Walmart (the best grocery store in the area, a mere 40 minutes away), we were ready to go. Of course, the weather chose not to cooperate.

The forecast for the day we planned to leave was winds 15-20 knots and seas 2-3 feet. (Actually, the forecast included a small craft advisory which Jim chose not to share with me. From now on, I'm checking the forecast nyself.) It wouldn't have been so bad if the seas hadn't been on the beam. Beam seas means the waves were hitting us on the side of the boat, making the boat roll from side to side. I got seasick. Fortunately, Jim has no sense of balance and therefore doesn't get seasick.

The irony of this is I got seasick last year when we hit rough seas entering the Potomac River. This year, entering the Potomac relieved my seasickness, because the river conditions were better than the conditions in the Cheaspeake Bay.

We are headed to DC for cherry blossoms and touring around. Today the wind is blowing 15 knots with 25 knot gusts from the northwest, or straight down the Potomac. Tomorrow it will switch to the southeast (behind you if you are headed up the river) and drop to 5 knots. So we're sitting in this little fishing destination for one more day before continuing up river.

Peak cherry blossoms are predicted for Thursday and Friday this week. We'll be there on Friday. I promise pictures for the next post.

Last trip of 2009

We got up Tuesday morning to find fog so thick we couldn't see past the end of the dock. Fortunately, it burned off quickly and by 7:30 AM we were able to leave Solomons, Maryland headed for Deltaville, Virginia. Deltaville will be Down Time's winter home.

The trip down was as good as it gets. We had light winds from behind us and 1 foot seas on a beautiful, sunny, Fall day. Down Time's cockpit is fully enclosed. Even though the sailors who left when we did were bundled up in their foul weather gear for warmth, we were quite comfortable in our traveling greenhouse. The weather forecast for later in the week predicted colder temperatures and higher seas, so many boats departed from Solomons the same time we did. This is prime snowbird time, with lots of boats leaving the north headed to Florida for the winter. Many boating insurance policies restrict boaters from going south of Norfolk, VA, before November 1 (hurricane season). Lots of folks sit in southern Maryland and northern Virginia waiting out the end of October.

Deltaville is in the so-called "Middle Neck" of Virginia, on the southern shore of the Rappahannock River. We chose this place because we found in-water, covered storage for the boat. We will have to winterize the boat (blow all of the water out of the fresh water system, treat the diesel fuel, etc.) which means we won't be able to stay aboard once we have done that. The covered storage will keep snow off the deck; it doesn't get cold enough here for the water the boat is sitting in to freeze.

Next March we'll come back, get her ready to travel again, and head up the Potomac River to spend a month in Washington, D.C. enjoying the cherry blossoms. Then back to our trip north. Until then, we will be the only people you know who actually go to Cleveland, Ohio for the winter. Have good holidays and look for our next post in March 2010.