A step back in time.

This morning in Washington the sky was overcast, but it was warm and promised to get to 27 degrees Centigrade. After breakfast we checked out and drove the three hours, including the stop for coffee, to Williamsburg in Virginia. On the way the sun came out and chased the grey skies away, so that by the time we arrived we had blue skies, fluffy white clouds and 28 degrees or more. The humidity was high too and it felt like we were back in the tropics. Since we are a little further south than Lisbon, it is no surprise that the weather is now so good.

We drove to the visitor centre and bought a special day ticket for seniors, which allows us to come and go in the park until the end of the year! It seemed excessive, but is the cheaper option since we can come and go on the shuttle bus around town and go into most of the exhibits during the day. We took in a short film, which was made here in the Williamsburg historic town and showed the main events leading up to the revolution as they occurred in Williamsburg, which at the time was the capital of Virginia.

With another break for coffee and cookies we then set off to go back in time.

Once back in time we encountered all manner of people and houses. The first house we visited was the Governor's residence, which these Colonials described as a palace, but was merely a large country house.

In the outside kitchen we met a scullery maid.

She assured us that all the food on the table was cooked in the kitchen you see here. They also had a smoke house and a well nearby. 

Then a maid from the house came to guide us around the residence. Her name was Terri and she was a real gossip, telling us all the rumours surrounding the governor and his Lady. Alan made it known that he still was a most loyal subject of the crown, but complemented her on her presentation which was really well done and most enjoyable.

A well fed gentleman, we thought!

We discovered, as we walked into the town, that modern people were making a film in this time zone!

It was about this time that we were getting hot in our perches in Alan's rucksack with just our heads out. We have to admit we have seen more this way than ever before, as in the past we have stood guard over the belongings in the hotel room. Well, anyway we spied a very pretty maid with a basket and so we used all our combined charm to ask her to show us around, which she willingly did.

The first hitching rail we've seen.

For gallivanting off with pretty young ladies, Alan had intended to put us in the stocks, but thankfully they were already occupied!

The boys were now hot and tired and so took the shuttle bus back to the car park. Then we drove to the hotel and checked in. Tomorrow we will step back in time again we think.

Rain did not stop their parade!

The day got off to a weird start. Firstly Alan who had gone to breakfast in his "brothel creepers" (suede leather shoes with crepe rubber soles, to you), forgot to take them off and got in the shuttle bus to go to the Metro. George pointed it out to him, he would never have known otherwise! He remarked that it showed how comfortable his hiking boots were for him not to notice! George couldn't laugh since the other day he had gone into town and couldn't find his nice little Lumix camera. He thought he had put it in his pack, but when they got into town he searched and searched, but couldn't find it, so thought he had left it in the hotel room. But when he got back at the end of the day, it was there in his pack all the time! The forgetfulness of age is creeping up on these two, that's for sure!!!

We went to Union Station today and found that it is a super station, not unlike Grand Central in NY. It too has many levels, one of which is a pure eating hall with lots of different fast food outlets, on other levels there are shops and shoe shine places.

Union Station Washington

When we got outside we found it was drizzling. We also found a statue of Christopher Columbus.

Now unbeknown to us today was also Christopher Columbus Day and a Public Holiday!! There the Knights of Columbus were gathering to honour the man in the rain.

Since we now learnt that the Capitol was closed on a public holiday we stayed to watch the ceremony. 

US Armed Forces Colour Guard

The ubiquitous Washington man always has a

cup of coffee to go in his hand!

We left them to their speeches in the rain and went back into the station to have a cup of coffee before moving on.

It had stopped raining when we came out and so we walked to the National museum of the American Indian. This was a new building and the layout and exhibits surprised and delighted us. For our German readers, though, we have to say we did not see Winnetou!

The shop with all the Indian artefacts invited the boys to spend money which they both did.

From there we walked to the National Air and Space Museum. This is a small boys delight and Alan just had to touch the Moon! Well he put his fingers on a little bit of moon rock.

There were nearly all the spacecraft there to see and a good display of the Russian space program too.

We were able to go into the Space Lab and see how they showered and there were examples of how they go to the Loo in space!!! Not for the faint hearted or squeamish that's for sure.

The boys found a huge McDonald's in the museum so they stopped for a coffee and a milkshake before moving on to the National Museum of Natural History.

There was much to see here and Alan particularly liked the Ocean exhibits. In the mammal section when he found a Kudu, he just had to take a photo. It was a female Kudu that jumped on Hanna and Alan's hire car in S. Africa and wrote it off!

A Kudu

By this time the boys had an information over load of the brain and made their way back to the hotel via the Metro and shuttle bus from the station.

George leaving the Natural History Museum

A sunny day in Manasses.

  The day started with Alan turning the alarm off and going back to sleep! When he did surface, George was up, showered and dressed and the sun was shining. The boys needed a rest from down town Washington and so went to Manasses instead. Again Alan used his iPad to great effect to get us there.

  Manasses was the first real battle of the Civil War in 1861. Both sides were green and had no real idea of battle, even the officers and generals, since many were elected to the post by the men they commanded or gained their position due to influence, like Irvin McDowell of the Union Army. Consequently the whole first battle was a shambles which the Union Forces under McDowell should have won, but with luck and some decent command decisions on the Confederate side was a win for them. 

General "Stonewall" Jackson

Henry Hill, looking toward the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance. The trick of light did make them look blue too.

Henry Hill Manasses

Once we'd had enough of battlefields we went into Manasses for coffee. It is a small picturesque town, which was also at the centre of the second battle there in 1862.

We were not sure what the buckets were for, probably ice we thought. The boys stopped for coffee and then did a little shopping in the rather quaint boutiques. Well Alan did, George still has to be persuaded to buy anything.

We were a bit amazed when we saw this sign and could not imagine that it would work in Germany! Then we saw the sign on the door, which may be an offer to some men.

Would you buy your man this deal as a present? 

The boys took in a huge shopping mall outside town on the way back to our motel, but neither of them bought anything. As they were early they went for an early meal in the IHOP restaurant, which had a special deal for "seniors" (Old Aged Pensioners to you) buy two get one free!

Another day of rain.

This morning did not start well with it chucking it down before breakfast. We had wanted to go back into the centre, using the hotel shuttle to the Metro station, but it being a weekend there were many more guests wanting the same thing. Consequently after almost an hours wait, the boys decided to take the car to Arlington Cemetery. 

Alan used his iPad to get a route and found that the iPad, using Google Maps could be followed all the way. It even had a spot marking our progress, and this despite it only being a wifi iPad. The rain had let up by the time we got there and now it was just cold and damp.

After getting a map at the visitors centre and parking the car there, we all walked to the Marines Memorial.

Although this sculpture represents the flag raising at Iwo Jima, in WWII,  it is a memorial to all the marines since the formation of the Corps in 1775. 

We walked back through the cemetery to the Kennedy tomb which was some way away as the cemetery is very large and contains over 400,000 military graves.

John F Kennedy memorial

Jacqueline his wife, a still born daughter and a son Patrick, who predeceased JFK by 15 days are also buried there. The two brothers, Bobby and Teddy are also buried just around the corner from JFK.

We walked now to the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. This is guarded 24 hours a day 365 days a year by the 3rd US Infantry Regiment, known as "The Old Guard"! This is also the oldest active infantry regiment in the US Army having been formed in 1784. 

Alan was not impressed with the rubber mat to march up and down on, but otherwise the very young man did his job well enough.

We were all surprised to find a grave and memorial to an English Field Marshall Sir John Greer Dill. It is one of only two statues of horse and rider in the cemetery too. He was the Chief of the British Joint Staff Mission to the USA and then Senior British Representative on the Combined Chiefs of Staff, and played a significant role during the Second World War in the formation of the "special relationship" between the United Kingdom and the United States.

Having had enough of the cemetery the boys drove to the Pentagon, where we left the car and took the Metro into town. 

Outside the Library of Congress we found Sirens and Neptune. They seemed quite happy with all the water from the fountain and heavens too. Inside we were pleasantly surprised at the magnificence of it all.

Two treasures on display which pleased the professional printer in George were the Gutenberg Bible and the Giant Bible of Mainz, one of the last hand written versions of the Bible.

This whole Bible seems to have been copied by just one man!

Back outside George noticed a sticker attached to a waste bin which shows that some Germans were here before us!

We were all now desperate for a coffee and walked through the park to find a Starbucks. On the way we found various things that Alan found worthy of photographing.

The Capitol Building

The Supreme Court

Coffee revived us and so we walked to Judiciary Square where we got on a Metro to begin the journey back to the Pentagon.

The Metro is clean, efficient and functional, but not pretty like some underground systems we have seen. At the Pentagon we took in the very interesting memorial to 9/11, which is the only National one. The youngest person who died on the plane was just three years old!!

Each memorial unit consists of a cantilevered bench and a lighted pool of flowing water. The benches are positioned in such a way, so that if you can see the name and the sky above it, it denotes someone who was on the plane, and if you can see the Pentagon above the name, as above, then they were in the building. 125 died in the building and 59 on the plane.

Thereafter using Alan's iPad we navigated our way home again, tired but content.