Washington (October 2018)

After the complications of visiting New York, Washington was a breeze.

Back in Nova Scotia (see the post of 17 November 2018) we had met a nice couple from Washington, Don and Sarah Fish. They had recommended driving to Greenbelt Station and taking the Metrorail from there. Internet research located a campground in the Greenbelt National Park. This was not only very conveniently located, its tariff was a modest $20 per night.

Our programme was a simple one: stay two nights at the campground and see the main sights of Washington DC in the intervening day. We know there are a ton of things to do in Washington, but exploring the various branches of the Smithsonian just didn't appeal to us at the time. This was back in mid-October 2018 and the memory of why we were in a hurry to move on has grown faint. We were also invited to dinner by Don and Sara.

Malcolm-Edgar, our GPS, led us through Washington's maze of busy roads to the campground. It turned out to be not only conveniently located and inexpensive, but also very attractive. You'll have to rely on our word for it, though, since we didn't take any photographs.

After the difficulties of the Port Credit station's very small parking lot, described in Where do we stay while on the road? posted on 2 September 2018, we were a bit apprehensive that the Greenbelt station's lot would be full, although Don Fish had promised that it is a good, big one. We shouldn't have worried. The parking lot is HUGE and there were acres of empty spaces. There are even spaces specifically for large vehicles like ours, but they were so far away we didn't notice them. We offered to move to the designated area, but we were told it didn't matter. Clearly it wasn't expected to be a busy day.

To ride Washington's Metro you must have a SmarTrip fare card. They cost $10 each and are delivered with $8 credit. You tap on and off, the fare is automatically computed and deducted from your balance. Easy peasy.

From Greenbelt it was one simple change to Union Station where the Big Bus hop-on hop-off buses start. Excuse the advertisement, but they were SO much better than the company we used in New York. Part of the delight was the much better weather and the freer circulation of the traffic, but the guides were better and, a key thing for us, they didn't keep begging for tips. We were given accurate information about the best changes to make so that we rode the complete network of 3 routes in one day.

The Capitol

The Lincoln Memorial

The Washington Monument

The National Museum of African American History and Culture. This is the newest part of the Smithsonian and extremely well patronised. You have to arrive very, very early or queue for hours to get in.

The one satellite of the Smithsonian network that we did visit was the zoo. This was partly to satisfy our liking for natural history, but mainly because it was lunch time and zoos always have a cafe.

The Smithsonian is a remarkable organisation. Not only must it be the largest museum operator in the world, but in the capital city of capitalism all its establishments are free entry.

The Washington zoo is most proud of its giant pandas. So we had to go and have a look.

It was snack time in the giant panda house.

The red pandas were more active.

Crumbs dropped outside the cafe didn't last long with this starling and his mates around.

The White House was the last of the important buildings we saw. Freedom of speech was being exercised by a woman who appeared to be preaching, rather than airing a political opinion. A cyclist rode by and raised one hand aloft, his middle finger explaining his dissatisfaction with the President's conduct.

The standard tourist's view. The man holding the banner was trying to raise funds to help children in Haiti.

Back at Union Station we checked the Metro fare back to Greenbelt. You need to be careful as the tariff varies with the time of day. We topped up our SmarTrip cards to the exact amount needed for our journey.

We understood that parking could be paid either with a SmarTrip card or with cash. We had nil balances on our SmarTrip cards but we had cash. The first exit we approached had no attendant and the machine accepted only plastic. We turned around – not an easy manoeuvre for a 28ft vehicle – and tried the other exit where, according to a sign, a cashier was to be found. Again it was unmanned and taking only cards. In desperation we returned to the first gate and offered a debit card. A green light glowed and the barrier rose. Why couldn't they say that debit cards were accepted?

The route to Don and Sarah's house took us along sections of multi-lane highways. It was past the peak of the rush hour, but traffic was still heavy. Changing lanes was not easy in the dusk, but we made it without incident.

The food and the conversation were excellent. We had a lovely time.

Thank you Don and Sarah.

It was, of course, dark when we started back to the campground. We had done very little night time driving. Judging speeds and distances when we had to change lane was tricky, but by now traffic was light and most American drivers seem to be considerate. As we approached the park we used full beam for perhaps the first time on the trip. The lights gave good illumination of the road ahead – and then they went out! Frantically working the light switch brought them back on, but it happened three more times before we reached our campsite. Clearly we had an electrical problem with Gregory. No more night driving until it was fixed.

Someone, we think it was Don, had recommended the Shenandoah National Park as being worthy of a visit. To get there we had to circle around Washington and take Interstate 66. We set Malcolm-Edgar and off we went. We had no practical alternative to using the interstate highways, and we seemed to encounter more than our fair share of highways that split and where we had to move across two or three lanes to take the leftwards option.

Signs started appearing to warn us of tolls ahead. Malcolm-Edgar is programmed to avoid tolls, but it's not the end of the world if we have to pay one or two. Except that the signs started alerting us that only electronic payment was accepted, and we don't have the magic device that you need for this system. When a sign said “Last Exit Before Toll” we took it. It was a road to Washington's main airport, Dulles. We ended up following it right into the airport and past the departure drop-off zone. Then when we left the airport we could see the road we came in by for a few miles before we peeled off and made our way to I66 without having to pay a toll.

There's never a dull day when you are travelling.