August 12 DC heats up

Our DC tour yesterday was a very tiring day. The heat and humidity really impacts our ability to do very much outside. It was a perfect day to spend the majority of the time inside an air conditioned tour bus.

Gray Line picked us up right here at the RV park and took us to "Union Station" to transfer to our actual tour bus. It was brand new so everything was very nice and comfortable. Don't know how the driver remembers all the names, dates and data that he shared with us but it was mind boggling to be sure.

Within less than 10 hours we visited:
- Mount Vernon - the home of George Washington
- Old Town Alexandria - a quaint seaport town steeped in history
- Arlington National Cemetery
- Memorial graves of John F. Kennedy, plus his wife and brother, Robert Kennedy
- Changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier (that was awesome and my favorite for the day)
- The Pentagon - outside only
- Christ Church - Alexandria church of the Presidents built in 1767
- Embassy Row
- Georgetown
- Lincoln Memorial
- Korean War Memorial
- Vietnam War Memorial
- etc, etc.

It was kind of a whirlwind overview but touched sufficiently on a number of places we would not have otherwise gotten to see. A few others that we wanted to see more of...now we know what to expect and plan when we go back.

Today the temperature hit 96 degrees with humidity added it was a "heat index" of 106 degrees. After our hot, packed day yesterday, we rested and stayed cool today.

Tomorrow, we will head off on the public bus to the Metro rail system which will take us to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. I expect we will spend most of the day there, inside enjoying their quality exhibits and IMAX theatre (of which we are a fan).

We are scheduled to be here until at least Wednesday so we should be able to get a good overview of all the Smithsonian many centers and also pay a return visit to the Vietnam and Korean War Memorials which we did not have enough time at yesterday.

Watching TV news while I type this and I see we also have a hurricane off shore to keep an eye at. Think we are far enough in land to not be too affected by it but it could add to our adventure here.

Take care....Linda