Tony Bennett may have left his heart in San Francisco, but I’ve left at least three toes in D.C. You guessed it, we covered more of the city today. We’ve been here several times, so we’ve got a plethora of pictures of each monument by sunlight and moonlight, we can probably give guided tours of the major museums, and we’ve become jaded Metro riders. Today we decided to roam a couple of spots that we haven’t given much (or any) time in the past. One was Union Station, just because we’ve never seen it and we’re both suckers for beautiful, old buildings. This gorgeous, white granite hub opened in 1907 and imagine the stories it could tell. By 1937 as many as 42,000 passengers a day passed through. Eleanor Roosevelt and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson worked in the Soldier’s Canteen here, a canteen that by 1946 had served an average of 3 million customers every year since its opening in December 1941. It was open 24 hours a day and operated with a five-cent top price on every food item it sold, including soup, milk, sandwiches, ice cream and soft drinks. This station was where the train carrying FDR’s casket arrived, as well as Eisenhower’s inaugural train, and so much more! I’ll just bet that there are ghosts here. Soldiers, lovers, probably even some train conductors.
The whole building is just beautiful. I wonder if there’s a book of Union Station stories? There should be!
From Union Station we hopped on (of all things) a train to Federal Triangle and the old Post Office. It was built in 1892 and is just lovely inside.
Also, a homeless guy named Mike told us that if we could get to the top of that bell tower we’d be able to see the snipers on the roof of the White House and the Capitol. So up we went
On the 9th floor we stopped to admire “the official bells of Congress”. Who knew? They’re replicas of the bells at Westminster Abbey and were a gift from England.
The Washington Ringing Society sounds the bells on Thursday evenings and for special occasions (important funerals,etc). A full peal, which is a continuous performance that takes up to three and a half hours to complete, is rung in honor of the opening and closing of Congress and on state occasions, including all national holidays. The bells are in the key of D major. I’m praying that some of this information comes up on Jeopardy because it’s locked in now.
We made it to the 12th floor also known as the tower and ohmystars, the view! It didn’t matter that it was approximately 50 below zero up there with hurricane force winds (exaggerate? who me?) because I felt like king of the world!
This photo courtesy of Mickey Pullen
There’s the White House, where I definitely could not make out the snipers . Those blue blobs are tents of the Occupy folks. One word - brrr!
This photo also courtesy of Mickey Pullen
And there’s the U.S. Capitol and a relatively traffic-free, tree lined street. Neat as a pin. I like that.
Since we were suffering from sniper disappointment we did the only sensible thing and decided to clear our palates with a visit to another sort of mall. We hopped on a train and in a few quick minutes arrived at the Pentagon City stop which has a four story shopping mall. We grabbed a quick lunch and browsed. It was a nice way to let days of information overload settle in our brains. We wasted some time there and eventually caught the Metro back to our hotel where we decided to put our feet up (okay, my feet) until we were hungry enough to seek dinner. I figured that would be quite a while since we’d stopped at a bakery to pick up a couple of tempting pastries. There’s something tempting on every corner, there’s also history on every corner. Just a block from our hotel you’ll find an old building with this plaque on it.
Holy smokes! The Mary Surratt boarding house! Wasn’t there a movie made recently that told her story? She was convicted of being a co-conspirator and sent to the gallows. Eep! Of course, if you walk quickly down the street you’d miss this. Here’s the building now.
That’s the plaque to the left of the door.
Now it’s a restaurant named Wok ‘n Roll. I’d like to call and ask for moo goo gai pan with a side order of Civil War ghosts. Bet they have both!
Alas, it will have to wait for another visit. It’s time for this gal to pack her bag and get ready to go home. There’s the tiny issue of the winter weather advisory we’ve been placed under and the forecast promising a coating of ice and snow, but we’re counting on the experts being wrong and our flight getting out right on time. My next post should be from home sweet home! Until then - sweet dreams.
