Going Downtown..............................

When one is near DC a trip to the heart of the nations capital is more than necessary! It was a scorching hot day (90'F) so an afternoon was all I went in for. Just enough to get a flavour of the city.

I was warned that the walk from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial was deceptively long. This fact was, indeed, correct and by the time I arrived I wondered if I would ever make it back again! This time I put my zoom lens on so that I was prepared to take photographs of the White House when I walked back up towards the Smithsonians.

The Lincoln Memorial was PACKED with people and so I literally stayed long enough to get a decent photograph then scidaddled back to the Washington Memorial!

When I flew into Washington DC-Regan Airport, I literally thought I was going to tea with the Obama's as the plane flew SOO low. This was, of course, not the case. However, I have been told that there are F16's on standby read to shoot planes out of the sky if they deviate from their designated flight path!

In the American History Smithsonian Museum is preserved the original Stars and Stripes flag from the 1800's, when America liberated themselves from the British! It was quite surreal to go round this exhibit and I felt it best to keep quiet any thoughts I may have had on that subject!

I took a photograph of the Capitol Building as I knew it was MUCH farther to walk to this from the American History Smithsonian that it was to the Lincoln Memorial. With Canon you can!

I also popped out at the Pentagon metro station to have a wee look. The building is massive but, sadly, photography was not permitted!

I caught the metro into DC but came home on a commuter bus that rode along the HOV (high occupancy vehicle), which is a lane for vehicles bearing three or more passengers. It moves a good deal more freely than the regular motorway, however, fines are high for violators of the law. It is open in the mornings DC inbound until 11:30am then the lanes switch (with the help of traffic police) to DC outbound. If you don't have three people or more in your car you can pick up "slugs" from the bus stops on the same route that you would take home so that you can legally ride the HOV! I certainly would do this if I were the driver or passenger!