The US East Coast Travelogue III: Experience, Notes and Observat

Travelogue III: Washington DC

The layout of Washington DC is perfect with the tidy, clean and clear environment. All buildings are arranged neatly and in order. The city is famous for its White House and Capitol Building. The White House is located at Pennsylvania Avenue NW. It is the official residence and workplace of the President of the United States. The Capitol Building is located on Capitol Hill. It is the United States Capitol and the home of the United States Congress and the seat of the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government.

In addition, there are lots and lots of museums in DC. All the museums are supposed to be good. All facilities have wheelchair access. Since time was limited, we have only chosen two of them to visit. Mr. White recommended us to visit the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. He considered it is the best one. Another one, the American History Museum, also is not bad.

Actually, the park lot is easy to find in DC. Due to being unfamiliar with the area, initially, we parked in a parking garage close to the White House. We paid $12 for one hour, and then rushed to the scene of the White House. Strange thing was that we found less people there. It seemed the purpose of all people was just for taking pictures. It only took us twenty minutes to finish the looking. Back to the garage, we picked up the car and tried to drive around the White House to take an entire building tour. Eventually, we found we stopped on the back side of the White House. People accumulated at the front side of the White House. The road side parking was much easier and cheaper than in the garage. We only paid $2.5 for one hour.

The restaurants are not popular on the main streets of DC. They are hidden in the first floors of all museums. We didn’t have this information by that time. After visiting the Capitol Hill, finding a restaurant became difficult for us. A lot of police officers were on duty around the streets. We intended to avoid those polices because in America, they didn’t have the good reputation to be nice their citizens. We drove to try our best to leave the central city and expect to have lunch at a quiet place. Unfortunately, we missed our way and run into Pentagon area. Thanks God for guiding us to see that amazing building. I promise no everyone is so lucky enough to see it. Soon, my excitement was broken by a gentleman, who was angrily seizing to us. He was shouting, yelling and waving his arm to order us leave the area. We were scared and run away as soon as possible. Running and running, suddenly, I saw a subway restaurant sign on the left side of the highway we were driving on.

It seemed eating in that subway restaurant was the happiest time during that week. Room temperature was warmer than anywhere in DC, cashier was nicer than anyone in DC and food was more delicious than in DC. Checking the time, I got to know its dinner time. Who knew how far away we left DC. Ironically, the cashier told us that we were in Virginia, rather than in DC. She also reminded that if we were going to visit Pentagon museum, we must join a group and visit it on a weekend day. It only opens on the weekend for the group of visitors.