Washington DC, May 2013

Returning from the annual work trip to South Africa my flight connected in Washington DC.
 I decided to take a four day stopover to see whatever I could of DC, especially the Smithsonian museums as I have been a member since 1986!

I booked at the Channel Inn Hotel for the time as the rate was reasonable and it is within walking distance from the mall. The "mall" is the local nickname for the huge strip from Capitol Hill west to the Potomac river. The hotel was an excellent choice with very good service, food and location.

Arriving late on a rainy afternoon I only spent some time strolling around the channel area, finding a local restaurant/pub to have dinner and went to bed early to be ready for the following morning.

The weather turned out to be absolutely perfect all the time. Cool to hot with some clouds but perfect for the ± 47km of walking I did in the four days. Although DC is hardly a bird watchers paradise I did carry binoculars all the time and managed to find 11 lifers.

Overall it was great and I enjoyed every minute. It was an amazing experience to see the thousands of mostly local people (I saw relatively few foreign tourists) enjoying and honouring their history, art, culture etc. I can recommend this experience to everybody.

Things I did not enjoy were few: The price of beer - around $9.50, the seemingly total disrespect of school kids towards anybody older than themselves, and the taxi to get back to the airport at $80!

As always, click on the album and enjoy.

Washington DC, May 2013