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| The new big beautiful flag pole in front of the White House |
“We’re really a city of small neighborhoods,” Tony, a bartender at the Dubliner, told us. “The capital seems large and bustling to many tourists, but to us locals, it’s just home.”
Laureen and I had walked about a hundred miles during the first four hours on the day of our arrival in our nation's capital and I was parched - from the walking and the two hundred percent humidity.
Since this was only the second time I’d traveled to Washington, D.C., I asked myself why I had come during the summer again. Wasn’t the first time enough to warn me off future summer trips where a shower in the morning wouldn’t last for the first three minutes when exiting the hotel?
“I need a shower and a towel,” I said. “And not sure in that order.”
We had stopped by the Dubliner, located on ‘F’ Street, not far from Columbus Circle, for a bite of lunch and a respite from Mother Nature.
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| The Dubliner - a fine Irish pub in the heart of Washington D.C. |
“Tony,” I said. “How do you folks deal with the humidity?”
He simply smiled at me while passing over a pint of Smithwick’s. Did I mention Tony was a saint?
“We think cool,” he responded, and then went to wait on other patrons.
I looked at Laureen, “Does that work?”
Even my lovely bride had shiny beads of sweat upon her brow. Women don’t perspire, she once told me. They glisten. “No. It does not.”
Washington, D.C., is a city laid out by the founding fathers in a rather neat mathematical way. Four quadrants - northwest, northeast, southwest, and southeast. Rather mundane but easy to understand, compared to many places I have encountered in my travels.
“Well,” someone would say to me with a piece of straw hanging out of their mouth. “You go down until you see a red-spotted cow and then turn right, but not before waving at old widow Wilson. Then you move on for a stretch until …”
The point is made.
Each of the supposedly 130 various neighborhoods in D.C. revolve around their own culture and vibes.
“Do you want to visit all the neighborhoods?” Laureen asked me as our lunch arrived. A light pub salad for Laureen and a heavy dose of Shepherd’s pie for me - I had to gain my strength back to continue walking the streets of D.C. later.
“Nope,” I said. “That’s why there is Uber, Lyft, the Metro, or Flip.”
“Flip?”
I nodded. “Flip a coin to see if we head back to the hotel after lunch and take a nap.”
We ended up, after a wonderful time at the Dubliner Restaurant, heading out into the steamy afternoon. It got even steamier when a sudden thunder storm eased over the east and blanketed the capital with what seemed like ten inches of rain in two minutes.
I knew it was coming, since I had insisted that we would not need an umbrella - my albatross.
“Why an umbrella?” I once posed to Laureen in the hinterlands of Northern Ireland. Fifteen minutes later the Irish Coast Guard showed up.
As we walked back toward the National Mall to take in the sights, Laureen said, “I wish we had brought an umbrella.”
Which in her world actually meant, you should have listened to me and taken the umbrella from the Watergate Hotel like I suggested.
There really should be two dictionaries - one for smart women and one for the rest of us.
With soaking shoes and smiles, we meandered our way to the White House to see the two new big beautiful flag poles that were recently erected.
It is awe inspiring to stand across the street from where the President and First Lady reside, no matter what political party, and contemplate the importance of such a building.
The current residence has housed every president since John Adams. But George Washington chose the spot and supervised its construction - so his spirit is still there. It is a venue where world leaders come and discuss worldly issues on a constant basis.
But, being tourists, we could only gawk through the tall black wrought iron fencing and ponder what goes on inside those special walls.
“Do I really need to meet with him this afternoon?” a president may ask his Chief of Staff.
“Sir, he’s the Prime Minister of England.”
“But he sounds so Scottish.”
The White House is located in an area known as Foggy Bottom. And yes, Laureen asked me not to write immature statements about the name. So, in bygone days the area was often covered by a blinding low-lying fog along the marshy area of the Potomac River, and with the smoke from and soot from nearby industrial complexes, the name stuck.
This is also where the Kennedy Center is located, along with the Department of State and other high-affluence entities. D.C. is full of such places.
Standing across from the White House was special and allowed us to see America at its best. There were lots of tourists snapping selfies, asking for others to take their photos, selfies taking selfies, and others trying to steal their cameras. There were also a bunch of protesters waving posters and flags, wearing masks, and singing songs out-of-tune.
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| John R Beyer right before asking protestors what they were upset about |
“What are you protesting?” I asked, being a journalist and all.
“Not sure,” a lime green-haired woman told me. “But it’s probably something about the government.”
“That is an awesome answer,” I replied.
Laureen shook her head, “She has green hair and a nose ring that hangs to her belly-button.”
“The First Amendment covers poor fashion choices, I believe,” I said.
Our first day back in the nation’s capital after two years was interesting, sweaty, and overall great. This D.C. is a place to visit time and again. The week we had planned was not nearly long enough to see everything. We knew that but also realized we would pack as much into this adventure as possible.
I have always said to our children - if you are not exhausted by the time you return from a vacation, then you haven’t been on vacation.
Our Founding Fathers wondered if this great American dream would work out in the long run - at this point, for nearly 250 years it’s done okay. A few bumps and hiccups but overall, not a bad experiment in the concept of a nation being self-governing.
For further information:
https://washington.org/visitors-guide
https://www.dublinerdc.com/
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