A Tale of Two Capitols

I've often been informed since moving to the UK that Americans are crazy and I think I've worked out what the so called selfish gene is that passes on the crazy. More than than the heat, more then the snow, more than the gators or tornadoes or guns. The one unifying thing across the United States of America that unifies the crazy is the highway code.

Washington, DC

After leaving Philadelphia I headed down the East Coast to Washington DC and boy does DC know how to make an entantrance. With crystal blue skies offering incredible views of the Capitol dome as I stepped out of Union Station and I began my hour long sprint from the station to my hostel, practically throwing my bag at the staff and back to the Capitol in time for the tour. 

Now having grown up in Europe in the post 9/11 and 7/7 era I am the security guards favourite person, not only because I break out the crisp English public school "sirs" and "ma'ams". But mostly because when the instructions say "no large bags" I take two buses travel an hour out of the way to drop my backpack off only to discover there is in fact a bag drop and coat check in side the Capitol visitors centre where I could have left my backpack. 

Same thing with open containers. A security guard in Philly kindly informed me after watching me chug an entier liter of water in 30 seconds that I didn't need to as long as I didn't open the bottle while I was in the historic building. As you can imagine I was less than impressed. I also chose not to mention any of the more, shall we say….. more creative reasons why I thought when they said no "open containers" they ment "containers that have ever been opened" to the slightly twitchy security guards with guns and surrounded by large groups of tourists.  But you can all just imagine me frolicking around parks full of bins. 

Anyway back to DC¹. 

Overall I think I enjoyed DC, with a few caveats. Like most US cities it is extremely car based and while it does have a very extensive public transport system the payment options are either cash or prepaid transit cards that can be loaded onto Google wallet. It is possible to walk the city but like I said I have very quickly developed a healthy fear of the roads in the US. I took the below picture in Downton DC in the government district on the sidewalk waiting for the lights to change so I could cross. This can often take several minutes. Americans have some of the lowest life expectancy in peer nations, pedestrian deaths are particularly high. In a city like DC how many Malcolm Tuckers or Josh Lymans can you imagine commending themselves to their makers before trying to dash across something like this²?

I spent most of my first day in DC at the Capitol and Library of Congress. Both are free to enter but require pre booked times entry tickets. I wasn't able to go to the White House as that usually books out about 4 months in advance. Most other popular sites like the Air and Space Museum or African American Museum have timed entry tickets that are released on the day at 8:30am and are required to enter. But most museums are free to enter and the Smithsonian institute generally doesn't require timed entry. 

I had a lovely guide called Douglas who showed us around the Capitol building. That is the building that Congress meets in and they were actually in session³ while we there. It's a common misconception that the big building with the dome is where the president lives, that's not true, he actually lives down the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue in the (externally) much less impressive looking White House. 

I then moved to the Library of Congress through the underground tunnel joining the two visitors centres. (One thing you learn very quickly about DC is for a city nominally built in a swamp it's got a lot of underground tunnels.) Again free to enter you are greeted to the Library of Congress by either an over enthusiastic staff member called Ken who goes around telling anything with a pulse (and possibly a somethings without one) the top 5 things to see in the Library, to the extent that other staff members on other floors ask if Ken sent you. Or little old ladies who I can only describe as battle axes who are not to be trusted on the basis that their hair looks so hair sprayed that it could probably withstand a hurricane and/or car crash. 

The Library of Congress is worth going to just to oogle the ceiling alone, forget the collection.  It is honestly one of the few places that stopped me dead in my tracks. I had to tell Ken to leave me alone so I could take it all in in peace. 

One of the things that makes walking US cities so terrifying is the "right turn on red light" rule which is more or less exactly what it sounds like. The little green man (it's actually white) might be showing but there might may still be cars making a right turn across the pedestrian crossing while you are still on the tarmac. Nonetheless I enjoy walking around the more suburby bits of cities because you actually get to see the *real* city. So the next morning I headed north to Rosario 3x1 thrift store in Colombia Heights. I've been on a mission for the last few months to find an aesthetic coat that's waterproof and has a removable insulated liner but the only one I've been able to fine in Europe for a reasonable price was comically oversized on my 6 foot tall dad so you can imagine what it looked like on 5'7" me! From my research these things were pretty common in the states so I'm on a mission and if it means that I have to go to every thrift store in the 50 states….well, I suppose we all have to suffer for our fashions.

Before heading to DC I was a little nervous because DC used to hold the dubious privilege that army medics used to be sent to DC to learn how to treat gunshot wounds but so far the most I've dealt with is what feels like every other person commenting on my hat and I've actually felt very safe the whole time.

Sadly I had no luck in Rosario's so I hopped on the subway and headed to the government district. It was at this point I discovered the timed entry scheme that most museums have, so learn from my mistakes. Washington DC is an early example of a planned city, based on Paris⁴, the overall architectural style is very reminiscent of many European cities that rebuilt their government districts in the early 1800s. I guess it was fashion at the time.

The museums needing timed entry tickets was actually rather serendipitous because it meant that I spent most of the day outside which I probably wouldn't have done otherwise. 

The Enid A. Haupt Garden is a particular hidden gem in my opinion, a beautiful little pocket park that's part of the Smithsonian institution complex. It also has the museums of African and Asian art by its entrance (once again joined by an underground tunnel) so you can enjoy the gardens then visit then the museums where they have displayed some beautifully intricate mughal art and a Tibetan prayer room.

You can do a nice little lap around the title basin and see all the major sites. I grabbed an excellent turkey sandwich from Cafe Twelve and plonked myself under the cherry blossom in the grass and sunshine next to the Jefferson memorial overlooking the Washington Memorial. This little lap around the tidal basin will basically take you to all the big outdoor sites. This route will take you past the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials, as well as through the FDR⁵ and Martin Luther King Jr⁶ ⁷ memorials, both of which I highly recommend. Before feeding you back to the other end of the National Mall where you can see the reflecting pool and war memorials. 

Richmond, Virginia 

The following day I was back at Union Station on my way to Richmond Virginia. As I type this up I'm reading the notes I made on my way going into Richmond and man has one city changed my opinion of it fast. I do not like Richmond, Virginia. This is an excerpt of the messages I sent home to my parents on my views of Richmond. 

Those thunderstorms turned out to be storms and tornadoes that killed 32 people in the south and midwest of America that weekend, although Tennessee was worst affected (BBC, 2023).  

Its probably a lovely town to live in and it's a good thing that it's a terrible tourist town because Richmond's biggest "tourism draw" is that it is was the capital of the Confederacy during the American civil war.  And it is at this moment that I would like crowbar in my favourite factoid about the Confederacy which is that the Obama administration lasted longer (2009-2017) than the Confederacy did (1860-1865).

I did discover in my time in Richmond that the Confederate White House has now been surrounded on all sides by the hospital. Seriously the ER is right next door. I find it deeply pleasing that something so painful and which is still used as a symbol of hate by so many now is surrounded by a place of healing. 

I originally planned to go to Richmond because I wanted to go to Colonial Williamsburg⁸ which is about an hour away on the coast and my next stop is New Orleans so Richmond was kinda the best compromise *in theory* between decently sized city with plenty of cheap accommodation and transport links. Let's just say I was incorrect. It has had the kindest people I've met so far so it's not totally irredeemable. So even though you will probably never find this I would like to thank Jen again for paying for my dinner and single handedly saving my experience of Richmond.  

Colonial Williamsburg

One of, if not the biggest single living history site in the world it is honestly one of the coolest places I've ever been too. Not only have they basically turned a large section of downtown Williamsburg into an open air museum that you can walk around (and stay in as in have since discovered). But what I find most interesting is the trade shops they have open. In all of these shops there are historians who are all in historical garb using traditional techniques. The joiner told me that since the 1970s they've put up 79 buildings totally by hand which will hopefully give you an idea of the scale of the place. 

The lady in the picture is the apprentice in the millinery shop⁹ but they also have fully operational tailors, dress makers, cobblers¹⁰, weavers, smithys, tin makers, apothecary, kitchens, and bookbinders. 

There probably more but I had to rush to catch my train and I'd been on my feet for about 6 hours so I was beginning to think they might fall off.

Probably my favourite artefact at Colonial Williamsburg was called a "pudding cap". I don't have a brilliant photo of it (blue cord doesn't exactly photograph well) but its essentially a baby sized rugby cap that you put on a child when they were learning to walk, as the lady put it "you child proofed the child".