Friday September 28, 2012

Tourists at the White House

  

Washington DC

Today was our planned tourist day in the capital. We had to wait until 10am to be able to take our bikes on the Metro and we were not allowed on between 4 & 7pm so we had a full day to look around. Having the bikes was a major benefit because the centre of town from the White House to the Lincoln & Jefferson Memorials and Capitol was several miles. It was all well worth seeing and on the way from the Jefferson Memorial to the Capital we were held up by police closing off crossroads all along Independence Avenue. I asked a pedestrian on a corner what was going off but she didn’t know so I rode into the intersection to ask a 9 foot 300lb black police officer what the hold up was for and he growled `the President` and shortly thereafter we were treated to the spectacle of around 10 police outriders clearing the road followed by the 2 big black limos and about 14 other vehicles. We didn’t get his autograph but we did manage to video it. Once the road was freed for the plebs to use we went up to look at the Capitol and then road back down Constitution Avenue to then head north for a few miles to see the Washington National Cathedral. With that little job done we then rode down Newark St.!!!!!! towards the Metro where we had to waste an hour drinking in a bar until we could get on the train after 7pm.

                                                                                                             
           

Washington Monument

         

Lincoln Memorial

WW II memorial

The Pres is coming

Jefferson Memorial

The National Cathedral