Tourist Sites

This morning I met with Dan (different to the Aus Embassy one), another friend of my father. I was initially meant to intern with Dan for some or all of my time in DC, but unfortunately that fell through. Instead we met and had breakfast at Eastern Market and discussed politics, his work, Harvard (his alma mater) and how I fitted into all of it. Dan also drove me around South-east DC, which until recently was one of the no-go zones. Basically it used to be home to most of the projects, or government housing. It had become a ghetto of sorts, with a cycle of unemployment, drugs and crime making it a dangerous place to go. Now with the demolition of the projects, the place has undergone a huge revivial. Government departments have sprung up, a new stadium is under construction and house prices have skyrocketed. This is Dan’s neighbourhood and he is their newly elected local representative.

One of his pet projects, and the one I’d most like to assist with, relates to increasing community involvement in the local public schools. They still have some of the lowest literacy rates in the nation, and are largely neglected by the incoming affluent families. DC’s education system is largely African-American, and most parents who can afford it send their children elsewhere. So Dan’s goal is to hold meetings, fundraisers, and the like to encourage more parents to commit time, money, and effort into raising the level of literacy and therefore hope for these children. And a damn fine one it is!

Dan also took me to the fish markets along the Potomac River, and the Jefferson Memorial. These are places that, without a car, I would have not been able to visit, so I owe Dan a lot for going out of his way to show me them! Thanks!

After leaving Dan at lunchtime I visited the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court and the Holocaust Museum. The Library was very impressive, and its Reading Room is just amazing. A huge open space with leather chairs and old mahogany – I want one! The Supreme Court was similar, and justifiably imposing.

The big find was the Holocaust Museum. It’s tucked away off the Mall, but well worth the visit. During this trip I’d been to a few Holocaust memorials, including the Jewish Museum in Berlin, as well as Dachau Concentration Camp. Thus I knew the issues, facts and figures and stories. But it’s always worth reminding yourself that we owe a LOT to the generations before us, and the more we learn from history, the less likely we will repeat their mistakes. What set this museum apart from so many others, in my mind, was the large number of primary artifacts from the time. Walking through a train car that had been used to transport thousands of Jews to their deaths, or seeing the seals on the gas chamber doors does not leave you easily.

After a quick bite to eat at McDonalds – don’t ask me why – I met with Cristian. Cristian is another contact of Dan’s who works in the aid industry. He also studied at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Cristian started off as an engineer, but has since studied IT and a mid-career program in Public Policy, showing that you don’t need a PoliSci background to enter the public sector. This is refreshing, I guess, as meeting with too many PS students gives you the impression that we control the world!

I was also meant to meet with another friend at the IMF, but unfortunately his meeting ran late, and we’ve postponed it. I had dinner with Jen and her parents at their home. Her father is in defence as well (is everyone in this town in defence!!?) and has just returned from Beijing, so I heard a lot about his time there and saw some excellent photos. Oh I can’t wait to go there!!

After the trip to the Cemetery yesterday afternoon, I thought today I’d focus on what makes America great – its weaponry, democracy and shopping. Haha, well some would definitely debate that, and those of you who know me can detect the sarcasm in my writing.

Regardless, today was spent largely in awe. My first stop was the Smithsonian Institutions’ Museum of Air and Space Udvar Hazy Centre. What a mouthful. More commonly known as “Udvar Hazy” or “that new place near Dulles”, it’s essentially 3 or 4 large aircraft hangers containing about 100 aircraft. They’re just there, without any big displays or historical information. The aim is to walk over, under, around and in them. Most are huge and completely overpower any attempt to compare humans to the machines we create.

There’s a full-size Boeing 707 there, a Concorde, a Space Shuttle and the Blackbird – the fastest plane ever built. There’s also a new Joint Strike Fighter – the plane that’s destined to replace the F-18 as the main fighter jet for the US Air Force. Now all this usually wouldn’t interest me, but what with my connections to the defence industry and the way it’s all just, well, there, it’s hard not too. You just look at them in wonder. Even after a tour of the place by an ex-air force general, I knew more about them specifically, but was still even more dwarfed by their size.

The final thing I saw at Udvar Hazy was the Observation Tower. Designed to look like the one at Dulles airport, it comes with mock controls and an awesome view. Pity the weather wasn’t so crash hot today, or I would have been able to see Virginia, DC and apparently even Western Virginia.

After being dropped off at the Metro station by Ellen (thanks again!), I went downtown to buy some phone credit (I had been at zero balance for 2 days, which was causing many problems!!), and walked over to the Capitol Building.

This place, often mistaken for the White House, is HUGE. It contains Congress, the Senate and some of the administrative functions that go along with running what is arguably the single most powerful government in the world. The building itself has crazy security procedures (incl. no sealed food/drink), but is very impressive. It’s built with mixed Greco-Roman styles, but the overall impact is one of power. It’s designed to look imposing, and it’s location at the end of the National Mall reflects that. There are only a few places one can visit within the building in this post-9/11 world, but there’s a nifty museum outlining the history of the various parts of the building downstairs. Definitely worth visiting.

My final sightseeing stop today was a return visit to the National Building Museum to see the Globe Theatre exhibition, and admire the official collection of artifacts from DC. The exhibition on the Globe Theatre was excellent, although I found myself focusing on their obsession with the spelling of ‘theatre’ vs ‘theater’ more than the content! They had a disclaimer at the front stating they would be spelling it the American way unless it was the name of an actual theatre outside the US. Wow, I’m really glad they cleared that up, or I would’ve been totally confused!!! Odd, eh?

Finally, before heading back to Jen’s I went to H&M to buy some clothes. I had hoped to find a nice coat on sale, but that wasn’t too be, so instead I got myself a long sleeved top (which is SO warm) and a new pair of jeans to replace the ones that I am throwing away. How I wish there was an H&M back home - $30 fashionable jeans are hard to say no too!

Today I really realized I only had a few days left in DC, so from here on in I was pretty hardcore at what I saw and who I met with. Looking back on it I think I crammed a lot in, especially given the weather, but the sun was shining almost the whole time, and that made a HUGE difference.

This morning I went to the Australian Embassy to meet with Dan, one of the AusTrade representatives there. We went for coffee and he showed me around our mighty impressive Embassy in DC. It’s much more substantial than I expected, and has some excellent artwork and very interesting photographs of past and present PMs with Presidents. Clearly some very important people have walked these halls. I also had the opportunity to learn more about the workings of the Embassy, and how all the various different aspects of it (Defence, DFAT, AusTrade, AusAID, Passports etc.) function. Pretty interesting stuff, actually, although I’m not entirely sure whether I could work there. It might just be too confining. I think I need to do some more field work first.

At lunch I went with Dad’s workmate Cliff to the Old Ebbet Grill right near the White House. This place just screams old money, but it does serve amazing food. I ordered the crab cakes and they came warm, soft and delicious. I have been so spoilt on this trip!! Backpacker, my arse!

For the rest of the afternoon I did some sightseeing along the National Mall, taking advantage of the fine weather and visiting the Washington Monument. The view from the top is amazing, particularly when it’s not that busy on a winter weekday afternoon. I highly recommend it! There’s a nifty exhibition on who Washington was, and his achievements, and also on the elevator down they discuss the different stone used in the construction, and the parts donated by each of the states in the Union.

Just before sunset I nipped over to Arlington Cemetery. Arlington is famous for being the resting place for JFK, Robert Kennedy, Robert E Lee and many other powerful Americans. However, it’s also the burial ground for any ex-military personnel should they request it. Thus it’s a working cemetery, with approximately 6 funerals a day. This means it’s always growing, and it’s HUGE. I only had time to walk around a small section of it, but it’s always a sobering experience and one that I won’t forget easily. That many dead – as far as the eye can see in most directions – just seems such a waste.

Tonight Jen and I had dinner at the newly-opened Whole Foods in Fairfax. This place is HUGE and awesome. Think of a Coles/Woolworths with almost entirely organic fresh produce, and a mini food court inside, selling cooked versions of the fresh food they sell. Great stuff!

I have made it my mission this week to see at least one person a day. I’m here partly to sightsee and partly to meet people (or as I like to say, to ‘cold-coffee’ with them). I was intending originally to intern here for a month or so, and head north on the weekends to visit friends. Circumstances changed, however, and that was no longer an option. So a few weeks back I amended my plans and decided to spend about 4 days in each of the cities I was going to spend 2 in, and stay for over a week in DC and a week in Boston. This gave me time to meet the people I wanted to meet, as well as do some proper sightseeing around the region. The only problem with this plan was the weather. It’s traditionally bitterly cold in the Northeast at this time of year, and even though this year has been far milder than previous ones (did someone say “global warming”?), I highly doubt Montreal will be ‘warm’!

The other weather-related issue is transport. Many airports and train stations in the area close down for some or all of winter as the snow and wind makes travel hazardous. Chicago’s O’Hare Airport is notorious for cancelled flights, so hopefully I’ll be able to build some buffers into my trip to allow for delays.

Anyways, so today on my mission was the International Spy Museum, Ford’s Theatre, the National Building Museum, the Smithsonian Castle and seeing Akemi. And, surprisingly enough, I did it all! Just!

I started at the International Spy Museum, near the FBI. Interestingly enough, for one of the few non-free museums in DC, it is one of the most popular. It’s two stories of espionage, intrigue and gadgets. It’s very well done, although a bit tacky in parts. The history of spying goes right from the Chinese in 500BC to the end of the Cold War. Interestingly enough, there is little discussed beyond 1990. I’m guessing this is largely because they can’t access or display the still-classified records, but it would have been nice to speculate.

There were also some interesting exhibits on Hollywood and spying, and how one has influenced the other. Apparently, the CIA etc. took cues from the early Bond vehicles when outfitting their protected cars. Nifty, eh?

Ford’s Theatre and the Lincoln Museum, just down the road, were my next stop. It was here that Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth whilst attending the theatre. It was quite a small museum, and unfortunately due to rehearsals we couldn’t see the box Lincoln was sitting in when he was killed, but the artifacts that are there are as chilling as they are interesting. They even have the pillow that he was sitting on, and his coat! Complete with blood stains!

From there, I headed down to the National Building Museum to see what it was like. I’d heard good things about it, but to be honest architecture in and of itself is not my forte. I like admiring buildings and structures, but not necessarily reading about them. This museum though, is something special. The building itself disguises an enormous atrium, which is home to one of the Presidential Inauguration Balls. The two exhibits that I managed to fit in today were on Green Houses – or how to build an environmentally friendly house – and on DC itself. The first exhibition was fascinating, and really well done. It showed the many different options for homebuilders, citing examples from around the world, who want to live in a ‘green’ house under a budget. I picked up the booklet if people want to look at it. It makes for very interesting reading.

The second exhibition looked at the initial design for Washington DC by L’Enfant, and how the current city differs from it. DC, like Canberra, is a purpose-built capital city. It was located near the Mason-Dixon line (the line separating North and South in the Civil War), and was built on a swamp. It was originally a diamond, half from Virginia and half from Maryland. The SW part (belonging to Northern Virginia) has since been given back, and is now Arlington County. The rest is divided by the US Capitol Building and the Mall into NE, NW and SE. As it turns out, L’Enfants plan was fairly well adhered to, but only after many years. Initially only the Mall and its direct surrounds were kept to plan. The rest has come since.

I had a quick visit to the Smithsonian Castle to look around and watch the video on why the Institution exists etc. It was founded on money left to the US by Mr. Smithson, a Brit who had never set foot in the US, but wanted to create a place for people to learn (but not a university). Nifty, eh?

That night I headed to a bar in Courthouse to farewell Akemi. Akemi is a friend from USyd who now works for USAid and is heading off to Iraq on assignment with them. I met some of her excellent friends in DC and had a great Shepherd’s Pie. Stay safe Akemi!! If you want to read of her deeds, check out her blog .