We are to spend our time here at the Topaz Hotel, which is part of the Kimpton chain of Hotels. It is an awesome chain that prides itself on customer service. The Topaz serves hot chocolate to all its guests daily from 2-4.30pm and because it was the winter season, apple cider from 5-7pm, with the option of it being "dirty". :)
We arrived late in the afternoon of 29th December, check into our hotel and then head off to check out the Lincoln Memorial (one of my favourite spots in DC) and the christmas trees (one large tree and 56 smaller ones, one for each state, five territories and the District of Columbia) on the Ellipse outside the White House before heading off to dinner at Maddy's Bar and Pub in Dupont Circle. It was trivia night at the pub so we stuck around only to come in dead last. Not a good show for the Aussies, but I do think they enjoyed our comical, made up answers to some of the more US-focused questions.
The next morning, New Year's Eve, we broke fast at Union Station before heading over to the Capitol Building for a tour and then to Arlington Cemetery. Over 300,000 people are buried at Arlington. Despite the sadness of a cemetery, it is actually a very peaceful and beautiful place. We don't spend too much time here, just enough to check out the burial spot of JFK and watch the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Fast fact - families used to be able to select their own gravestones, but due to the growing number of people buried here, all gravestones are now "standard issue" in order to save space. In the hour that we were visiting, we heard the 21-gun salute for at least three services.
That night, we head out for dinner as we welcome the new year. We have some great Italian food at Potenza and then, upon chatting with our waitress discover that there are no fireworks to celebrate the new year in DC! Disappointing! There is nothing we can do so we head back to the hotel to watch the New Year's celebrations in New York City on the telly. I'm too tired to stay up so I have a shower and fall asleep before the countdown even starts.
We started the next day off with another somber event, visiting the Pentagon and the 9/11 Memorial. It's hard to describe the memorial but it's definately worth a visit if you ever get the chance. The Pentagon itself is highly protected and visitors can't actually get anywhere near the building. While we were there, we saw several planes come in for landing. These planes actually come very close to the Pentagon which was interesting. The afternoon was dedicated the the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
Our final day in DC, it's an early start. We start with a hearty breakfast at a cafe around the corner from our hotel to prepare for the long day ahead. It's a short flight to Orlando from Regan Airport, followed by a 5 hour drive north to Savannah, Georgia, where our tummies will become the home to some southern comfort food.
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