Weekend Trip to Washington DC, Day 1 on July 30th, 2016

by admin

The second weekend in US at my discretion, as I was planning somewhere different than New York to spend the weekend.
I was basically choosing between Boston and DC, as I lived in Ithaca and needed to travel to New York first to visit places. The result is that, prices of Greyhound helped me decide on DC.

The images in this post are hosted on Imgur. Email me should there be any display problems.

So I departed Ithaca on Friday afternoon at 6 pm. The Shortline bus seemed to experience some delays at CC Lot, so my friend and I waited at Baker’s Flagpole for an extra 20 minutes while listening to the bells chiming 6 o’clock, followed by, quite to my surprise, Music of the Night. There must be a dedicated musician up there in Cornell’s Bell Tower.

Farmlands on the way to Binghamton

Crossing Binghamton Train Yard

Binghamton Bus Station

Maybe people don’t prefer to arrive at midnight (except doing connection like us), as the 6pm bus to New York was much less crowded as the 1am bus last week.

We arrived at Port Authority Bus Terminal at 2345, and found our Greyhound gate at underground level. To say a few things about Greyhound at Port Authority, it seemed that they leased the entire B1 floor from Port Authority, which meant Greyhound would employ their own cleaners, which meant there would not be one. Also absent were chairs for people to sit in, as I recalled about seeing 20 or so seats in the whole B1 floor, with 200+ people stand waiting. That’s the prefect receipt for turning a bus terminal into a ghetto, as I found myself descending from the ground floor of Manhattan transportation hub to the B1 floor of Bronx slum.

And Greyhound certainly has their way of turning their customer experience to a visit to the refugee camp. It’s the year of 2016, but Greyhound seemed to have no idea of how many tickets they have sold for one trip. To be fair, neither did Shortline on their Ithaca-New York service, however Shortline made sure there were always an abundance of seats left. It was a Friday night as there were lots of people traveling, and it wasn’t until boarding time that the ground crew of Greyhound found there were too many people for one bus, as they subsequently scrambled to find a bus and a driver, hopefully before people got mad and yelled at them. Actually, this happened to our 0130 bus to Washington, and the 0100 bus before us also heading to Washington, and presumably many buses before us, as we were stranded in line and kept uninformed till 0200, when the Greyhound agent made a robotic apology saying they were trying to find a bus for us. Oh did I mention how dirty the Greyhound cleaners managed to keep the terminal floors? So my friend and I stood on our feet till 0300, where a supplement bus (not Greyhound) arrived for the 0100 service and we jumped on board.

For a moment, I thought this would be my first and last time with Greyhound. I killed that thought realizing that I had bought return tickets.

We arrived at Washington Union Station at 0700, which was an hour late. To be honest, for me, 0600 and 0700 didn’t make that much difference, as both times were pretty “early” given how the attractions and museums in DC operates. But given how Greyhound managed their New York bus station, how disorganized their service schedules were, I’m not sure whether I would choose them again.

So, that’s enough for the miserable Greyhound experience, as we finally arrived at Washington Union Station.

Union Station Bus Terminal Sign

The Union Station Bus Terminal was actually part of the parking lot, right above rail lines. We walked past the train station part, and began our two-day roam of Washington DC.

Union Station Front

Wedge Barriers that are everywhere in DC

Russell Senate Building
It houses offices for senators.

Since it’s a Saturday morning, where the senators and congressmen were all at home, we could walk among their office buildings unhindered. I didn’t think we could do the same on workdays.

Supreme Court

Maybe 7am was really too early for DC (not the same for New York), as there were more police officers than tourists before Supreme Court (3 to the 2 of us).

Library of Congress
Sadly, it’s closed for the weekend that we were visiting.

US Capitol

Squirrel at US Capitol
There were squirrels everywhere in US, and they didn’t seem very afraid of people.

United States House of Representatives

Washington Monument from Capitol Hill
This photo was out of focus.

US Capitol

Also, the situation was the same before US Capitol, as we were the only two tourists at the time. There were some early-rise construction workers though, guess Congress really wanted the renovation at Capitol to be finished promptly.

US Capitol

Peace Circle (Navy Memorial) and US Capitol

Ducks at Capitol Reflecting Pool

Washington Monument and Capitol Reflecting Pool

James A. Garfield Monument and US Capitol

Then we started walking towards Washington Monument, where the day’s tickets would be distributed starting at 0830.

United States Botanic Garden
It’s long before opening time, so we skipped it.

National Mall and 4th Street, with DC Appeals Court in the Distance

Star Statue outside Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
It’s long before opening time, so we walked on.

Smithsonian Institution

Freer and Sackler Galleries

US Department of Agriculture, Jamie L. Whitten Building

Washington Monument

We arrived at Washington Monument at exactly 0830, however, there was already a line waiting for the tickets. We waited for about half an hour, and got tickets for 1130. The thing that saddened me a little bit was that, I found the line dwindled as we waited. They say the whole point of waiting in line is to watch the line grow behind you, well, that’s not the case that day.
So to kill the time, we decided to have a look at the White House, and finished our ~~lunch~~ breakfast in a nearby McDonald’s.

15th Street

Ronald Reagan Building Entrance

Herbert C. Hoover Building

SunTrust Bank
This reddish brick building stands out among its stone neighbors.

US Department of Treasure

White House North Lawn

There was a crowd of visitors gathering outside the White House taking photos, both its north lawn and its south, but it was never too many people to find a good clean shot. Another reminder how glad I left China behind.

General Rochambeau Statue
With his steady hand pointing forward.

Manhole Steam in Washington DC

I thought last time I saw steam coming out of manholes was in Watchdogs, where I took it no more serious than another hackable object. Having seen it in real life and after five minutes of Googling, I took that as a sign of an aging infrastructure, as heat was leaked from the steam pipes.
This was near the McDonald’s where we had our ~~lunch~~ breakfast. I had to say the McDonald’s in DC offer fabulous McPicks, that is, only after 11am when the breakfast hours end.
Yes, I always equate breakfast hours with “closed” for McDonald’s.

After our ~~lunch~~ breakfast, we headed back to Washington Monument, stopping by White House South Lawn and WWII Memorial so that we wouldn’t arrive too early.

First Division Monument

White House South Lawn

White House South Lawn Plantations
I guess the First Lady planted them to encourage the nation with a healthier diet. Ironically, I also guess these fruits were never actually consumed by the First Family, probably for security concerns.

National Christmas Tree

Washington Monument

Herbert C. Hoover Building and The Ellipse

Second Division Memorial

Washington Monument

National WW2 Memorial

Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool

National WW2 Memorial and Washington Monument

National WW2 Memorial

Sculpture in National WW2 Memorial
With four eagles holding up an olive branch of peace

Washington Monument

US Flags around Washington Monument

Washington Monument

Lincoln Memorial from Washington Monument

The tours at Washington Monument was running with a bit delay, as we entered the monument at 1145 among the first of 1130 ticket holders (presumably due to visitors lingering longer than expected).
Washington Monument’s hollow structure allows elevator access. The tour guide told us that in the early days the elevator was steam-powered, as it took 12 minutes to haul a carful of people to the top.

Statue of George Washington inside Washington Monument

Washington Monument Interior

I set a flag here, the panoramas from Washington Monument were processed differently than conventional photos, and not uploaded for the time being.

500 Feet Marker of Washington Monument
the first thing out of the elevator ride

The White House from Washington Monument

Then there was the journey down. It caught my surprise that the elevator slowed down twice during descent, as we could see through the tribute stones on the interior of Washington Monument.
Piece of advice, pick the west side door of the elevator (the door that you entered through), as the tribute stones there were better-looking.

Tribute Stones of Washington Monument

Then, given the weather forecast of imminent showers, we decided to spend our afternoon in museums. We each picked one museums, that’s National Air and Space Museum of me and National Gallery of Art of my friend.

National Air and Space Museum Inscription

Lunar Craft Model
This should be identical as Apollo 11’s landing module, but was built only for testing purposes.

Space Shuttle’s Main Thruster

Lunar Landing Module’s Landing and Takeoff Thruster
Surprised me that the smaller one was for takeoff, if I remembered correctly.

Radioactive Thermoelectric Generator Left on the Moon

Fuel Cell on Apollo

Apollo Command Module Console

Instrument to Calculate Longitude Based on Time

Primitive Seaplane Design

Computers Used to Calculate Trajectory

Models of GPS Receiver
They really should put an iPhone among these displays, that’s what most people associate GPS with.

Model of Hobble Telescope
I’m more than surprised to find it with such a small aperture.

Imaginations of Space Shuttle

Space Shuttle Propaganda

Medieval-Inspired NASA Space Suit Design

Then we decided to take a break for something different, walked across the street and visited National Gallery of Art.

The collections there were marvelous, perhaps less pleasing was the Gallery’s rule that backpacks shall be on only one shoulder. I know this was introduced so that backpacks don’t unattendedly slam on displays. It wasn’t a very nice experience trying to balance the souring feel of my two shoulders carrying a not-so-light backpack.

River Scene with Windmill and Boats, Evening
I quite liked the way how lighting was handled here, providing an overall darkish scene without compromising the details.

Washington before Yorktown by Rembrandt Peale
That figure on the horseback was very recognizable.

Frog on the back of Frog

Sculpture of David’s Triumph over the Goliath
David must have been carrying a quite sizeable horn.

Sculpture of Poseidon Taming Beast

Sculpture of David’s Triumph over the Goliath
Now the teenage-looking David is carrying a harp.

Sculpture of Immigrants

Nathan Hale by Frederick William MacMonnies
Where he loftily composed himself above the chains that bond but his feet.

The Puritan
As it’s not hard for one to notice the wasteland he’s walking through, as well as the determination that he posed himself with.

Pan of Rohallion by Frederick William MacMonnies
As the lighting cast beautiful shadows on the background

Given the time we had our ~~breakfast~~ ~~lunch~~ first meal of the day, we were starving by that time. We found a good restaurant called Grand Truck that serves fast food, that’s located not far from National Gallery of Art, that’s well decorated and above all, reasonably priced. Although, I’m not totally sure what I ordered.

My 4pm Lunch

Grand Army of the Republic Memorial

Pennsylvania Avenue
Surprise that DC has its bicycle line in the middle of the road.

Then we reentered National Gallery of Art.

National Gallery of Art Dome

Woman with a Parasol by Monet

Flowers by Van Gogh

Half an hour and lots of oil paintings later, it was closing time for the National Gallery of Art, as we moved across the street back to National Air and Space Museum.

Washington Monument under Cloud

Man’s Primary Dream of Aviation

Wind Tunnel by the Wrights’ Brothers

Primitive Air-Cooled Engines

Bicycle as Test Platform for Engines
It’s hard to believe this thing goes up to 130mph.

Man’s Primary Dream of Aviation

PW JT3 Jet Engine
It has moveable internal parts, which made great exhibition.

CFM56 Engine

CFM56 Engine Fan

PW123 Engine

Aircraft Carrier Model

Primitive Aircraft Carrier Model

Trophy for Air Race

Air Service USA (precursor of the United States Air Force) Circumnavigation Plane

Trophy for Air Race

Skylab Orbital Workshop

Skylab Orbital Workshop Control Room

Skylab Orbital Workshop Shower

Skylab Orbital Dining Room

Bell X-1 Aircraft as the First Manned Supersonic Aircraft

Primitive Computer for Bomb Trajectory
I think nowadays freshman physics majors would be able to design such a “computer”.

Spitfire Aircraft

Mitsubishi Zero Aircraft

Airman Costumes, USA and USSR

I guess the museum deliberately staged the terrorist-looking combat uniform of USSR next to the Suit and Tie of USA, while the equally-ugly combat suit of USA was displayed on a different floor.

Mustang P-51D Aircraft

Boeing 747 Restroom

Boeing 747 Cockpit

Wrights’ Kite as Precursor of their Aircraft

Wrights’ Aircraft as the First Manned Flying Machine

Having visited all the pavilions of National Air and Space Museum, we decided to call it a day. It then started to rain, as we walked back to our Airbnb host near Union Station, calling at a McDonald’s for dinner. We tried to race cumulonimbus, and failed, as we watched a drizzle turned into a downpour. Since it rained for quite long, no night activities.