April 10, 2007

Washington, DC: Today was our day to visit our nation’s capitol so we set off early. We passed by the marker to the marina and said good morning to the pair of ospreys nesting there. Today was a day for bridges... our first one was the Harry Nice Bridge which carries Highway 301 over the Potomac and a fun one to go under since we had gone over it on our way to Maryland. Coming up the Potomac we passed under the Woodrow Wilson bridge which has just been rebuilt with giant concrete arches, making a grand and beautiful bridge. As we came into Washington, we immediately sighted the Washington Monument and could catch glimpses of the Capitol building as we cruised up the channel. When we came to the George Mason Bridge we realized that we were too tall to go under it.

After lowering our navigation tower to go under the George Mason Bridge, we came to the end of the National Mall. The edge of the park was filled with just blossomed out Japanese cherry trees, a gift from Japan in 1912. We were about two weeks too late for them, but the park was still beautiful, and gave us a great choice of views of the Washington Monument and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. The sun was peeking out and then clouding over, but when the sun was on the marble columns and dome, it was really glowing white and magnificent. We decided to have our picnic lunch in this idyllic location, and actually dropped anchor for our first and second times (we were drifting after our first attempt.) Our left-over lunch included fried shrimp, crab cake, coleslaw and twice baked potato quickly zapped in the microwave. OK... not so quickly since I had to start the generator to run the microwave, but it was still pretty quick. Tom said it was the best picnic he had ever had.

I noticed later that the Pentagon was on the other side of the river, but I never actually looked for it – maybe next time. Leaving the mall front, we swung from the Potomac River into the Anacostia River navigating up to James Creek Marina. This marina is across the street from the US Coast Guard headquarters and the office that handles all environment issues. So the dock attendant suggested that Tom be extra careful as he was pumping the diesel fuel into our boat that we not have a ‘spill’. He also reminded me not to ask for gas, since at some marinas they might give me that instead of diesel. (Of course this was after I had made a comment about needing gas.) On the point next to the marina was the Army War College, a building of amazing and stately architecture built in 1901 and renamed as the National War College in 1943. It is a part of Fort McNair, which has been an active military station since 1791 and is one of the oldest in the US. This is where those accused of the Lincoln assassination were tried and executed. The buildings along the water were identical - crisp, brick and white window trim and appeared to be standing at attention in a line of precision. That was serendipity to see since we had not planned on that.

At this point it was 4:00 pm and we decided to head back towards the Bay since we need to be making time towards York for tomorrow evening. The cruise back down the river was beautiful with the sun shining on our undulating wake. When made it to the Colonial Yacht Club and got tied up, it was late, after 8:00 so we decided to skip our walk and we called for pizza. Domino delivers – even to the dock.