8

Georgetown, Arlington, and The Lincoln Memorial

Saturday morning we set out once again -- this time Gary drove, taking our rental car out of the hotel garage and heading for Arlington Cemetary, across the Potomac.  From there we took the Tourmobile back into Washington DC.  The Tourmobile's route passes by most of the significant sights (and sites), and you can get off at any point to explore at your leisure and then get on the next tourmobile that comes by. It's a handy way to get an overview of the city and see most of what especially first-time visitors want to see without the hassle of negotiating confusing streets, heavy traffic, or finding parking places.

First we drove through some Washington neighborhoods, including Georgetown, the well-known upscale residential area -- we noted that it has the look of a small town, something that we saw all around the city. Washington DC evidently has stringent building codes which don't allow for tall skyscrapers that might overwhelm the many historic buildings and monuments.

Georgetown, especially, had a full complement of inviting little shops, but we passed on that sort of shopping for this visit.  Places to go, things to see!

That morning the TV news had been full of reports on Vice President Cheney, who had checked into the hospital for a coronary procedure.  It wasn't until we drove by stands of trucks with satellite dishes mounted on top that we realized that George Washington University hospital was just down the street from our hotel and this national news was local news.