1981 - Family Trip #1 - Stamford - Washington

Friday 3 April 1981 -  Stamford - Washington

We were awake fairly early this morning and re-packed our suitcases as we were heading down to Washington DC and only wanted to take one with us. I went for a sorely needed run, which was very refreshing. The sun was quite high, but it was still very nippy.

We finally left at about 09.00 for our side trip and had a good view of the Manhattan skyline as we circled the city. But the most impressive aspect of the early part of our journey was the sheer volume of the traffic. At one stage the highway was six lanes each way and, although our lanes were not so full, all six incoming lanes were almost solid for miles and miles. The road surfaces in this area (and many others, we found) are appalling. Full of potholes and bumps. We travelled most of the morning on a Turnpike which, although a very fast road, was a bit dull because one cannot see much of the countryside.

 

We had never seen a four lane bridge!

In the vicinity of Philadelphia, we turned off onto a minor highway and made our way to Washington via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The countryside was much more interesting and the view from the bridge magnificent. I drove for the last couple of hours and found it not too difficult, except for turns at intersections, particularly left hand turns, where I had a tendency to move over to the left hand side of the road.

 

View from the bridge

Matt in the Kombi

Our hotel was in Alexandria, just outside Washington, an area which is of historic interest, much of which has been preserved in it's original form. Even the modern buildings are built in "Colonial" style in an effort to preserve the atmosphere. The hotel was OK, but much more expensive than we had anticipated - $55 per night. No meals - although it was said that a Continental breakfast was included, they didn't specify which Continent and, as a result, "breakfast" consisted of one donut and a cup of wishy washy coffee. We unloaded our luggage (to this day I have no idea what the porter, who was a country boy from one of the Southern States was trying to say to me as he helped us across to our room - it was the first time that I realised that American was really a foreign language) and as it was a lovely evening, we decided to go into Washington.

The blossomsdon't show

Regrettably, I didn't take my camera because the cherry blossoms were absolutely magnificent. One view really stands out in my mind - looking down an avenue of flowering trees with the Jefferson Memorial in the background. We drove around for a while, just gawking at the sights (the daffodils were also out in strength) and landed up at the Smithsonian Aeronautical Museum. It was just before 19.00 when we got there and I felt very sorry for the kids because, although we had some sandwiches in the car, we hadn't really eaten since breakfast. Uli and Nora didn't seem to worry about food as much as we do (perhaps not so obsessive as someone suggested!), but we got Matt a snack in the cafeteria. I could have spent a week in the museum and in the hour we had there I managed to see briefly some of the items I wanted to. It really is unbelievable what they have in there. The space items are the most fascinating, although the old aircraft were also very interesting.(The sheer size of the building is the most outstanding memory - full size aircraft hang from the ceiling like models in a child's bedroom - the one I recall, probably because I could relate best to it was a DC3 -Dakota!)

We left at about 20h00 and drove around looking at the Capitol and a couple of other memorials which were floodlit. We (the Herberts) were both starving and very tired at this stage, so when Nora suggested having a burger we agreed out of inertia, although we really felt like something more substantial. We made our way to a Roy Rogers Ranch at Nora's suggestion, which was absolutely ghastly. It was dirty and smelly and the food was awful. Anyway we shovelled it down (not forgetting, as the signs urged us, to be good cowboys and clear away our table) and were quite happy to go off to bed, but it was not to be. Nora had promised her kids ice cream, so we walked two more blocks away from the car (which was two blocks away from R.R.R.) to get them. They were very nice, but unnecessary.

Anyway, we finally got back to the hotel and crashed. until about 07h00 the next morning.