We left New York in the early morning of last Saturday and trundled our bags along the streets to the Greyhound station to board the bus to Washington DC. We didn't feel at all conspicuous doing this as New York seems to be the place where you meet several people dragging suitcases behind them or trolleys with boxes piled high or some such other form of contraption on wheels. Probably because it's easier and quicker to walk with your baggage than be bumper to bumper in the slow moving traffic! Again it was going to be a quick pit stop in Washington as we only had 2 full days here. So after a big brekkie (huge bowl of cereal, followed by sourdough toa
st!) we set off to visit 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue which is without a doubt one of the most influential addresses on the planet - the White House! I have to confess that, in my ignorance, I had always thought that the Capital Building with the dome on top was the White House as that's the one that the reporters always stand in front of on the news! (Well it is a big white building as well so an easy mistake I reckon!!) Anyw
ay it was good to see the genuine article! If you look closely at the photo you can even see a member of staff doing some polishing on the balcony! Next it was off to the Capital Building for a bit of a live phone-link for the 'K Team Ne
ws'! It was a very important conversation involving trying to get a bill passed through Congress for making sure that every rental accommodation in the USA provides a kettle & a toaster for British tourists who need their tea & toast! Our apartment in Washington did have them though for which we were most grateful. (Thanks
Ami, if you're reading this!) We have been carrying our own kettle & toaster around with us since our arrival in the USA!) Not sure if the bill will get passed by the time we leave but maybe by the time you get here Mel! Washington DC is full of monuments and memorials of all kinds so we decided to go on a walking tour of them on the next day as we had heard on the tripadvisor website that this particular one "DC by foot" was quite funny and interesting. It proved to be a good recommendation as we walked around with our guide, Steve for 2 hours and were certainly not bored! He was very entertaining and kept coming out with funny stories and anecdotes and best of all the tour was FREE! Everyone just gave him a tip at the end and he definitely deserved every cent! One interesting fact he told us was how the people of Washington are campai
gning to get a vote in Congress as they currently don't have a representative, despite being the Capital State. Hence the title of our blog! That phrase can be seen on the bottom of Washington DC license plates on many cars. We visited the Washington Monument, built in honour of George Washington the first President and also the Lincoln Memorial (dedicated to Abraham Lincoln, one of the most famous US Presidents) with the magnificent Reflecting Pool in front of it. Seeing this immediately reminded us of the scene from Forrest Gump where Tom Hanks stands and addresses the crowd before he wades into the Reflecting Pool to be reunited with Jenny! (Me & Jenny - we go together like peas & carrots!) We see
m to be doing a bi
t of an unplanned tour of the film locations from Forrest Gump on this trip (having already seen the Santa Monica pier where Forrest just "keeps on running"!) Steve, our tour guide, also pointed out the exact spot where a certain Martin Luther King stood and made his famous "I have a dream" speech back in 1963. The Reflecting Pool was one of our fav
ourite spots in Washington as you could walk right along it and there were lots of places where you could plop down on a bench, admire the view and chill out for awhile. We also had time to visit Georgetown, a quaint and charming neighbourhood which was walking distance from the apartment where we were staying. It's full of cobblestoned streets, h
istoric houses with window boxes full of flowers and a very tempting (but expensive!) deli that w
e wandered around, mouths watering at the
delights on offer, but alas no free samples to be had there! We're heading further south next to Wilmington in North Carolina to sample some of that famous southern hospitality so we will see you there!
We left New York in the early morning of last Saturday and trundled our bags along the streets to the Greyhound station to board the bus to Washington DC. We didn't feel at all conspicuous doing this as New York seems to be the place where you meet several people dragging suitcases behind them or trolleys with boxes piled high or some such other form of contraption on wheels. Probably because it's easier and quicker to walk with your baggage than be bumper to bumper in the slow moving traffic! Again it was going to be a quick pit stop in Washington as we only had 2 full days here. So after a big brekkie (huge bowl of cereal, followed by sourdough toa
st!) we set off to visit 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue which is without a doubt one of the most influential addresses on the planet - the White House! I have to confess that, in my ignorance, I had always thought that the Capital Building with the dome on top was the White House as that's the one that the reporters always stand in front of on the news! (Well it is a big white building as well so an easy mistake I reckon!!) Anyw
ay it was good to see the genuine article! If you look closely at the photo you can even see a member of staff doing some polishing on the balcony! Next it was off to the Capital Building for a bit of a live phone-link for the 'K Team Ne
ws'! It was a very important conversation involving trying to get a bill passed through Congress for making sure that every rental accommodation in the USA provides a kettle & a toaster for British tourists who need their tea & toast! Our apartment in Washington did have them though for which we were most grateful. (Thanks 
Ami, if you're reading this!) We have been carrying our own kettle & toaster around with us since our arrival in the USA!) Not sure if the bill will get passed by the time we leave but maybe by the time you get here Mel! Washington DC is full of monuments and memorials of all kinds so we decided to go on a walking tour of them on the next day as we had heard on the tripadvisor website that this particular one "DC by foot" was quite funny and interesting. It proved to be a good recommendation as we walked around with our guide, Steve for 2 hours and were certainly not bored! He was very entertaining and kept coming out with funny stories and anecdotes and best of all the tour was FREE! Everyone just gave him a tip at the end and he definitely deserved every cent! One interesting fact he told us was how the people of Washington are campai
gning to get a vote in Congress as they currently don't have a representative, despite being the Capital State. Hence the title of our blog! That phrase can be seen on the bottom of Washington DC license plates on many cars. We visited the Washington Monument, built in honour of George Washington the first President and also the Lincoln Memorial (dedicated to Abraham Lincoln, one of the most famous US Presidents) with the magnificent Reflecting Pool in front of it. Seeing this immediately reminded us of the scene from Forrest Gump where Tom Hanks stands and addresses the crowd before he wades into the Reflecting Pool to be reunited with Jenny! (Me & Jenny - we go together like peas & carrots!) We see
m to be doing a bi
t of an unplanned tour of the film locations from Forrest Gump on this trip (having already seen the Santa Monica pier where Forrest just "keeps on running"!) Steve, our tour guide, also pointed out the exact spot where a certain Martin Luther King stood and made his famous "I have a dream" speech back in 1963. The Reflecting Pool was one of our fav
ourite spots in Washington as you could walk right along it and there were lots of places where you could plop down on a bench, admire the view and chill out for awhile. We also had time to visit Georgetown, a quaint and charming neighbourhood which was walking distance from the apartment where we were staying. It's full of cobblestoned streets, h
istoric houses with window boxes full of flowers and a very tempting (but expensive!) deli that w
e wandered around, mouths watering at the 
delights on offer, but alas no free samples to be had there! We're heading further south next to Wilmington in North Carolina to sample some of that famous southern hospitality so we will see you there!
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