Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Round The World 2015
Leaving DC on a sombre note
It was our last full day in the USA. As the Marriott's Executive Lounge was already closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, we ate breakfast together at Bell20. With Bruce's cold still hanging on, and with annoying signs that I might just be developing something similar, we visited a Rite Aid pharmacy in the Crystal City mall to acquire appropriate remedial measures before leaving the US. I started taking mine immediately on returning to the room.
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| ABOVE: After riding the metro to L'Enfant Plaza, I walked past the National Museum of African Art and Smithsonian Castle | ||
My main objective this morning was to visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (better known simply as the Holocaust Museum), located just off the National Mall. I took the metro to L'Enfant Plaza, realising that using the system had already become second nature to me and that after just a few days, I rarely consulted a map any more. A short walk along Independence Ave SW in the morning sunshine, and a left at 14th St soon brought me to what I was seeking.
The museum was established in 1993 to facilitate
the documentation and study of the Holocaust. It certainly pulled no
punches in presenting the material. Having visited several sites of
atrocities in both Germany and Poland, I didn't think the
USHMM had quite the same impact as standing on the very spot where
the actual events took place. Having said that, I thought that
this museum took some difficult and profoundly shocking subject
matter and presented it very well indeed, in the hope that through
education and the promotion of human dignity, similar events may be
prevented from ever happening again. And to my mind, that is as
serious and noble a cause as you will find.
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| ABOVE: Taking in a few final sights of Washington DC | |||
After grabbing a bite to eat, I returned to the hotel around 1:30pm. It was time to pack up our things with the realisation that our time in the USA was rapidly drawing to a close. We checked out at 3pm and took a crowded hotel shuttle bus to the airport. Security wasn't too bad, thanks to the fact that we had both been selected for TSA pre-clearance, and we were soon installed in the Admirals Club to await boarding time. Bruce logged into his work laptop for one last time prior to officially going on leave.
Surprisingly, we somehow ended up being just about
the last passengers in the First Class cabin to board. Even more
unexpected was the news that there would be no ATC-mandated
departure delays at all on this occasion. AA104 proved to be an enjoyable short
flight, with the front cabin being looked after by a chatty and
happy-looking Puerto Rican flight attendant.
On arrival at New York JFK, we took the Air Train
to Federal Circle and the hotel shuttle to the Sheraton. We had
drinks and some small plates of food in the lobby bar, which was
reasonably enjoyable apart from the barmaid's cranky manner - perhaps
she would rather not have been working on the eve of the national
holiday. We tried to make it an early night, as the next phase of
the trip would soon be getting underway with an early start on
Thursday
morning.