Washington DC

If Boston is the nautical, charming senior, Washington DC is its well groomed, elegant yuppie little brother. I am still in awe from our trip last week, as are my children. From towering marble monuments, to sprawling museums and intricate garden landscaping, Washington is the epitome of grace in this country. While I am certain there are ghettos there, as anywhere else, they are hidden well, and even their homeless are eloquent and unobtrusive- speaking of course, about the man wearing the placard proclaiming Condoleeza Rice and Marion Barry the key figures in the 9/11 attacks. When you step on the subway in DC (which I am loathe to ride in NYC), you are greeted by a dozen people offering their seats, clean seats, to you and your family. The subway workers are more than happy to offer you assistance, and will wonders never cease...the aroma of urine is noticably absent on the well scrubbed tiles of the subway floor. We paid an adequate amount of money to ride the tour bus, which was more than worth its weight, considering the ease and speed in which we made our way around the city. Washinton Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam, Korea, World War II (and while spectacular, these war memorials are just a cringingly horrific reminder of the bloodbath that has been our world), the Capitol. And the thing that always seems to surprise me when travelling in DC is the unremarkable view of the White House. It does not hold a candle to the other beauties, and perhaps appropriately so. My children were thrilled at the museums, with astronaut gear and rockets overhead, wooly mammoth fossils posing next to extinct bunnies....I took a great shot of the three kids and Jake creening to read the Gettysburg address in my all-time favorite Washington landmark, the Lincoln Memorial. As I was explaining to Jake, when I was a child and someone mentioned god, the image that always came to mind was Lincoln on his throne. Always. As we were leaving the city, somewhat sadly and a bit tiredly, I felt as if the well-dressed business people were choreographed for us as they walked to their jobs, in a Broadway-esque farewell. While I have been to Boston, and Washington DC many times, seeing it again through the eyes of my children, I truly have to say....the wonders never cease.