Got the Greyhound down to Washington DC on Thursday with a definite sense of trepidation. The weather forecast for that afternoon was for strong thunderstorms and flash floods – turned out I missed this by about 20 minutes, that’s how quickly the weather front in question was travelling. Incessant wall of rain one minute, dry and clear skies the next, like somebody switched off the monsoon. Living in tropical storm country… Not something I’d envy anyone.

So my place this time was up in Petworth, another pretty chilled neighbourhood 10-15 minutes’ walk from the restaurants and bars at Columbia Heights. Didn’t get much done that evening beyond dinner and crashing, the rock’n’roll lifestyle strikes again…

So basically the DC visit was all about the Smithsonian museums. Got a few Obligatory Tourist Shots (TM) but really… There’s something about the “Our Nation’s Capital” side to Washington that leaves me cold. I’m getting used to the flags all over the place, but much of DC takes that and turns it up to 12, because stopping at 11 is un-American. It’s like the city wants you to like it, but its way of getting your respect is about as subtle as a 1,000lb gorilla yelling “USA! USA! USA!” two inches from your face.

Speaking of gorillas, I was totally lied to by the movies. I came here to see the Thade Memorial, who’s this Lincoln guy?

Anyway…

Over the weekend I visited the Natural History Museum, the National Museum of the Native American, and the National Air & Space Museum. (I’d have done more had my pre-paid Mastercard decided that it didn’t want to work in Washington. Stopped the minute I got in, started working again straight away when I got to Savannah. Sigh) The Native Amercan Museum was absolutely fascinating, obviously we don’t have a direct equivalent in London. Oh, and the tradition of major monuments being covered in scaffolding when I turn up continues…

So yeah. Very brief post this time. Glad I visited, but mostly not my kind of town and I can barely put my finger on why, Patriotic Gorilla Vibe aside (though Petworth and Columbia Heights were nice neighbourhoods). Onwards to Savannah.