Hello Washington

Washington DC
N 38 52.612 W 77 01.545

Friday
We got here around noon. We saw no other boats on the river heading North. We were half frozen though, it was cold and damp this morning. I even wore gloves while holding the tiller. Weather aside, we're in the heart of the country (at least government wise). I think we'll stay here several days.

After lunch we went ashore and landed the dinghy at the Capital Yacht Club. Calvin, the dock master, welcomed us. They charge $15/day to use the dinghy dock, but we get to use their shower and laundry and WiFi so it's not a bad deal. From there we walked only 10 minutes and we were at the national mall, between the Washington Monument and the Capital building. On the way we passed the headquarters for USPS, DOE, FAA, and HUD. It is sure a strange place to visit for people who don't like feds
or bureaucrats. We're in the lair of the beast.

The botanical gardens around the Smithsonian buildings are exquisite. Jennifer would love them.

We wanted to do Smithsonian, but which one? There are so many. Well, 30 years ago we took the kids to the air and space museum, so we chose the Natural History Museum instead. That's the one full of fossils, dinosaur bones, and gems. It was a bit of a shock for me. It was mobbed with tourists, 50% of them school kids, and the marble walls and floors echoed all the noise of all those voices. For people used to living on a boat and talking to our nearest neighbors from three boat lengths away,
it was a bit of a shock. After only 90 minutes I asked to go outside again.

On the way back we discovered that there is an outstanding fish market right next to the yacht club. There you can buy all sorts of fresh seafood or cooked meals for take out, all at fairly moderate prices. We'll have to visit that.

Tomorrow we'll do laundry and showers and then visit Professor Hammam. Sunday we'll be tourists again and look around and do more Smithsonian Museums. We've never been to the Lincoln Memorial or the Jefferson memorial. It would be a good time to have two bicycles, the walks are long ones.