Washington on the Potomac river  is the capital of the USA. It was named after their first president, George Washington.

First stop has to be the Capitol.

The Capitol

This building houses the meeting chambers  for the Senate and the House of Representatives. Every state has equality in the Senate but the house of Representatives representation is based on the size of the population in each state.  I hope that makes sense!

The rotunda has paintings of major events in American history. The old chamber is no longer used so it now holds one hundred statues of notable citizens.

Washington Monument

This obelisk on the National Mall was the tallest building in the world when it was built in 1884. The bottom half is made of marble but construction was stopped for twenty years. When building restarted the original stone was no longer available so the top doesn’t match exactly.

Arlington Cemetery

400,000 military veterans and their families are buried here. Beautifully landscaped and huge this is a sobering visit but worth seeing. We also saw the Korean War Veterans Memorial. The figures are stainless steel and larger than life. They represent a platoon in combat gear going through rough territory. Very striking.

 

Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon is sixteen miles south of Washington. This eighteenth century Georgian mansion has two storeys and twenty one rooms. Although its made of wood its designed to look like stonework. There is a curved colonnade on either side of the house leading to the outbuildings. Washington inherited the house and spent years adding extra wings and outbuildings. He lived here until he died in 1799.

The White House

And of course we had to  stand outside  1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Better known as the White House every American president since 1800 has lived here.

The National Mall Museums

Don’t miss the museums, they are all free, even the zoo. We went to the National Air and Space Museum, its huge and has everything from the first flights to space suits and moon rock.