June 3, 2023 We went to bed early and slept really well. We took our time eating breakfast and just getting our day going. We made our plans to go into town and check it out. We left about 10:30 and went up to the campground office to buy 2 SmartTrip cards. They are prepaid, rechargeable Senior Cards (1/2 price).
Each card had $10 on it to use on the Metro or Circulator until the funds run out. We left the campground to take the 10-minute drive to catch the Metrorail at the Green Belt Station. There is tons of parking there and on Saturday and Sunday it’s free. We parked and walked over to the station to catch the Green Line which would to take us downtown to the National Archives and Navy Memorial at the National Mall. (We had a lot of help from the ladies in the office to figure it all out.)
We got on the Metro at the beginning of the line, so the Metro was empty.
The ride took about 30 minutes with multiple stops along the way.
When we climbed up and out of the tunnel, we were standing in front of the National Archives building. I had forgotten how stately the buildings look in D.C.
On the other side, we were standing in front of the United States Navy Memorials.
We crossed Constitution Ave. to find the Circulator (bus) stop that we were looking for. It is pretty user friendly.
It was suggested at our orientation yesterday that we take the Circulator which runs in a figure eight route around the National Mall and the Tidal Basin past all the monuments.
This would give us an overall view of things and what we might want to come back and see. It was a great idea and we took their advice. The ride would cost us 50 cents. We grabbed a hot dog from one of the many food trucks lined up on the street before we began our ride.
We picked up the Circulator in front of the Natural History Museum.
The bus took us past the Washington Monument first.
Next, we went past the Holocaust Memorial Museum which I hope to get tickets to visit next week.
Next, on the ride around the Tidal Basin was the Jefferson Memorial.
Then we came around the back of the Lincoln Memorial.
After we made the loop, we got off and walked through the National Mall past the Smithsonian Visitor’s Center. What an awesome building that is!
Crossing the mall and looking west, I got another glimpse of the Washington Monument.
Looking east, we had a good view of the U.S. Capitol building.
We found our original Metro station and started our trip back.
We didn’t have to wait long for our Metro train to come.
All in all, our trip back and forth on the Metro and Circulator cost us $4, including parking. Not bad! We got back to the campground around 2:30 and sat outside. It was 84 with a great breeze and so pleasant to sit outside. The neighbors were gone and there was no barking dog. (Oh, I forgot to mention that friends of our neighbors arrived yesterday afternoon with 2 more barking dogs. Now there were 3 barking dogs all penned together outside.) Needless to say, we enjoyed the quiet while they were all gone. Like the saying goes, you can’t pick your neighbors (or your family). When our neighbors returned, the dogs were amazingly quiet upon their arrival. The neighbor even came over and made nice with Bob while he was grilling our dinner outside. He told Bob they were leaving tomorrow, so things should be quieter. We walked Auggie later and it had cooled off quite a bit. On our walk, we passed some yurts that are available for rental. They look kind of cozy!
We relaxed with some TV after our walk. We had a great time riding around D.C. today and plan to go back next week to visit a few of the monuments. The Metro and Circulator are user friendly and make getting around the National Mall and Tidal Basin area so easy.