Loving DC
This is my third visit to DC and as always, I am loving it. Not because of the politics – but the city itself. Unlike many major US cities, DC is a delight to be in. There are no massively tall buildings blocking the view (due to the 1899 Heights of Buildings Act that stops buildings being taller than the Capitol or the width of the adjacent street plus 20 feet).
You can walk around much of DC, or use the Metro. I’ve found the taxi service variable but a lot cheaper than NZ – the maximum fare for anywhere within DC is $18!
Also so many good bars and cafes. I am staying with a friend near 18th Street in Morgan-Adams which has lots of bars and cafes.
But most of all I love the parks and the monuments. So much heritage here.
A state of FDR and his dog. I am very amused that I just tried to Google the name of his dog and the filter at the Heritage Foundation (a conservative thinktank where I am today) blocked it as a banned term!! 
I have got around that and discovered it was Fala. His name was used as an identification question during the Battle of the Bulge!
Also part of the memorial which was established just a decade ago in 1997.
Most people should recognise Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial.
This is the view of the National Mall from the Lincoln Memorial at the south end of it. The US Capitol is at the far end.
The Korean War Memorial.
A very apt saying – one we forget too often.
The WWII Memorial is in the middle of the National Mall and is even more recent than the FDR memorial – established only in 2004.
And everyone should know 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
June 28th, 2009 at 6:15 am
Looks like a great place.
Now on our own list.
And I though DC was just about Comic Books. Doh!
June 28th, 2009 at 7:28 am
Best thing about DC is how much stuff is either free or inexpensive. The museums that line the Mall – Smithsonian, Natural History, Air and Space among others, to the Holocaust museum a few streets away – all free and all within walking distance. I did the FBI headquarters tour when I was there, also free, which was quite the eye-opener. As a tourist DC is one of the best cities in the US to visit.
June 28th, 2009 at 8:46 am
Actually, the leading light of code pink Cindy Sheehan is on the record as stating that Freedom is “free” – “Of course freedom is free. Otherwise you’d have to call it ‘expensivedom’.”
June 28th, 2009 at 9:08 am
Did your research find out why the dog was called Fala? We had a dog for years on a very small section and finally after sixteen years she passed on. Wife wanted another dog but with common sense she got a kitten. I suggested Kittydog and it stuck for another thirteen years
June 28th, 2009 at 9:24 am
“Franklin renamed him Murray the Outlaw of Falahill after John Murray of Falahill, a famous Scottish ancestor. This was later shortened to “Fala.”"
June 28th, 2009 at 11:01 am
Freedom isnt free, no there’s a hefty fuckin fee, and you don’t throw in your buck o’ five, who will?
June 28th, 2009 at 11:30 am
What a shame all those times and concepts and sacrifices have been “forgotten” as a function of today’s left controlled government education system.
June 28th, 2009 at 11:30 am
I think you should double check the name of that suburb:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brucehoult/2397291131/sizes/l/
June 28th, 2009 at 11:42 am
I thought that alien ship had blown that white building up?
June 28th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Good to see you are enjoying the great urban amenity of a well planned and regulated city. This is what you get when the public realm is valued.
June 28th, 2009 at 11:59 am
@bchapman it’s easy to do when nothing of value is created there and the city gets to live off the spoils of the rest of the country. See also Moscow.
June 28th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Good to see a “freedom” loving foundation doesn’t feel comfortable with the freedom to use the internet. Blocking words? Yeah, freedom, but only within the limits they’re comfortable with.
Also, that $18 cab fare you’re praising surely isn’t the work of the free market. There’s got to be regulation involved, because there is no way I can think of that operators would restrict their profits for no obvious benefit. Remember, DC is one of the most strongly Democrat cities in the USA.
[DPF: George loosen up. I have no idea why the serach term came up blocked but I seriously doubt they have banned FDR's name. It is probably just a stupid general filter programme.]
June 28th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
DPF, you’re right. The comment about search filters was a stupid one, and I misread your post.
June 28th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Wow, DC has changed so much from what I remember in Fallout 3
ahem.
June 29th, 2009 at 7:53 am
I saw the Korean War monument on a misty winter’s day. The GIs on patrol looked cold, wet and miserable, yet resolute. I think it is one of th most powerful war memorials I have ever seen anywhere.
June 29th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
I think you will find I live in Adams Morgan! Lol