On our last day camping at Ft. Belvoir, we finally made it to Washington, DC, Our first stop was to see Zydeco.
We called our rowhouse “Zydeco” because the ornate, metal railings reminded us of homes in New Orleans.
We lived in a rowhouse two blocks from the Capitol, or as we learned later, two blocks from the world’s largest nipple.
I caught Jay staring longingly at The Giant Nipple. I guess the “nipple” reference came from the (1) shape of the Capitol and/or (2) the seemingly endless flow of money that streams forth from the Capitol.
The best part about bicycling to our old house was seeing some of our former neighbors! The Capitol Hill neighborhood is one of the most social, friendly, generous and thoughtful neighborhoods we have ever lived in. Since moving, we strive to create that same sense of cohesiveness in every neighborhood we call home.
This is our next-door neighbor Tessa. In 2012, she and her husband and their two children (and 20-year-old cat!) took a year off to travel across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean in their 48′ sailboat! She blogged about their adventures. I think I would go stir crazy (and get terribly seasick) on a boat for more than a few hours!Gene and Jeff were working in their beautiful garden when we cycled by. We were so happy to catch them and learn the latest news of our old Capitol Hill neighborhood!Gene told us about the car fire that happened right across from their house. Unfortunately, the car on fire was their car! A beautiful Porsche that some vandal decided would look better on fire.All that remained of the Porsche was some ashes and fond memories. Gene and Jeff bought another Porsche, which is now stored in a secure parking garage under a local bank.
After visiting our neighbors, we rode a few blocks to one of our favorite eateries for a juicy burger, fresh-cut fries and an absolutely deeeelicious chocolate milkshake! On my deathbed, I’ll be requesting a Good Stuff Eatery chocolate milkshake with whipped cream.
Good Stuff Eatery, which is a Spike Mendelsohn establishment, uses really fresh ingredients. I love their motto, “If we made it any fresher, you’d probably blush!”
After a lunch like that, we needed to get in some serious cycling!
This beautiful piece of real estate on Pennsylvania Avenue used to be the Newseum and adjoining apartments. We lived in one of the top floor apartments and held parties on the rooftop. It was a fun experience to live that close (practically inside) to a museum, the White House, a celebrity chef restaurant, and all that comes with a prime location on Pennsylvania Avenue. Unfortunately, the Newseum went bankrupt, and the buildings are now an academic center for Johns Hopkins University.We love bike riding in DC. It is one of the best cities we’ve ever been to in terms of safe, clearly marked bicycle lanes. When we lived there, we hardly ever used our vehicles; we biked and walked just about everywhere. A former mayor of the city was an avid bicyclist, and he made sure the city was a great place to ride on two wheels.
We cycled down to the Mall and made a beeline for the Washington Monument.
Here’s a tidbit about the Monument: no mortar is used to hold the stones together. It’s just friction and gravity at work.This is one of Jay’s artistic pictures of the Washington Monument.We somehow remembered how to navigate on bicycle through throngs of tourists. Using our innocent-sounding bike bells to gently nudge folks out of the “passing” lane on walkways usually worked just fine. The bicycle bell (and a smile!) is a universal language 😉Riding a bicycle gave us a little bit of a breeze, which was much appreciated in the swampy weather of DC in June!We learned this interesting factoid about the Lincoln Memorial: there is a WWII battle scar on the Memorial. In 1942, the US Army put anti-aircraft guns in the area to protect the Capitol from enemy attacks. The Army accidentally fired off four rounds, three of which hit the Memorial above the entrance inscription. One of the holes in the marble is the size of a baseball The WWII memorial is such a refreshing sight in the heat of the summer. Jay wasn’t leaving until we got a picture of him in front of his favorite statue/fountain at the Library of Congress. It’s called, “Neptune’s Court,” and is different than all the other statues and fountains in DC. I think Jay likes the water nymphs on horseback beside Neptune.Another favorite memorial is the Korean War Memorial. The 19 life-sized sculptures of soldiers on patrol in the Korean War reflects in the granite wall behind them (not shown in our pic). Nineteen soldiers become 38 soldiers. Thirty-eight signifies the 38th parallel, which demarcates North and South Korea today.
At the end of our Washington, DC bike tour, we crossed over the Potomac River into Virginia and stopped at Ft. Myer.
Fort Myer is the home of the US Army’s 3rd Infantry Unit, otherwise known as The Old Guard.
The Unit was first organized in 1784 and is the oldest regiment still active in the regular Army. One of the Units in the Old Guard is the Fife and Drum Corps.
Please make a mental note of these special drums…. you’ll see them later in our trip (hopefully!)
The Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps plays marching music dating back to the time of the Continental Army. They march in colonial style red-coated uniforms—to be “better seen through the smoke of battle”; the uniforms also include hats and white powdered wigs.
All these men in wigs need to be transported via bus to their performance locales. Their drivers don’t need to wear wigs butt do need to pass the strict physical and mental standards unique to the Old Guard.
Back in 1984, a dapper young fellow was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Unit as a transportation specialist.
He’s still dapper, especially in his SPAM bicycling uniform 😉
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Tinkerbell's Travels 
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