DC Walking Tours

One of the things we did this fall was take a DC Walking Tour. I've looked at them for ages, and then bought a couple of coupons for them back in the spring, as a friend was interested too. Considering the crazy summer I had, and how much I love the weather here then anyway, they didn't happen. Expiration date approached, and Greg agreed to go with me. We chose the tour that started in Woodley Park and ended at the National Cathedral.

It was a lovely fall day, clear skies and not too cool. The tour was two hours long and there were about 25 people on it. It was really interesting, but in odd ways. The guide pointed out some interesting and representative architecture in places, but not consistently, and it wasn't an architecture tour. He told stories about some neighborhoods but not others. We learned about some of the big fancy private schools we passed along the way. We learned the interesting history of the Wardman Park (Marriott) hotel. We learned a bit about Klingle Road, which we know from our neighborhood and never really heard the full story before. And we found this wonderful little park. It was stunning!

 And of course I've forgotten its name.... We spent about 20 minutes here, wandering, watching dogs run and kids play.

We ended at the National Cathedral. It's been quite a while since we'd been over there, and we approached it from a very different angle this time. It's still incredibly impressive. But it was also sad to see all the scaffolding still surrounding parts of the building, legacy of the earthquake we had in 2011.

 I'd never been this close to these columns before to notice their detail. These couple were tributes to Native cultures of the Americas.

I really don't tire of these views. We didn't go inside this day and climb the tower -- we've done it before, and I had Spanish class and Greg was studying for an exam.... You can see some of the construction platforms up top. 

These finials are part of the earthquake damage. They fell from the tower (obviously, not to street level or we wouldn't see even this much) and are now here for folks to view and discuss the restoration efforts.

All in all, a fun day. I might even do another.....