US East Coast 2018: Sunset in Washington

Enjoying our last sunset in America, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D. C.

After a day of bad transport planning and a rather harrowing (not to mention tiring) experience walking from one Metro station to another, we resolved to be more purposeful in our planning, and managed to figure out our transport arrangements better with the Spot Hero Parking App. This not only allowed us to find a good parking spot in the city, but also saved us time travelling on the Metro and from hours of aimless walking. We realised this actually helped to save us both time and money in our wanderings about the US Capital!

National Building Museum

Our 8yo is extremely interested in architecture, and we thought that a visit to the National Building Museum would be a treat for him. It was indeed a most interesting experience!

One of our most interesting stops was the National Building Museum. This is where we learnt many new architectural, design and building-related concepts. For instance I learnt from the “Secret Cities’ exhibit that the US actually created three secret cities to build the components needed for the Manhattan Project (the project which led to the development of the atomic bomb).

Did you know that three secret cities were actually created in rural areas of Tennessee, New Mexico and Washington state to build the necessary materials for the Manhattan Project?

As for the “Making Room” Exhibit, we learnt that population demographics in America have changed since the end of World War Two. To meet the needs of a changing population (for example differing familial needs like more single parent families), architect Pierluigi Colombo designed a unique 1,000 square-foot apartment that can meet the needs of the different families.

Our boys were fascinated at how easy it was to change the use of space in a small place. And as cities get more and more crowded, perhaps this would be the future for how to make the best use of space in cities across the world?

And the “Evicted” exhibit, based on a book with the same name by Matthew Desmond, detailed how more and more people are being evicted from their homes due to a rising cost of living, rising rental costs and a lack of comprehensiveness in government policy.

All in all the museum sights were very interesting, innovative, interactive and gave us much room for reflection. Of course the boys liked the “Play Work and Build” exhibit where they got to create their own fort with cannons that fired at their enemy. Quite a fruitful experience for all!

A visual representation of the number of people evicted across the United States as organised per state.

Fellowship with Friends

One of the highlights of our Washington D.C. trip was a delicious dinner with our dear friends Tim and Pris, who have been living in the US for the past three years. It was a sumptuous dinner of hot dogs and burgers, served Shake Shack style. But more important than the food was the fellowship and the feeling of being in a home away from home!

Chef Tim wows us with a delightful dinner on the roof; with lots of laughter and the night sky for company!

View from the Seows'

One for the road!

One more actually - you can't have one without the other!

Oh well, there's always time for photos and lots of photos!

Sunset in Washington

As we ended the final evening in Washington D.C., we took a sunset walk along the World War Two Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial, our time in America also in its sunset.

Remembering World War Two, a war which we in Singapore were part of. It was truly sad to see how many people had died in their war against tyranny and oppression.

The Washington Memorial, built to remember the country's first President, a symbol of freedom and independence.

The Lims at the Washington Memorial.

The White House at twilight. No visit to America is complete without a glimpse of where the world's most powerful man lives.

As our day came to a close, we stood where Martin Luther King Jr made his famous “I Have A Dream” speech, and peered into the horizon, where thousands of people would have gathered in 1963; the beginnings of civil rights and equality for all.

Standing in the footsteps of a great man.

“I HAVE A DREAM TODAY!I have a dream that one day down in Alabama — with its vicious racists, with its Governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification — one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I HAVE A DREAM TODAY!I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low. The rough places will be plain and the crooked places will be made straight, “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”

It is our hope that Martin Luther King's dream will one day come true. Not only for America, but for every nation in the world.

Time to Say Goodbye.

We spent a good part of our last day packing and repacking for our long journey home, finally ending up with 4 check-in suitcases, 4 carry-on bags and 4 backpacks. Our possessions had of course expanded with every place visited, and we had had to add on extra luggage to meet our needs.

It was finally time to say goodbye to our car, our trusty vehicle that had taken us all the way from Florida to Georgia, to North Carolina, to Virginia, and finally to Maryland.

It was now our turn to fly.

A tribute to our trusty car which had taken us more than 1,600 miles!

The Previous Page - All Things Bright & Beautiful. Read here.

What's Next? An End But Also a Beginning. Read here.

From the Beginning - Start reading the record pages of our US East Coast Travel Adventure here.

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