6/23/25 - Colonial Beach to Washington DC

We made it to DC today
A much anticipated side trip of The Loop for us

The morning started with Erik grilling chicken for Rivas breakfast.  Then a quick walk with Riva before disconnecting and preparing to shove off to head up river to DC.  

Sunset at Colonial Beach VA last night 
Didn’t make it into yesterday’s blog but worth view!

Threw the lines and got started a little after 7am; an early start was in order as an attempt to avoid the worst of the stupid hot temps projected.   The river was smooth as glass and it looked to be a beautiful day for a cruise, except for the crazy heat 🔥☀️.   There were still a LOT of crab pots even though we were now off of the bay.   With the sun low on the horizon still, it and its reflections off the water made created the need to keep eyes peeled in order to navigate the crab pot obstacle course for the first miles of the day.   Just as the pots thinned in number the floating debris (mostly smallish sticks and such but some larger chunks) became abundant.  

Sites from the days trip
Quantico Marine training (upper left)
George Washington estate at Mt Vernon…we will visit on way back down (upper right)
Many large homes and mansions as we drew nearer to DC (lower pics)

One of several large flotillas of youngsters learning to sail as we cruised through the Alexandria area

The monuments and Whitehouse coming into view

Even with the obstacles we made pretty good time cruising and pulled into Washington DC a little after noon.  We quickly got plugged in and got the AC running.  It was not too uncomfortable while cruising and with the air was moving, but, once stopped the heat hit us hard.  Erik and Renee walked up to get checked in and find out where we might find grass for Riva.  Luckily it wasn’t far and there was a decent grassy area, right beside a Starbucks, a praline bakery, and a Ben and Jerry’s  😋

We made good time on our 71.2 mile cruise today 
Averaging 14mph with top speed of 18mph

We sat aboard the now cooling boat for a couple of hours in order to get our body temps down to a reasonable level before venturing out.  Riva got taken up to do her business but quickly was panting and was more than happy to get back aboard and into the cool boat…smart pup!   We, on the other hand, were gluten for punishment and headed out into the heat of the late afternoon.   Just outside of the marina and up a block, located in ‘The Wharf’ area of the city there is a free shuttle that circles the SW of the city continuously making 5 or 6 stops at key areas including the National Mall.  We boarded the shuttle and took it around to the Mall stop where we then set off on foot to visit several of the monuments.   It was neat to see the grassy, parklike areas on both sides of the main Mall being fully utilized by lots of people taking part in organized sport activities; soccer, flag football, softball, and volleyball.  Also of note was just how bike-able DC is with bike lanes on virtually every road and very wide sidewalks.  Given that we soon realized that we would not likely be done with our excursion prior to the last free shuttle run we wished that we had ridden the bikes.  The ~1.7 mile walk back in the heat, after the already large number of steps in exploring the monuments, had us both literally exhausted by the time we got home at 9:30pm.  Even after sunset the humidity was stifling.   Looking at the weather app as we were approaching the marina still had the temp at 97 and the ‘feels like’ at 107!

Hot but fun afternoon/evening walking around the National Mall enjoying the monuments and memories

Needless to say, by the time we were back aboard and had stripped our soaked clothing we were both basically DONE for the night.   Riva did get a final quick trip up to shore in before we showered aboard and enjoyed a couple of coffee frappes before retiring and both passed out quickly.   It was an enjoyable first day in DC even while fighting the unbearable heat.   Time to get rested up so we can strategically plan how to best handle the next two days of even hotter temperatures.   We are thinking air conditioned museums will likely be on tap.   

Good night from the crew of Happy Destiny at The Wharf