The night had ‘cooled’ the air to a frigid 81 degrees but the thick air of the morning was only going to get worse for outdoor activity so shortly after we rose from bed we took Riva for a bike ride and walk down to the end of the wharf. There we saw the Titanic Memorial and let Riva off leash for a bit in a grassy area while discussing our plans for the day.
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| Titanic Memorial |
We decided to make the trip to the National Zoo early before the heat REALLY set in and the earth melted away into its next cycle of mass extinction (they didn’t talk of this one at the Natural History Museum yesterday but were fairly certain it will happen this afternoon 😝). With Riva comfortably back aboard in the AC we set out first on bikes but after just a short pedal we decided to sign up and rent a couple of the many electric scooters that are all around. They had a pretty good deal for new users where we could sign up and each get 100 minutes of use for 1cent per minute. In registering/signing up Erik chose to state he was an ‘experienced rider’ (ok…maybe just a little fib) while Renee took the more honest approach and said she was a beginner. What her integrity earned her was the restriction of scooters that would go a max of 8mph for her first three rides while Erik’s scooter would go 10mph. This may not sound like a significant speed difference but it actually was and it proved to be fairly annoying. The workaround we chose was for her to stop and ‘end ride’ several times on the trip to the zoo and then immediately start a new ride. This worked but proved to be a bit more challenging than expected because the scooter ride could only be ended at certain locations where they could be locked up properly. Ultimately, the gps mapped 5 mile ride we believe turned out to be more like a 7 mile ride due to some construction detours through one area of canal trail that got us turned around a bit….maybe several times! By the time we arrived at the zoo the heat was blazing and walking the hot paths while zig zagging into all of the shaded areas we could only lasted a bit before we decided to duck into a few of the air conditioned buildings for relief. We explored the reptile, monkey, ape, and orangutang exhibits as we made our way back to the very rear of the zoo where the panda bears are; these were our primary goal to see as it appeared to be the goal for many other visitors as well.
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| The pandas were the highlight at the National Zoo |
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| Think I’ll just sit and eat about 80 lbs of bamboo! |
With hot bodies (temperature at least!), tiring legs, and appetites building we decided to head on from the zoo and back toward the marina. Renee was able to zip along at the now ‘experienced’ speed of 10mph to keep up with Erik and about half way back we stopped at a local neighborhood delicacy (McDonalds!) where we shared a nice cold frappe and had a McChicken and fries to tide us over. Back at the boat we took an hour or so to cool ourselves down before heading back out on bike to go to the Holocaust Memorial Museum. The experience there was somber. The exhibits are very well done giving the visitors an in depth account of the atrocities including all that lead up to them as well as a lot of incredibly personal insights on the many victims. We did not arrive at the memorial/museum until about 3:30 and it closed at 5:30 which unfortunately had us moving too quickly through the many areas encompassing 4 floors of a very large building. In particular we had to move through the bottom 2 floors without being able to spend a lot of time reading and watching many things we would have liked to. The free museums and attractions in DC are so many and so immense that we are sure that much more time than we have allotted here would have been nice….we’ll have to make another visit in the future.
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| Entering the Holocaust Memorial we each were given ID cards of actual people involved in the Holocaust Before being led by a guide/guard into a small elevator that had the appearance of a cell or train car Very poignant |
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| Holocaust Memorial Museum Terrible history Needs remembered |
The evening was spent mostly relaxing aboard. While at the Holocaust Memorial Museum there had been a brief small rainstorm that passed through which actually cooled the temps to a manageable enough level that we were able to comfortably sit on the aft deck of the boat and enjoy watching the evening wharf bustle of activity. We did a couple of loads of laundry and made dinner (Erik made some delicious crab cakes while Renee enjoyed a bowl of chicken soup). A few phone calls to friends and family were made and plans solidified for Chelsea, Devin, and Paula to come to join us for a few days next week…looking forward to seeing them and sharing our Happy Destiny experiences 😊. We ended our busy, fun day with a walk up in the wharf to partake in a delightful treat of a ‘chimney cake’ as well as a walk out to the end of the pier. Our time here in DC is likely coming to an end and we have enjoyed everything about it (except for the damn ridiculous heat 🥵).
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| Erik and Renee removed sandles to cool and massage feet in the water pad fountain |
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| Momma with our chimney cake delight jazzed up special for us with ice cream, strawberries, and chocolate by the stand Georgian (country not state) owner/operator While Riva got her pup cup treat on as well 😋 |
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