Passing by Mount Vernon, Washington’s home looked like it was getting ready to host a wedding with an array of white tents on the sloping lawn. I really wanted to visit Mount Vernon having recently read a great biography of our first president but the dock was only open on weekends out of season. We’ll have to save this visit for the next trip.
We arrived at the Capital Yacht Club by 1:45. What a great place to stay! It’s on the Wharf in SW DC in an area that has become quite the entertainment district since we lived here in the late 80’s.
Almost Heaven, the boat that Joe Manchin lives on, was at the next dock, right across from us. Two weeks ago some kayakers rowed by to lobby him to support the infrastrucure bill! The Capital Yacht Club has a lot of large boats and live-aboards, a more affordable living option in D.C.
We had one last lunch with Stephen at Kilwin’s, an Irish pub with very good Irish food. Steve’s brother picked him up that afternoon.
On Saturday we spent time getting ready for Addie and Lange King who were arriving that night. The highlight of our day was visiting the African American Cultural Museum which we had never been to. What an amazing museum! We were there for almost four hours and we didn’t see all of it. It was very moving, especially the historical exhibits and and also full of the incredible cultural contributions of black Americans from the visual arts to theatre to music and the movies. One could easily spend a few days there. These photos show the museum’s intricate facade and some of the stunning paintings inside.
As we walked to the museum we realized we were staying in a perfect location. We were within walking distance of all the wonderful sites and museums along the Mall.
Later that evening, Addie and Lange arrived. Like Steve, they come to visit us every year when we cruise and we always have a great time together.
On Sunday, we all walked over to the Hirshhorn Museum to see the fabulous retrospective exhibit of the works of Laurie Anderson. She is so incredibly creative and the exhibit was unique and fascinating. We spent a few hours there and the four of us were equally enthralled.
Afterwards we found a great place for lunch - José Andres’s Jaleo, an excellent tapas restaurant. It also had its fair share of fabulous artwork.
After a delicious lunch and a pitcher of sangria, we were happy campers!
On the walk back to Zendo even the buildings that were under renovation were beautiful to look at!
On Monday, we met the King’s daughter Natalie and her husband Ben, at a quirky museum called The Mansion on O. It consists of several townhouses that hold a huge collection of memorabilia of all sorts donated by artists, musicians, etc. Not many DC museums are open on Monday. This one sounded kind of interesting. We had fun exploring it and searching for the 80+ secret doors it has but we wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to others. Afterwards they all came onboard Zendo for drinks and appetizers and we headed over to Bethesda so Natalie and Ben could show us the townhouse that they bought and are renovating. We had yummy pizza in downtown Bethesda afterwards. It was another fun day!
Addie and Lange left on Tuesday and we settled in for a quiet day before I left the next day for Charlotte, NC. My friend, Cathy’s mom had sadly passed away and I flew to Charlotte to attend the funeral. Cathy’s friend Betsy flew in from Kansas City and we stayed with Cathy to help out and support her during this sad time.
In the meantime, Jonny moved Zendo to a nearby mooring ball and had a blast showing Archie all the sights in D.C.
Jonny took some time on his own to visit the Renwick Gallery which he really enjoyed.
He spent the following day with our friend, Greg, who took Jonny for a 24 mile bike ride in Alexandria. Here they are in their matching riding outfits!
Greg and Lynda also kindly lent us one of their cars to drive the next day to pick up our car at the Kinsale, VA marina where we had been wintering Zendo. We will be keeping Zendo in Manteo, NC this coming winter for more repair work and we needed to position our car there for the ride home.
I returned to DC on Friday night and on Saturday we drove to Kinsale to pick up our car. Unfortunately we forgot Archie’s CBD and he got carsick on the winding country roads. We said goodby to Rob, who had owned the recently sold White Point Marina. We quite enjoyed being at this beautiful remote location but we aren’t sure if we’ll be returning there in the future.
We then drove the two cars on to Manteo where we left our car to be able to drive back to Miami. We stayed overnight at a hotel in Manteo and drove back in Greg’s car to Alexandria on Sunday. We visited with Greg for a couple of hours, grabbed some dinner and Greg drove us back to Zendo.
This would be our last night in DC before beginning our journey home. It was a wonderful visit and we will gladly return to the Capital Yacht Club and nearby mooring field in the future. There are so many wonderful things to see and do in our nation’s capital! And with a view like this from our boat, who can resist?
The Capitol YC is such a great location, for sure. Glad it was a wonderful visit.
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