Went into DC today to take in some of the sights of the Capital.
Brian is quite familiar with the place, as he lived in North West DC for a year or two.
We started out at Meridian Hill Park, in NW Washington DC. In the late 60s, I,m told there was a move by local residents to rename this Park after Malcolm X, the black activist who was assassinated in 1965. That was doomed to failure and the park remains on tourist maps at least, as Meridian Hill Park.
Wikipedia indicates that the Park is now in the hands of the National Park Service, but as the place is extremely run down and untidy, I find that surprising. The original construction of the water feature, which is quite extensive, was in concrete aggregate, but much of that is now cracked and broken, the lower pool is a festering pond, though the ducks enjoy the critters spawned by the algae. None of the four fountains in this lower pool, could manage any more than a spit and a dribble. On the top level, the statue of Joan of Arc on horseback was minus a sword and the bridle had come adrift from the reins.
In its day, views from this elevated Park would have been quite spectacular, but it has subsequently been built out and high density accommodation surrounds it on all sides. Apparently there are still performances here at the Park, on the odd occasion.
From there we drove through some of the more uninviting sections of DC (and there seem to be a lot of these !), before stopping off at a restaurant where Brian had a couple of photographs on display, which he wanted to recover. Unfortunately the place was closed so they (the photos) are still there. As we parked the car and got out, I noticed a large dead rat on the footpath, so we weren't unhappy to depart. I'm sure the rat had nothing to do with the restaurant.
Then it was off to the Burger Restaurant for lunch. This was recommended by Leanne and Brian and for good reason. The burgers here were immense - one meal in this place sufficed for the whole day.
A sample of the fare (there is a big fat slice of tomato and an egg under all that slime) -
An early night - Brian goes into have his back surgery tomorrow.
