Washington, DC

We left our anchorage early Thursday morning to a beautiful sunrise and a gorgeous day to cruise into Washington. It's always a goose bump time cruising into our Nation's Capital. The history starts to unfold as we come into the Washington Channel as the Washington Monument, the Capitol, and Jefferson Memorial come into view. Our marina, Capital Yacht Club, is on the Washington Channel with a view of the Washington Monument off our bow.
So much to see and so much to do. First stop, the fish market about a block from our marina and it's huge. You can get fresh fish, clams, crabs, and just about any kind of seafood you can think of. You can get it fresh, live, or they will cook it for you. We have been there three times, and I'm sure we will be there several times before we leave. Oh, first stop was Joel and Marion's for cocktails on their 49 DeFever RPH. They are DeFever cruising friends who stay here for the summer.  Friday, I met up with Joel and Marion for a game of golf at the course just across the Washington Channel from our marina.
I'm not going to go through all the places we have gone so far, you will see them in the pictures. The only place photos are not allowed is the Holocaust Museum. Wow, what an experience! We are wearing out the wheels on Bee and Bop (our bicycles). Washington is a great place to bicycle.

September Song (so much to see, and it's all free) out
Bob


Sunrise over our anchorage on the Potomac as we headed out for Washington.

Seagulls feeding in our wake.

The Norwegian Queen passed us on her way South on the Potomac. Or should I say waked us.

Two Bald Eagles hanging out on green 61. We've seen a lot of them while on the Chesapeake.

Huge homes along the Potomac as we get closer to Washington.

Yes, that's someone's home

Mount Vernon, George Washington's home on the Potomac.

Fort Washington just South of Washington DC.

Another huge home on the Potomac. Who are the people who live there?!

Checking us out as we head into the Washington Channel. Washington Channel is the flyway used for transporting VIPs and the President back and forth from Andrews Air Force Base. We see dozens of them fly over day and night.

Now that's a satellite dish!

Coming into our marina on the Washington channel. Make sure your volume is on.

The Sequoia, the presidential Yacht, is docked on the Washington Channel. You may remember pictures of JFK on it. What a beautiful yacht, but I wouldn't want to keep up with all that teak.

Happy boy! Lobster from the Fish Market. If I can't get to Maine this year, I will settle for this.

Jefferson Memorial. Notice the group on the right. Some one is getting married. 

The happy couple.

One of the stalls at the Fish Market. Tons of live blue crab. 

The Fish Market.

I have never seen so much seafood.

Enjoying our dinner from the Fish Market on September Song. Now that is a huge king crab leg.

Can you turn it up a little? 

What are we in line for Stephen? "I'm not sure, but these other guys look like they have been here for a long time." Stephen, they're not moving!

How tall? "About that tall."

Cruising Washington Monuments.

Closed because of the earthquake.

The newest memorial, Martin Luther King.

Now that's a view from the green. That's the Washington Monument in the background.

It should only take me 15 strokes to get to the Washington Monument.

Joel and Marion on our golf day.

I think we should send these two up the hill and straighten things out.

Stephen and Pam on the front lawn of the Nations Capitol.

WOW!

We sat on the front lawn of the Capitol listening to the National Symphony.

September 11: Remembrance and Reflection is at the American History Museum for a week. We were lucky enough to be here to see it.

Things from 9/11 were displayed.

We waited an hour and a half to get in. It was worth the wait.

Headed to Washington, DC

Before we could leave Tuesday morning, we had to put September Song back together, and get the anchors off the bottom Monday. We got the first anchor up with a little bit of a problem, but when it came time to get our storm anchor up, it wasn't budging. We finally unhooked it from the rear of our main anchor, tied a line to it, and did a dance, maneuvering  September Song with the engines, back to the hydraulic davit we use to lift the family car up with. When we finally got it to break free from the bottom, it had about 200 pounds of mud and a 130 pound Chinaman hanging on to it. It took us about three hours to get them up, but when we finally got the storm anchor aboard, we hugged it, (after we cleaned the mud off) told it thank you for holding us during the storm, asked it how its trip to China was, and put it to bed.
Tuesday morning the two boats left our anchorage on St. Leonard's Creek with many memories of the last five days.
It's Wednesday and we are anchored about 30 Miles South of Washington, DC, and will cruise into our Nations Capital tomorrow around 13:00. I hope the band is better than the last time.
The weather has been gorgeous the last three days. Calm, cool, dry, and blue skies. We had to put on our sweatshirts in the morning it was so cool.
Today we passed a weapons testing area. As we approached, we had a call on the radio telling us we need to alter our course. LIVE FIRE! Yes sir, where would you like us to go?! He gave us directions, and we followed the route (out of the channel!) he gave us. As we passed, we heard big gun fire. "Don't shoot, we are hurrying!"
We also passed under the Nice Bridge, no, not a nice bridge, the Nice Bridge. This is one of the bridges that had been damaged during Hurricane Irene.
The Potomac is beautiful, with tons of history, and with this gorgeous weather, it's been  great. Except for the occasional tree that floats by from the storm.

September Song (tell the band to start playing at 13:00) out
Bob


Raising the storm anchor with the hydraulic lift.

Stephanie, washing the mud and the little Chinaman off the storm anchor.

The only thing more beautiful than the day, is my admiral enjoying a gorgeous day on the fly bridge.

The Range Control Boat that told us to alter course, LIVE FIRE!