Hopping Along

Easily found my way from the campground to DC.  Did I mention the campground has bus service to a metro station?  Yes, the bus makes a stop right here.  I think I failed to mention, though, that my campsite is just about as far as you can get from the office – and the bus.  There are hundreds of campsites here and it takes about 12 minutes to walk up to the office.  So I went up there this morning, bought a Metro pass, got on the bus and was delivered to the Metro station several minutes later.   Followed the crowd into the station and loaded some money onto the shiny new Metro card, breezed through the turnstile and boarded the train.

I wanted to take a hop-on, hop-off trolley tour and had planned where to exit the Metro to catch one.  I “hopped on” the next trolley but did not “hop off” until it had made a full circuit.  That gave me time to decide what I wanted to see most and to plan the rest of the day.  One of the more recent museums in the Smithsonian family is the National Museum of the American Indian. Since I have distant Creek heritage I was interested in seeing this one.  There are many exhibits explaining Native history, beliefs, and contemporary Native life.  Artifacts, a film and a Native Foods Café are also part of the museum.  I had lunch in the café, enjoying a meal based on the indigenous foods prepared daily.

I must admit I just wandered around the area for quite a while, trying to decide what to do next.  I decided to look for Ford’s Theater, where President Lincoln was shot.  I hopped back on the trolley until it stopped in the general area of the theater.  A National Parks ranger gave a presentation on the history of the theater and retold the story of the famous actor who changed American history forever.   

The story finished across the street, where we were able to visit the house and the very bedroom where Lincoln drew his last breath.  Many artifacts are on display in this house, including a handle from the coffin that bore the President to his resting place. Eww.

Preferring not to be out by myself after dark, it was time to go back to the campground.  The return trip was a breeze and I was back in time to plan tomorrow’s sightseeing.