Day 12 – Itchy and scratchy

Awoke this morning covered in red blemishes and feeling very itchy. appears as though I’d been bitten all over on the sides I’d slept on by something in the the bed. The itchiness was compounded by the heat as we drove the remaining 250 miles to Washington. I managed to get hold of some cortisone cream but it didn’t help too much.

We arrived at the outskirts of Washington bang on rush hour. In our search for accomodation we managed to loop from the west to the north of the city in a not to speedy 2 hours. I was exhausted by the time we finally found a hotel.

Located near Maryland University the hotel’s location tempted me into going for a jog. It was great running through the campus and exploring the area. The campus is set around the various sporting areas and I kept bumping into other runners. Seems like a pretty cool area to live and study.

In the evening we headed into Washington to view some of the sights by night. The Metro took 30 minutes and is worth a note in itself. Its a very 70s design but still modern looking and clean. Some of the stations are impressive architecture and the platforms have lights on the edge that change colour, like traffic lights. We exited the Metro between Capitol Hill and Washington Monument. We straight down to the monument and stood in awe at its base. Its quite a sight by night; being lit up by spotlights and having Capitol Hill and the Lincoln Memorial to either side. From the monument we headed to the White House. I’ve got to say I was totally underwhealmed when it finally came into view. Not sure if it because you can’t get as close as perhaps you once could – the view you used to see on TV.

Looking forward too seeing the rest of Washington by day before we hit the road back to Atlanta.