After a lap of the main in Ocean Beach we set the GPS for Washington DC. We have visited here before but because we find ourselves chased north by Hurricane Matthew we decided that another visit to the Nation's capital was the solution to keeping safe. The drive was wet all the way so we hunkered down in our hotel and generally relaxed. We woke on Sunday to find that Fayetteville, where we had stayed on Wednesday night, was underwater from Hurricane Matthew which has been down graded to a Tropical Cyclone - little comfort for those whose homes have been inundated.













As I mentioned in our last blog, both Greg and I have read almost everything that novelist Tom Clancy has written. We decided that our two day visit to Washington would be spent checking out some of the venues mentioned in Clancy's novels. As we have been in Washington 3 times before, we have toured the Capitol Building, visited the Smithsonian Museums, paid our respects at Arlington Cemetery and visited many of the Memorials the city is renowned for. This visit would have a slightly different focus.

First stop was a drive out to Langley, the home of the CIA, Central Intelligence Agency. We only got as far as the well guarded entry gate - not surprising I guess! Characters in Clancy's novels have many contacts with the CIA and several of his main characters worked for the CIA. One of our favourite Tom Clancy novels is "Hunt for Red October", also made in to a movie we have watched several times. The main character in this story is a young, Jack Ryan Senior who was a CIA Analyst and in later stories became President of the USA.

We parked outside the US Capitol Building for a photo and checked out the statue of Ulysses S Grant. There was also a great view of the Washington Monument from this spot.


Next stop was the Pentagon on the Virginia side of the Potomac River in the district of Arlington. This pentagonal shaped building is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defence. The building was started in September, 1941 and opened in January 1943 taking only 15 months to build. It is one of the largest office buildings in the world, it houses 26 000 civilian and military employees. This five sided building is five storeys tall, with two basement levels below and the corridors of the building total 28 km in length. The void in the middle if the building is 5 acres of central plaza. Characters in Tom Clancy novels are often visiting the Pentagon to liaise with Department of Defence personnel as they protect the world from the baddies. Each year the Pentagon grounds are the focus for the Army 10 mile running event which happened to be on while we were there today.


As well as the connection to Tom's novels, the Pentagon was sadly the site of one of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the USA. American Airlines Flight 77 was flown in to the west side of the building. 184 people were killed, 59 on the plane and 125 in the building. Today a memorial stands in the shadow of the west wing of the building. There are 184 benches with individual reflection pools underneath. The engraved benches are organised in lines of the year of birth of each of the victims, the oldest victim was born in 1930 and the youngest 1998.


Georgetown is the district where Clancy's character, Jack Ryan Junior (son of Jack Ryan Senior), lived so that is where we headed for lunch. The area was very busy as this is Columbus Day Long Weekend. We wandered through the trendy streets and found a nice bar for lunch. We also drove passed Georgetown University right on the shores of the Potomac.


We then headed back over the Potomac to visit the Iwo Jima Memorial. This iconic statue commemmorates the United States Marine Corps. Most of Tom Clancy's characters are ex- Navy Seals but they often work with the Marines on Operations. Arlington National Cemetery was next door but we decided not to visit as we have been there on 2 previous occasions. Several of Clancy's characters are buried at Arlington, with full military honours of course.


Our travel plans often include visits to major cities, like Washington, on a Sunday. We find there is usually less traffic and queues to visit attraction are shorter. Not so today. The city was buzzing, streets were blocked off by police for the Army 10 mile run and there was no parking anywhere. We could see long lines waiting to get in to The Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Holocaust Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial and the recently opened African American Smithsonian Museum. We drove passed and Kerrie snapped photos out of the car window, a couple of times Greg double parked to allow Kerrie time to jump out of the car for a photo, very busy! We couldn't find anywhere near the White House to park so you will have to take our word for it that all is well at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, well as good as it can be in the middle of this controversial Presidential Campaign.



On the second day of our Washington visit, we went in search of the "Red October". In Clancy's 1984 novel a Russian submarine called The Red October and its crew defected to USA. The submarine was hidden somewhere in the Chesapeake Bay so that the Russians would be unable to find it. This great plan was instigated by Jack Ryan Senior and worked beautifully. The Russian Submarine Captain, Ramius (Sean Connery in the movie) lived happily ever after in the USA. We searched up and down the shores of the Chesapeake Bay but couldn't find a submarine anywhere - it must have been submerged today!


Kerrie also kept her eyes open for Jack Ryan's magnificent home which was high on a hill in this area overlooking the Chesapeake Bay. She was a little disappointed when Greg told her that the house used in the movies was actually in California.


Our day was spent driving around two peninsulas on a scenic route that Greg had planned to take advantage of the water views of the Chesapeake Bay and the Patuxent River. We found a quaint diner for lunch and then returned to our hotel to do some washing, have dinner in the hotel and pack ready for the last part of our holiday - 3 nights in New York. Big Apple, here we come!