Stop 4: Washington, D.C.

So our plan to "follow the good weather around America" backfired a little as we arrived to four inches of snow in Washington, where our suitcases laden with bikinis and sun cream proved to be absolutely useless - cue frantic Michelin Man style layering and unauthorised raiding of our host's wardrobe for knitwear.

Whilst foraging in the knitwear cupboard of the apartment we were staying in, Nat encountered a long-dead full animal fur complete with bony tail and shrieked loudly - Helen thought she had another Chuck-gate on her hands. Lots of screaming ensued.

Within minutes of exploring Washington we were reassured to find it was definitely a LOT more interesting than Charleston (not too difficult) and we wouldn't be forced to turn to wine to combat boredom. Our two days here consisted of seeing a LOT of memorials:

- Lincoln
- Jefferson
- Korean War Veterans
- Martin Luther King Jr
- National WW2
- Vietnam Veterans

PRODUCTIVE DAY

The memorials were interspersed with other sights such as the National Mall (Helen's lack of homework showed when Nat pointed it out from the taxi on our first night, and Helen looked witheringly at Nat and asked, disappointedly, " you really want to go to a shopping mall? Fine...") Reflecting Pool; Washington Monument; US Holocaust Memorial museum (where Nat had to endure no less than SIX body searches at the hands of the Gestapo-esque security staff on the door); and in order to avoid the rain on our second day, the National Museums of American History and Natural History. Ok so we didn't actually make it beyond the entrance of the American history museum... It looked really boring so we decided to head to the Natural History museum instead - cultured chicks...)

Washington reminded us a lot of London with its architecture and 'feel' (not just the rain) and it was actually nice to have a couple of days of cold weather and warming soup, hot chocolates and knitwear.
Ok, we're lying.
WE WANT SUN.

With the exception of a friendly bus driver who let us ride home for free after a long day of trekking in the cold, we are finding people less friendly as we move out of the South, but we're still enjoying the attention our accents bring us ("hey are you guys from Australia?")
Sadly no tales of new friends made in Washington, D.C. - either Helen is losing her touch or it's definitely not as friendly here...

We are now enjoying our first 4 hour Greyhound bus experience where we're riding all the way to our next stop Philadelphia for $8 (£5) each. Leather seats, wifi, plugs for our phones.... Not too shabby. Having read a little about Philadelphia en route you can imagine our EXTREME excitement at learning the top attraction is.... a bell.