Our last day in Canberrica started late – thankfully! We were all pretty exhausted and decided to sleep in since we didn’t have any dastardly tickets to queue for.
Since my Dad is an avid reader of spy books, we made a trip to the Pentagon. Unfortunately, visitors can’t get very close to the building at all and since 9/11 tours have been banned to all but church and school groups. On the approach to the building there are several signs banning photography, but we risked life and limb to sneak one or two in anyway.
Next stop was a visit to the Arlington National Cemetery where the Kennedy family is buried along with some other famous folk. It was a very solemn, yet beautiful place set on hills overlooking D.C. Thousands of veterans and other ‘exceptional citizens’ such as Presidents are buried here.
One of the most interesting things here was the Tomb of the Unknowns or Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers as it is also known. Here, the remains of unidentified soldiers from World Wars I and II, Vietnam and Korea were buried. Interestingly, in 1988 the Vietnam veteran was exhumed and identified using DNA testing. This crypt is now empty.
After a quick stop for lunch at Chipotle we parted ways: my parents heading back to the Air and Space Museum for another look and Gerrod and I heading to the National Zoo. The Zoo is free to the public and though a lot of construction was going on to build bigger, better animal enclosures we still managed to see quite a bit. We learned that cheetahs can run 7m in a single stride, that Zebras look just like stripey horses (thanks for that insight Gerrod), and that hippos sleep underwater with just their nostrils protruding from the water.
For a taste of home we visited the kangaroo, and were entertained to see the emu had snuck into his enclosure and was cleverly avoiding capture. The zoo staff were running around madly trying to catch him or herd him back into his own space, and the kangaroo just lay there as though it was a show put on for his amusement!
Gerrod’s fave animals were the giraffes, perhaps because they can sympathise with him for being so tall, and mine were the giant pandas. They were soooooooo cute! We were lucky enough to see them when they were given some sugar cane as an afternoon treat and squabbled over it because the boy wouldn’t share.
After a long trip home on planes, trains and automobiles (yes all three) we finally climbed into bed around 1am. I’d definitely recommend visiting Washington D.C.. So much to do, so much to see, perfect for you, perfect for me, Canberrica, take me home to Canberrica….
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