Washington, D.C.: First Stop on a Five-City Tour
The first stop on a five-city trip across the United States, taking in the White House, the cherry blossom parade, and Washington's political landmarks.
That year, we organized an ambitious trip around the United States. My travel companions were coming from China, and getting all the way here was no small trip, so our guiding principle was simple: see as many of America’s most distinctive cities as possible in the shortest amount of time.
I had only been in the United States for a few years myself, so I was hardly an authority on which cities best represented the country. We eventually put together a list as a group: Washington, D.C., the nation’s capital; New York, its financial capital; Las Vegas, the gambling capital; and Los Angeles, the capital of film and television. No obscure choices there.
Our first stop was Washington, D.C.
The White House was, of course, at the top of the list. It has served as the president’s residence and principal workplace since 1800 and is probably one of the most recognizable government buildings in the world. Hollywood had blown it up more times than I could count; now I was finally seeing the real thing.
We had assumed the White House could only be viewed from a distance. Once we arrived, however, we saw tourists filing right inside. I looked it up and discovered that tours were indeed possible, but they required advance requests and space was limited. Since we had waited until we were already in Washington to investigate, we clearly had no chance. We gave up on the idea.
Even from a distance, the White House looked quite impressive.
We walked through a park beside the White House and found free meals being handed out, with many homeless people nearby. Among the homeless people we happened to see there that day, most were Black. One of my companions remarked that Obama had made it all the way to the presidency, yet so many Black people were still homeless in a park beside the White House, and wondered what the president would make of the sight.
The next day, we happened upon the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade. Washington’s famous cherry blossom tradition can be traced to the more than three thousand trees Tokyo gave the city in 1912. Over time, they became one of its best-known spring sights. We had come simply to see the capital and, by sheer luck, landed in the middle of a major festival as well.
The parade we saw was wonderfully loose about formation. Everyone seemed to be marching in whatever way made them happy.
We then visited the U.S. Capitol, home to both chambers of Congress. Its enormous white dome is one of Washington’s defining landmarks. Many of the bills, budgets, and political battles that fill the American news revolve around what happens here.
Wandering around the nearby grounds, we encountered one Washington Monument. The immense white obelisk was built to honor George Washington, the country’s first president, and stands more than 169 meters tall. With almost nothing around it to block the view, it is difficult to overlook from just about anywhere in central Washington.
From there, we walked to the Jefferson Memorial. It honors Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence. Set beside the Tidal Basin, its white dome and ring of columns are unmistakably modeled on classical architecture, giving it a different feel from the political landmarks we had passed earlier.
That was the end of the day.
After two days in Washington, it felt as though we had made the rounds of the capital’s best-known political landmarks.