The aftermath of Hurricane Isabel

We headed out the next morning to find that power was out in most of the area. The roads were deserted heading into DC- which we later learned was a blessing. The traffic into and out of DC was horrendous- bumper to bumper around the beltway and virtually stopped at the feeder roads to/from the beltway – for 45 miles outside of DC. Hurricane Isabel had pretty much stopped the entire city. We noticed a few more trees down as we headed into DC and found our way to our campgrounds. We arrived to find that the campground was empty and that power was out everywhere. 1.1 million DC area residents were without power and the utilities were warning that it could take up to a week to get them back. The coast of North Carolina was devastated and the streets of Annapolis, Baltimore and Alexandria were flooded. And, we had slept through the entire storm.

We decided to drive into DC and brave the downed trees and lack of traffic lights. Everyone was very disciplined- treating traffic light intersections like 4 way stops and it was a great way to see the city. We quickly figured out the DC street patterns and found our way to Adams-Morgan- the heart of the funky, ethnic area. It had originally been a few streets of Ethiopian restaurants, but now was a full fledged area filled with sidewalk cafes and ethnic restaurants. There were more Ethiopian restaurants in DC than we’d ever seen before. We stopped for lunch and had a great time. We drove through Dupont Circle and Georgetown. Georgetown was charming- 18th Century buildings now converted into apartments, houses and stores. We finished our tour with a drive through northwest DC, stopping by the National Cathedral and a drive through Chevy Chase.

It brought us to the beltway and the amazing LDS Temple that looms over the beltway. We stopped by and found that they had a huge list of movies to watch and a special showing of “One Shepherd, One Fold”. We caught the 4:00 movie on Sunday and were stunned to find that the huge theater was filled – mostly with teenage girls. The movie was a story of the Nephites just prior to their visit by Jesus. It was a love story/Indiana Jones movie combination with the most amazing special effects (every bit as good as any Hollywood film) and a tear-jerker ending that all the women in the theater sobbing. They are truly great marketers.

On Sunday, we did another drive into the city- taking advantage of the continued power outage. We drove through the Capitol Hill area and were stunned to see block upon block of beautiful houses- in a white neighborhood. We drove through the Tidal Basin area and the Navy Yard (almost running over a black guy who ran out in front of our car. We weren’t sure if he was just stupid or trying to get the white folks to run him down). We took a drive through the Howard University area and found “Ben’s Chili Bowl”- a great black dive that served chili- in bowls, on hot dogs and on hamburgers. John managed to eat two bowls!

We decided to try the Metro system and took the bus to the train on Monday morning. The Metro was incredibly efficient and the stop at Union Station was amazing- restaurants, shops and a beautiful renovation of the old train station. We took the hop on/hop off bus tour and did the entire DC loop, taking in all the sites- from the White House, Capital, Smithsonian Museums, Arlington Cemetery, all the Presidential memorials and the Korean and Vietnam War Memorials. It was a full day and we dragged back to the campgrounds just in time for dinner with Larry, an old Deltak friend. We had drinks in "Maby Dick" and filled Larry in on the motorhome lifestyle. Then we headed out in the pouring rain for the Korean restaurant in the Days Inn just down the street. We had a great dinner halfway through the meal noticed that there was water puddling on the floor and my skirt was soaked. The rain was starting to pour through the ceiling- just over our table. We huddled around the table to the area that wasn’t getting rained on and by the end of the meal, the rain was pouring all around us and we were laughing hysterically. As we headed into the lobby of the hotel, there were buckets everywhere catching the pouring rain.

On Tuesday, we took the Metro again and headed to DC for a museum day. We took in the Air and Space Museum and the Omni Theater “To Fly”. Then, we took the Metro over to Capitol Hill and the Eastern Market. We had a crabcake sandwich and walked around before heading back for the night. Larry left a message asking if we had any reaction to our meal—he claimed to be part of George Bush’s WMD program and had been banished from the house.

Our last day in the DC area and we decided to drive to Baltimore. (Photo courtesy of Flickr.com) Fortunately, we were once again on the reverse commute and watched the incoming DC traffic as we breezed into Baltimore. We stopped in the Federal Hill area for breakfast at their local market then took a great 3 hour bus tour with a guide who grew up in the area and was passionate about the city. We got to see the Inner Harbor and all of its’ renovations, the Mt Vernon area with its’ beautiful old homes, Fells Point and Little Italy – filled with old homes and neighborhood bars. We asked our guide for a lunch recommendation and he sent us to Samos in “Greek Town” and we had an absolutely wonderful lunch- greek salad, gyros and spinach pie.