Overnight last Monday we were woken up by surprise thunderstorms. Tuesday morning the radar showed more storms on the way. So we decided to stay here at Cole’s Point one more night.

A little later ‘Knot N’ Kansas’ arrived and docked next to us. That evening we played cards with them and Jona gave us some delicious chicken she made in her Insta-Pot, which I enjoyed for lunch the next day. She was not the first to say how handy it is for cooking. I may have to look into one.

Wednesday we were again woken up early, this time by a fishing boat and a group of guys who were waaaaay to perky and exuberant for 5am. Seriously, the expression “it’s 5’oclock somewhere” refers to 5:00 in the evening!

As we headed up river there was a ton of debris in the water and we had to keep a sharp lookout. Further up we got hailed by the Navy. They had a dive team in the river doing live explosive drills. So the guide boat that hailed us led us through the area and told us what markers to follow.

Although we were on the other side of the river we definitely knew when they set things off. It was quite jarring! We could feel it from underneath us and the sound was incredible. It felt like we were hitting something and scared the crap out of us each time. There were at least four explosions as we went through the area.

We came to Belmont Bay Marina. It was very nice with a wildlife refuge nearby to take Skia. While meeting all the new wonderful people on Loop has been a highlight, it’s extra special when you get to see a familiar face that lives nearby where you’re traveling through 😊.

It was so nice to catch up and we went to dinner at Dixie Bones BBQ where I got a loaded pulled pork potato the size of my face. It was very delicious 😋.

Thursday morning as we headed out we had to go through a lot more debris. It was a veritable mine field.

We made it to Mount Vernon, the property and home of George Washington. The estate was originally 8,000 acres, today it’s only 500 acres. It was still very impressive and beautifully maintained.

We continued on to Washington D.C. As we got closer we could see the Washington monument and Capital Building from the water. Our marina was right across from a joint military base and there was a steady stream of aircraft flying overhead.

Friday we took the scooters to downtown D.C. We started at the National Archives. It was really incredible to be able to see the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights, and too many other documents to name.

We then went to the White House Visitor Center. It was interesting to learn about the different stages of construction and additions it went through to its current state. There were also many items on display that were once kept in the White House by different Presidents.

Back to Constitution Ave. there were food trucks lining a whole block. We grabbed a quick lunch before heading into the Museum of Natural History. Such a massive space, with soooo many different fascinating things to see. My favorites were the fossils, rocks & minerals. So cool!

They even had rocks from the moon brought back from different shuttle missions, and the Hope Diamond, which was definitely impressive 😲.

Going through the whole museum took most of the rest of the day, and by the time we were through we were ready for dinner. We headed over to The Wharf. Located along the Washington Channel of the Potomac, there was a nice boardwalk with a bunch of restaurants. We picked Lucky Buns. A burger restaurant with very fun artwork and delicious burgers 😋.

Before heading back to the boat we stopped at the Praline Bakery and picked up some desert. Including this scrumptious rustic apple tart.

Saturday we took the Metro as far as we could out of town towards Dulles. Don’s Uncle Greg lives not too far from here and was able to meet us. He was kind enough to pick us up from the end of the Metro line and we went to the National Air & Space Museum at Dulles Airport.

This place is huge! The size and number of aircraft they have in here is incredible! The space shuttle Discovery was particularly impressive

For lunch Uncle Greg took us to Good Eats Emporium. Living up to its name, the food was indeed very good, especially the almost donut-like rolls! On the way back to D.C. we stopped at a most intriguing Walmart. We have seen similar set ups in other big cities where space is at a premium. This one was located within a parking garage. You had to take an elevator or escalator to get to the store, and there was an escalator for grocery carts too. Call me easily amused, but I’d never seen one before and it made grocery shopping a little more entertaining.

Uncle Greg was nice to give us a ride all the way back to the marina with our groceries, and let us borrow his reusable bags. Unfortunately there was a soccer game that evening, and the marina is right next to the stadium, so traffic was a little extra.

Sunday we hopped on the Metro again, over to Arlington National Cemetery. We got tickets for the tram that takes you all around the grounds and stops at all the major viewing points. The cemetery is over 600 acres. The first stop was the Marine Corp Memorial.

From there we just walked to the Kennedy family grave site, which led us passed Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s resting place, along with Abraham Lincoln’s son, daughter in law and Grandson, who are all buried together.

Back on the tram and over to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The marble amphitheater was gorgeous and seeing it in person you can definitely understand why it is a favorite ceremonial spot.

We got to watch the changing of the guard ceremony along with a special wreath presentation ceremony with the Phoenix police department. Watching the guards performing their duties with such precision and dedication was a sight to see.

After that we went to see Arlington House. The grounds of the cemetery were first purchased by George Washington’s step (and eventually adopted) son, John Parke Custis, the son of Martha Washington and her first husband. When his son inherited the property, he decided to build a Greek Revival-style mansion there as his home and a place to display his large collection of George Washington heirlooms and memorabilia (furniture, silver, china, family portraits).

His daughter (Washington’s great granddaughter) would marry Robert E. Lee, in June 1831. When he became commander of the Confederate Army during the Civil War (awkward) the family had to abandon the property. The possession remained with the US government after the war and became the military cemetery we know today.

With that the tram brought us back to the visitor center at the entrance of the cemetery. We could see the Lincoln Memorial from here so we decided just to walk over the bridge. Once there we went to see the Lincoln, Vietnam, Korean War, and WWII Memorials.

After a jam packed three days, this morning we left D.C. and started back down the river. Along the way we passed another Looper heading up to D.C. and they snapped a photo of us as we passed.

Most of the debris had cleared thankfully, and we came back to Belmont Bay Marina. Don took a scooter ride to the auto parts store for boat stuff and I took the fluff for a walk through the wildlife refuge nearby. There were nice paths and a few ponds where Skia was intrigued by the turtles.

Once again the weather looks iffy for the next several days so it seems we will be taking our time getting back out to the Chesapeake.