Murthy's Blog

Early next morning (16 May 2005), we left Youngstown for Washington DC. We traveled through the inner roads, which had quite a few loops and turns and were slower than the interstates. The drive was through wooded and dense forest area. We took nearly 10 hrs to reach Washington DC. The last 15-20 miles to Washington DC was simply marvelous and most enjoyable – A great welcome to any visitor entering the capital city of the world’s most powerful nation. We stayed in a hotel in College Park, Maryland, very close to the University of Maryland. We were tired, but managed to go out to an Indian restaurant for dinner.

The next morning, we took the metro train from the College Park station to Union station (which is a hub of most transportation activity in the Washington DC area). Washington DC is a very beautiful city with majestic buildings. Our first stop was to the Capitol Hill and the Senate office buildings. We then went to the Botanical Gardens, which is a greenhouse of plants from all over the world. Next to the Air and Space museum The Air and Space museum is a store house of exhibits that relate to all air and space activities of the world, starting from the Wright brothers flight to the state of the art technology in air and space discoveries.

Our next museum stop was the National Art Gallery, which had a number of paintings from world-renowned artists, costing a few hundred thousand dollar each.

On to a visit to the Museum of Natural History. This museum gave a glimpse of all one wanted to know on the evolution of living beings, environment, ecology, etc. It was a treat to watch the gems and precious stones section in the museum. This part of the museum deals with the geological features of the earth and how precious stones are formed.

A lot of effort has gone into creating and developing these massive museums. Of these, the Air & Space museum and the Museum of Natural History stand out. It is indeed a great learning experience.

We went around the entire city in the evening and saw the White house from as close quarters as possible. The FBI building, the World Bank offices, various other Government offices and memorials. Overall, it was a memorable experience today also.

Right opposite the barricaded portion of the White house, there were protestors of all nationalities. They were demanding a halt to American intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere in the world.

That evening one of our close Doctor friends took us on a drive to Massachusetts Avenue - the ultimate in affluence.

Today (18 May 2005) we visited Potomac City in Maryland and returned to Washington DC to see some more places, which we couldn't see the previous day - the Washington Monument, World War II Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial, etc. Later in the evening, we had a conducted tour of the University of Maryland at College Park. Another beautiful university, which exudes knowledge.

We took it easy next morning and left around 10:30 am for Blacksburg. En route, we stopped at the new facility of the Air and Space museum, near the Dulles International airport. This museum is six times bigger than the Air and Space museum at the National Mall (the area where all the museums, monuments, etc are located in Washington DC). Approximately 315 million dollars would have been spent when the construction gets completed (6 months from now). This is the ultimate in exhibition of air and space power of the US and other nations.

The rest of the drive back to Blacksburg was through picturesque and well-landscaped terrain. It appeared to be a very long unwinding road. We reached home at 6:30 pm quite tired. I must mention a word about my daughter’s driving capability. She had clipped close to 2000 miles during the last few days. A great achievement by any standard. Next time I will ensure that I have my International Driving License to share driving load!!!