We departed the one-time capital of the US the following day, and continued southward. It is at this point Gareth left, leaving me and Ben to unearth America together without him. Before setting out on the Interstate we filled up gas for the first time on the trip. Regarding gas prices, Americans seem to be in a constant state of panic over them rising, but if they were to see the prices of petrol in Britain they might have a small heart attack (although that might have something more to do with the food available).
We drove for some time down towards the present-day capital, DC. On the way we passed through Baltimore, which looked like such a great place to spend the day. Really colourful town, built on the harbour. However we'd arrived too late to really make the most of it, so we continued onwards. Our destination that evening was a KOA campground (basically the Travelodge of the RVing world.; you know what you're getting, reliable, and everywhere). It was a relief to spend one night with full hook-ups, proper showers and great scenery. Even more importantly it had giant chess, which was really missed on our previous nights spent in Walmart car parks.
We woke up early and drove towards DC, parked up in the suburbs and got the Metro into the centre. DC is built around the needs of the tourist. The National History Museum, American History Museum, Air and Space Museum, several art galleries, Lincoln memorial, Washington memorial, WWII memorial... are all within 20mins walk of each other, and all free. The Lincoln memorial was the most popular of the lot, and understandably so. It was strangely inspiring and moving, particularly considering I'm not American. The Smithsonian museums were also a good walk around. The Natural History museum is very similar to the one in London, good to look around, some really interesting insects, and a giant squid. But it was the American History and the Air and Space museums which were by far the best. They were heavily biased towards the three wars, (I, II and Civil), which was great for me as I could really understand and appreciate the exhibits, unlike the Natural History museum in which I just enjoyed the pretty colours. We also visited the National Archives, but they were sadly closed by the time we got there, however it was almost worth it to see the huge door. It was rather large.
DC provided us with some unique memories. We got to see the steps where Martin Luther King made his infamous "I have a dream" speech; the Wright Brothers' plane; artifacts from the first moon landing; the first US Revolutionary War battleship; and an actual filming location from Night at the Museum 2! Also whilst out in DC we did run into a few school/ college trips, and on bumping into a group from Virginia I got to witness my first ever "Oh my GAAAAAD, are you British?", which was simply amazing. And so it began...
We left DC with no specific destination in mind. We were hoping to just find somewhere to stop for the night as we continued our venture south. By about 10pm we came across a small town by the name of Clarksburg (the name of which we only actually found out in the early hours of the morning). We parked up behind a gas station and mooched into the (Irish) bar next door. On heading inside, before even buying a beer, two guys at the bar had introduced themselves and demanded we do shots with them. Chris and Brooke became our instant best friends for the night, allowing me to experience my first ever Baby Guinness (Baileys and Guinness shooter), introducing me to the Car Bomb (Tequila bombed into a glass of Guinness, and becoming co-creators of the Sponge-Bomb (Tequila bombed into pineapple juice). The rest of the night consisted of four guys getting drunk and finding the quirks of the other one's culture amusing. We ended up going round Chris/ Brooke's flat, playing some music and getting incredibly jealous at their standard of living.
The one lesson I have learned these past couple days (after visiting the memorials, the Smithsonian museums, driving several hundred miles in a couple days) will stay with me forever, and is something I want to pass on everywhere I travel next, and throughout England when I return home. It is simple: Sponge-Bomb's are awesome; do them; do them hard.
Again, have a video:
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