As America Turns 250, Mr. Ed Goes to Washington

The last time I went to Washington, D.C. was to march in antiwar demonstrations. To be clear, we’re talking the Vietnam War, back when Richard Nixon was president, so this was more than half a century ago. Identifying the nation’s capital with the U.S. government, I despised D.C. and never had a desire to return there. However, in March, The Progressive Magazine offered me an all-expenses-paid roundtrip from Los Angeles to Washington in order to cover a March 27 protest in front of the Kennedy Center against the Trump regime’s censorship, spearheaded by the Committee for the First Amendment headlined by Jane Fonda, Joan Baez, Billy Porter, etc. .

So, putting aside my antipathy towards what Washington represented to me and having a longtime family friend there who offered me hospitality for a few nights, I extended my stay and was off on the road to DCA, which I learned was Reagan National Airport. Contrary to my preconceived expectations, much to my surprise, I soon discovered that Washington, D.C. is simply a sensational travel destination.

Thankfully, despite my trepidation regarding all the TSA turmoil at airports at the time, I was pleased to find that the passenger lines were their usual length at LAX and had no problem getting to and boarding my nonstop American Airlines flight, which departed and arrived on time. Descending around 8:00 p.m. EST at Reagan National, from on high I spied some of America’s top manmade landmarks – the Jefferson Memorial, the Capitol Building – and experienced that thrill one has upon seeing in person, with one’s own eyes, familiar places or people usually only seen on screens.

After overnighting at my old pal Nat’s chateau at DuPont Circle and catching up on my badly sleep, I checked in at the Comfort Inn. Although I arrived two hours before check-in time, I was immediately given a room. The front desk service was extremely helpful, and the complimentary breakfasts ample. The only problem I had there was connecting to the Comfort Inn’s Wi-fi, which was vital for my raison d’être of visiting D.C. in the first place, but which I was able to do with the assistance of the hotel’s front desk personnel.

As it turned out, the Comfort Inn was quite centrally, conveniently located in the Downtown DC/ Convention Center area, and was within walking distance of several events on my itinerary. As it had been 50-plus years since my last trip to Washington, I decided to kill two birds with one stone, combining my getting a sense of the lay of the land with sightseeing. I went by foot to the closest stop on the Blue Loop of the Big Bus situated near America’s most historic theater (more on to follow). The buses run about every 30 to 45 minutes, and after cooling my heels, I boarded a double decker bus to tour some of the landmarks in the nation’s capital. Part of the top floor of the bus was roofless, and much to this Angeleno’s delight, I was able to ride outdoors on a sunny day, although it was only early Spring. This also turned out to be what Washingtonians called “Peak Cherry Blossom Season,” so not only was I in luck in terms of location, but also regarding timing.

From my elevated vantage point, snugly ensconced atop the double-decker, we ambled through the traffic to the National Mall and more, observing some of America’s most iconic sites. Plugging headphones provided by the Big Bus into a jack, pre-recorded narration discoursed on the historic locales unfolding before our eyes. We passed the Beaux Arts style Willard Hotel, whose celebrated guests have included Abraham Lincoln before his inauguration and of which novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne said in the 1860s it “more justly could be called the center of Washington than either the Capitol or the White House or the State Department.” With its Greek-inspired Ionic colonnade, I recognized the U.S. Treasury Building from the back of the $10 bill. (Our Republic’s early architects often emulated the architecture of ancient Greece and Rome, which seems very ideologically appropriate today, as America more and more resembles the Roman Empire in decline. But I digress…)

With glimpses of the White House in the distance, the Big Bus made its way through the slow-moving traffic, past the Ellipse, crossing Constitution Avenue. Opened by Pres. Obama in a 2016 ceremony, the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s distinctive design incorporates aesthetics of the Yoruba people from Nigeria and Benin, West African ancestral homelands of many U.S. Blacks. Remarkably, admission to all of the Smithsonian Institution’s 17 branches is free of charge, but this museum is one of three Smithsonian properties that require timed-entry passes (available in advance online).

Continuing south down 14^th St. we experienced unobstructed views of the Washington Monument, ringed by fluttering flags, which was pretty glorious. I flashed back to the last time I’d seen this 555-foot-tall obelisk, when hundreds of thousands of peace protesters mobbed the National Mall, circa 1970. From afar, a distant figure, longhaired Abbie Hoffman, provided comic relief for the Revolution. On a stage in front of the Washinton Monument the Yippie agitator quipped: “Here we are in front of the world’s biggest hard-on.”

Amidst gales of guffaws, Abbie kvetched, “It’s getting hot. Do you mind if I take my jacket off?” After the throng responded “No,” the purported member of the lunatic fringe removed his tribal style fringe jacket, revealing his banned American flag style shirt. Undaunted by the prospect of getting busted again for wearing this garment which had been outlawed as unpatriotic, the Chicago 7 co-defendant, who literally wore his politics on his sleeve, dutifully placed his right hand over his heart as Abbie drolly recited: “I pledge allegiance to my shirt and to the United States of America…” Alas, the multitude’s laughter didn’t levitate Nixon’s White House.

Rolling on, the sprawling World War II Memorial unspooled beneath us in West Potomac Park. Fountains bookend the Rainbow Pool in between granite pavilions etched with the words “Atlantic” and “Pacific,” denoting the two theaters of war where millions in the armed services fought to make the world safe for democracy, with support on the homefront. Opened in 2004, the WWII shrine is a fitting tribute to “the Greatest Generation,” and what is arguably the last war when the U.S. was unambiguously the good guy.

Celebrating an American who, without any ambiguity whatsoever, was certainly great, the Lincoln Memorial appeared, honoring the Great Emancipator. Godlike, Honest Abe is encased inside a Greek temple-style building composed of Yule marble, surrounded by 36 fluted Doric columns. Near the memorial to the president who wrote “The Emancipation Proclamation” at the National Mall is, appropriately, an oversized statue depicting a Jewish socialist – Albert Einstein – on the grounds of the National Academy of Sciences. The 12-foot bronze tribute to the great physicist was sculpted by Robert Berks and unveiled in 1979.

The Big Bus glided past the Korean War Memorial, which includes “On Patrol,” 19 statues of soldiers sculpted by WWII veteran Frank Gaylord. This is a fitting landmark to set the mood for our next stop, as we cross a bridge, leaving the District of Columbia and entering Virginia, where we halt at Arlington National Cemetery, final resting place for 400,000-plus veterans and family members. They range from legendary figures, notably PT 109 Naval vet John F. Kennedy beside an Eternal Flame paying tribute to our slain president, to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

En route to my original embarkation point, we drive past 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., experiencing a bird’s eye view of the truncated White House, the statue of a horseback Andrew Jackson in front, heavy equipment presumably for demolishing the East Wing visible, and behind, in the distance, the Washington Monument. Currently the domicile of a convicted felon who rules like a criminal with utter disdain for domestic and international law and is likely the most despised man on the planet, my prayer to levitate the Executive Mansion was, alas, no more successful than the levitation incantations of Abbie Hoffman and 70,000 antiwar demonstrators at the Pentagon on Oct. 21, 1967.

I loved the Big Bus’s exciting Blue Loop excursion, which offers all ticket buyers the “Hop On + Off” option. With the exception of the two and a half hour “America’s Sunset Tour,” passengers can purchase tickets priced for one, two or three days of unlimited hopping on and off the double-deckers between the hours of operation (9:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.) in order to explore on-foot the fascinating venues our capital city has to offer citizens, residents and overseas tourists alike. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to disembark and stroll about, nor was I able to take advantage of my ticket to also traverse the Big Bus’s other scenic circuit, the Red Loop, which includes views of the U.S. Capitol, the Jefferson Memorial, and more. As Hamlet lamented: “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio!”

But I was dispatched to D.C. on assignment, not to sightsee, so after being dropped off at the same stop where I’d originally boarded, I hoofed it back to the Comfort Inn and dressed for an unforgettable party I had somehow been invited to at the Riggs Washington D.C., a luxury boutique hotel, which originally was a bank when it was constructed in 1891. As the annual Pink & White Party, co-presented by Laurent-Perrier Champagne, was cherry blossom-themed, attendees were asked to wear those eponymous colors. Luckily, my humble abode was, again, walking distance of the Café Riggs, and even luckier, my plus-one was a Nordic beautiful blonde broadcaster whose companionship was as five-star as the Riggs Hotel.

As the champagne and conversation flowed freely, she and I managed to sit at just about the only place where partiers could in the overflowing, mostly standing room-only soiree, where waiters and waitresses served drinks, caviar and other canapes. From time to time, I rose to partake of plates of sushi and other delectable appetizers at tables across the brasserie. A female server at the sushi station, as well as another young woman providing drinks, were uniquely clad, sporting cherry blossom crowns. Her head adorned with a fantastical floral arrangement, the bare shouldered beauty with elbow length white gloves dispensing champagne wore a kind of hoop around her hips; but instead of bearing a 19^thcentury petticoat or cotillion gown, the hoop-like contraption held multiple glasses of pink and white bubbly. I had never in my life beheld such a surreal scene, which looked like a whimsical René Magritte painting come to life.

With delicious food, drinks and a charming, brilliant partner, a good time was had by all. But having seen only a handful of cherry blossom trees so far during my Big Bus tour, the exquisite Riggs’ Pink & White Party left this Angeleno more determined than ever to get the most out of peak cherry blossom season in Washington, D.C. I’d be a blooming idiot if I’d crossed a continent at this time of year, only to miss out on one of the most spectacular natural sights our nation’s capital has to offer.

SIDEBAR

DESTINATION D.C.: For travel info plus free visitors guide and map, contact: https://washington.org/; (800)422-8644.

COMFORT INN DOWNTOWN DC/CONVENTION CENTER: 1201 13th St. NW, Washington, DC, 20005;https://www.choicehotels.com/district-of-columbia/washington/comfort-inn-hotels/dc601; (202)682-5300.

RIGGS HOTEL: 900 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20004; https://www.riggsdc.com/; (202)638-1800.

BIG BUS TOURS: https://www.bigbustours.com/en/washington-dc/washington-dc-bus-tours.

CITY CRUISES: https://www.cityexperiences.com/city-cruises/.

MT. VERNON: For info about George Washington’s estate see: https://www.mountvernon.org/.

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE: 1400 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, D.C., 20560; https://nmaahc.si.edu/.

AMERICAN AIRLINES: https://www.aa.com/homePage.do; (800)433-7300.

METRO PLANNER: For info about Washington’s extensive public transportation system see: https://www.wmata.com/schedules/trip-planner/