My Trip To D.C. and New York Part 1: Washington D.C.

I spent the whole week of June 5th in Washington D.C., and New York City. But I must admit that I needed more than these two cities. However, my time in the two cities was one of the best memories I will never forget. Everything was fantastic and glorious. D.C. is full of history during the daylight. New York is luxuriant at night. Both cities brought me back to many memories of two cities in Vietnam that I had the chance to visit. Hanoi and Saigon. I must share the stories of my short vacation the week after I returned. But since the story of Trump’s indictment was too big, I had to follow the news flow to write more posts about this big story. I will write about my short vacation in D.C. and New York this whole week. I hope that after this week, anyone who wants to travel to D.C. or New York can learn something and be prepared for your trip. In this first post, I will talk about D.C.

Washington, D.C., is the capital of the United States of America. This is the place where the laws and the legislation are created. It is funny that I saw a few friends and family members make a mistake when they thought Washington D.C. belonged to Washington State. But it is not right. D.C. doesn’t belong to any state. It is a compact city on the Potomac River, bordering the states of Maryland and Virginia. I wanted to go to D.C. for a long time because I was always interested in history and politics. As I used to share with you before, I work for Voice of America as an intern. I also have a dream to be a journalist for the Washington Post. I took the chance to go there to visit both places. I arrived in D.C. on the night of June 5th at Baltimore Washington Airport. I was so exhausted after the flight, but I had to get on a Lyft for 45 minutes to get to D.C. When I arrived at the hotel to check-in, it was almost midnight. Since the Eastern time is 3 hours ahead of the Western time, I could not sleep at all. When I could be able to sleep at about 4 a.m., it was 6am when I woke up. I wanted to save time for myself, so I decided not to sleep anymore. I took a shower and began my day in D.C.

The first place I visited was the White House, the Executive branch. Sitting in the car and watching each house as we passed through a neighborhood, they all had a unique structure I had not seen before. But one thing I could tell was that it was a Democratic neighborhood because, on each lawn, there was a “Black Lives Matter” sign. I arrived on the north side of the White House, which was probably the only side where the tourists could take pictures. In front of the north side is a road no car can drive. It is only for the walkers. I love it so much. Standing in front of the White House, I could see the enormity of it. It is completely far from what I thought at first. There were so many presidents coming in and out of this House (of course, many of them were not deserved to be in that House). It reminded me of the Independence Palace in Saigon. Unfortunately, I could not be able to get inside the White House. I didn’t know that I could be in the White House. I asked a tourist who was waiting in line for their turn to get inside the White House. She told me I had to contact my Representative to get permission to be in the White House. The request must be made 21 -90 days ahead so that your Representative can have enough time to respond. The next place I went to was the Washington Monument. I could not believe in my own eyes how big that Monument was. It was built in 1848. I could never imagine how they built such a high tower like that in the past when technology was not born yet. I am impressed.

But the next place that amazed me the most was the United States Capitol, the Legislative branch. I took a walk from the Washington Monument to the Capitol building. I must say it was worth walking. Arriving at the Capitol building, I first said, “Oh My God!” It was like a big castle to me. As I walked to the Capitol building, I felt emotional when I reflected on what happened on January 6th, 2021 to the Capitol building. But it was just the front side of the building. I walked to the other side, and oh, heaven, it was impressive. The structure was designed very well to make this place a historical place where many laws had been made and changed the history of the United States of America. I didn’t know there was a tour to get inside the Capitol building, which was completely free. I could understand why because they called it the house of the people, so people have all the rights to be inside the building. Usually, the tourists come with a group. But I went all by myself. Don’t worry about making a reservation. You can come in anytime you want without passing the closing time. There is a security check when you enter the building, and you cannot bring the water inside. I don’t know why. Then, you will go down to the lobby, where many people are in line for their tour. They will assign you which tour you will go in, which means a tour guide will take the whole group to see the Capitol building. You don’t need to worry if you go alone. It doesn’t matter. As long as you are in a tour group they assign, you can visit the Capitol building. Before the tour begins, you will go inside a theater and watch a video introducing the Capitol building. It takes 35 minutes to see the Capitol building. By now, I have to open brackets here; it is not the whole building. They only take you to some specific places that the tourists can be able to visit. If you are lucky enough, you can enter the House or the Senate chamber to see if they are in session. But you also have to get the pass from your Senator or Representative, just like the White House. You will see the Dome, the Rotunda, the heart and center of the Capitol, many statues of important figures in the United States of America, and history. I am telling you this. You have seen nothing yet until you go to the Capitol building. The building was built on September 18, 1793, and completed on November 17, 1800. Only 7 years, the Capitol became an important place for the nation. Standing in front of the Capitol, I would never believe in my eyes that it could be done so fast like that because it was gigantic and impressive. It is not only about the building itself. It was about the architect and the art. When you go inside, you will see each detail on the wall, on the ceiling, and on the floor is a piece of art that only a genius could make possible. I cannot tell you how much I love that place. Another thing I saw in the Capitol was the interns. Everyone I saw inside or outside the Capitol building or on the street wore a suit. They all look professional because they are the lawmaker of this nation. I looked at the interns (I could tell they were interns because they looked young) and realized that some would be future leaders. For anyone who loves history like me, the Capitol is the best place for you to come.

After visiting the Capitol, I walked to the Judicial branch’s Supreme Court. This place has witnessed many important cases that changed the course of history forever. On the top of the Supreme Court building was a saying, “Equal Justice Under Law.” Everyone deserves equal law, and no one is above the law. After that, I had lunch with my friend. I had lunch in D.C. near the White House for the first time. The food was fine. After lunch, we walked to many historical places. The Ford Theater, where President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. The Washington Post headquarters. The Vietnam War Veterans Memorial, which it writes all the names of fallen heroes during that war. And finally, we went to Lincoln Memorial. It reminded me of the temple in Greece where they worship Greek Gods. The event I remember the most is when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. read the “I have a Dream” speech in 1963. It had been 60 years since that day. The statue of Lincoln sitting like a king sitting on his throne looking outside is meaningful, as if he is watching the whole nation.

I am sure there are so many places in D.C. I had yet to be through. But those are important places that I had to visit. For transportation in D.C., the best way you can do it is by bus or by metro. All you have to do when traveling by metro in D.C. is look carefully for the station you are heading to. By that, you can get off the metro without getting lost. If you don’t want to, you can travel by Lyft or Uber, but they are expensive. Consider carefully before you go. There are many hotels in D.C., but if you book ahead of time, like a month, it will be cheaper. Or you can book any hotel outside D.C. for about 20 minutes; it will be fine. That is all the D.C. trip I can tell you. I have one more place to talk about in D.C., which I will share in the upcoming post. In the next post, I will discuss the New York trip.