Our Brief Stop in Washington

On our way to Ohio on the train with Lukey and Kenzie back in June, we took a route that passed through Manhattan, then down to Washington and then down into Virginia before heading westward and passing through West Virginia, into Kentucky, and then up into Ohio.  Lukey and Kenzie have already been with us in Manhattan quite a few times but this would be the first time we continued on to Washington with Kenzie and Lukey, our Amtrak fanatic grandchild who was looking forward to finally pulling into this station while in an Amtrak sleeper car.

We had about a forty-five minute layover at the station in Washington which I knew was just enough time to head up into beautiful Union Station and then wander out to the street so Lukey and Kenzie could actually see a bit of Washington.  We'd have to keep our pace up but I knew we could fit in this short excursion through the station.  I've been here many times but this would be a first for all my travel companions on this trip so I knew I should show them this station and then point out some of the sites from the street view.  

Fortunately, this was a couple of months before all the absurd, needless and wasteful presidential interference and visits to this beautiful station so everything was pristine and beautiful, as it has always been before this needless current presidential interference and creation of intentional chaos.  

As much as Lukey wanted to visit Washington, he was also a bit hesitant to leave the train for fear of being late in getting back to the train and boarding before it departs.  This turned out to be a valid worry which I'll explain in a little bit but, really, 45 minutes is a long time for a quick tour of a train station so we headed down the platform toward the escalators taking us up into Union Station.  We told our sleeper car attendant what we planned to do (which was also her advice anyway but I wanted her to know where we were headed) and we started walking down the platform toward the station...

You know...  I'm just thinking...  I never did ask Lukey and Kenzie what they thought of this rather unique and historic train station.  They've been on a rather long guided tour through Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan (I was the guide) but Union Station in Washington is a bit different, unique.  Our visit was rather short but they did see quite a bit of this large train station.

When you step outside the main doors of Union Station you are looking directly at The Capitol.  It is just a short walk to the Capitol and the National Mall but we didn't wander farther than this...

Below, we are looking toward the Smithsonian National Postal Museum.  This is a popular scene location in many movies...  "My Fellow Americans" with Jack Lemmon and James Garner comes to mind first (at the far end of this arch-covered walkway).  Actually, the station platform was also a scene in very many movies too.  This view, below, is an iconic and unforgettable view though...

So, as we were making our way back toward the escalators to get back down onto the platform where we could board our train again, I noticed the long line of people lining up to board our train and I immediately realized that Lukey had a valid concern when we left the train!  Now I was a little worried because I hadn't thought about so many people waiting in line to get to the platform.  Maybe Lukey was a bit right to be worried!

We quickly by-passed all the people in line and headed back to the hallway where we had come up on the escalator from the platform and then I remembered that it was a single one way escalator going up only...  I didn't know where we could go back down.  I hadn't thought of taking note of that when we arrived at the station!  I did take note of which track we were on and which escalator we used but I didn't think about how we would get back down to the platform when the escalators were going up only!  I definitely did not want to go back to that long line of people waiting to board the train.  In this moment, I felt a bit foolish.

As I stood there thinking for a few seconds, a few nearby station employees overheard my realization about the escalator and pointed toward a door telling us we could take the stairs.  Sure enough, right through this doorway was a staircase leading us back down to the platform and our train.  We got back to our sleeper car with plenty of time to spare but I was kicking myself for not paying attention to how to get back down to the platform once we got up to the station. 

We were provided a nice view of the Washington Monument as we were leaving Washington and heading toward Virginia via a tunnel under 1st Street behind The Capitol then curving past the Washington Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, and across the Potomac River into Virginia...

It would have been nice to spend about three or four hours in Washington to walk the National Mall and show the kids the major sites but at least Lukey and Kenzie got to see more than just the platform out our roomette window during our very short stop.  And, with our little one-way escalator snafu, it should have been a memorable short tour!