Washington, DC, isn’t at the top of everyone’s bucket list when it comes to travel. Its glitzy east coast neighbour, New York City, and the west coast sass of Los Angeles are far more appealing to many visitors to the United States. President John F Kennedy once rather drily described Washington as “a city of southern efficiency and northern charm.”
With that in mind, my friend and assistant editor, Harry Stevens, had little expectation of anything other than work, work, work when we headed out to cover the US presidential election last month. Having previously paid a visit to the capital, I had other ideas.
Breakfast television hours can be brutal. Even more so when you’re broadcasting from a different time zone. The five-hour difference meant we were working when most of our colleagues were sleeping and we could have easily spent our daylight hours doing little more than dozing and revising in preparation for the next day’s programme.
But the best time to visit DC is “the fall” – and I didn’t want to miss it. The warm, sunny November days promised fewer tourists and a visual spectacular as the trees clung on to their canvas of colourful leaves. Then there were some of the most famous buildings in America to explore – the brilliant white marble against a clear sky, the sun hung low, was quite a sight to see.
My first stop – as always – had to be the Mall. Harry wanted to check in to the hotel and check out what was expected of us from our colleagues back in London, but I convinced him there’d be plenty of time for that.
“Let’s stroll down the Mall while we can,” I suggested. “You’ve seen it on the telly, it’s where the crowds gather on inauguration day. See it as research for January if you like.” Harry was reluctant but knew that indulging me early on would be the best for both of us; and so we headed out at dawn while everyone was still asleep.
As we walked the two miles from the Capitol Building, via the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, the sun hadn’t yet had time to warm up and it was still very nippy, so we walked quickly to keep out the chill. Pausing briefly, we took a couple of photos of the Hill before determinedly striding out again along the grassy thoroughfare, which will attract around a million Americans for the swearing in of President-elect Joe Biden.
We were stopped in our tracks at the sight of a rare albino squirrel. “Wow, I’ve never seen one of those before,” exclaimed Harry as we tried not to scare it away before snapping a couple more photos. By the time we completed our two-mile yomp and reached the tribute to Washington’s 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, Harry was thrilled that I’d convinced him to put on an extra layer and join me on a whistle-stop tour of the town – or at least he said he was.
Other tourists were beginning to gather as we posed for the obligatory shots on the steps of the Greek Doric-style temple. Looking back towards the Washington Monument, we even attempted the tourist’s favourite optical illusion trick of picking up the tribute to the country’s first president. It sort of worked…
Two weeks later, we were sitting in the shade of that obelisk as the news broke that Joe Biden had been declared the winner of the election. A ripple of excitement started along The Mall and it soon seemed as though the whole town was chanting, singing, dancing or hanging precariously from the sunroof of a car on Constitution Avenue. Disgruntled Trump supporters gathered at the White House a few days after that to demonstrate their anger and frustration at what they viewed as a rigged result.
But as we worked our way through the two weeks that built-up to that moment, we had an itinerary to plan, and Harry was keen to make the presidential home our next stop. Viewing the White House can be disappointing. It’s no longer an easily accessible landmark – one of the reasons I had wanted to start our tour on The Mall – and I tried to manage Harry’s expectations about what we might be able to see. A troubled summer and concerns for the safety of the leader of the free world had led to 12ft-high metal fencing being erected around the grounds.
Nevertheless, Harry still wanted to try, and so, as we walked from the memorial across Constitution Avenue and towards 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Harry reminded me that the original building had been burned to the ground by British soldiers more than 200 years before, and I was impressed by the history lesson from my smart friend.
Sadly, the view was much less impressive. As I’d feared, photo ops were very limited, and worse, many of the surrounding buildings were completely boarded up in anticipation of further unrest in the capital, which had seen looting during the summer.
That could have put a downer on our adventure, but with two solid weeks of work ahead of us, I wanted to make sure Harry had a day to remember. “Let’s go to Georgetown for a walk,” I suggested. DC is pretty flat, so it’s easy to get around and there are plenty of scooters or bikes for hire for those who don’t fancy walking, but we decided that getting around on foot would work up an appetite.
• The best hotels in Washington, DC
About a mile or so from the White House, Georgetown is probably best known internationally for its 19th-century university – the oldest Catholic university in the US – although I was more interested in the designer shops and fantastic places to eat. After an exploratory stroll, we found a french restaurant slightly off the beaten track. By then, it was pretty hot and we chose to sit outside. “It’s raining in London apparently,” Harry said as he reached for the sunscreen.
After lunch, I was keen to indulge in a bit of light shopping – Harry’s cue to head back to the hotel and dive into a mountain of emails; check out the live location for the show and generally be brilliant at what he does.
For the next two weeks, we did little more than work, eat, sleep, repeat. Record audiences tuned in to see Sky break the news that Biden was to be the 46th president and Kamala Harris his Vice-President. Harris will be the first woman, the first African American woman and the first Asian American woman in the White House.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court justice who was a trailblazer for so many American women throughout her long, illustrious life, would have been proud. Sadly, she had died just weeks before the result, but I wondered if Harry might want to visit her last resting place before we headed home to London. “Love to,” he replied.
And so we agreed that our final day in Washington would end as it began; with an early start and a brisk walk along The Mall, past the Lincoln Memorial and over the Arlington Memorial Bridge towards Arlington National Cemetery.
The cemetery hosts the graves of more than 400,000 veterans and their dependants. Spread over 640 acres of rolling hills, most headstones are a uniform 2ft tall, white marble, and provided by the US government free of charge as a mark of respect for their service to their country. Most, but not all.
Two tributes stood out. The first was an imposing, black marble headstone marking the spot where Ginsburg was buried in September next to her husband. A little further up the hill was the Eternal Flame. The flame is a tribute to John F Kennedy, one of only two US presidents buried at Arlington – most prefer to be interred in their home state. JFK was originally scheduled to be laid to rest in Massachusetts, but had visited Arlington just eight months before his death and despite originally having mixed views about Washington, DC, he was overheard to say “I never want to leave this place.” I think Harry felt the same.
“The Mall retained a serenity”: A word from Harry Stevens
We landed in Washington, DC, with a mountain of work to do. My plan was to hunker down in the hotel and tackle a flood of emails.
However, Kay insisted we walk the National Mall, connecting the Capitol Building, the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. Throughout DC, businesses were boarded up in anticipation of unrest, but the Mall retained a remarkable serenity – defending an idea of America elsewhere buffeted by political reality. Maybe I was just glad to be off my work phone.
Despite the closures, we found superb places to eat. A favourite was Café du Parc, where Kay persuaded me to switch desserts from a fruit tart to a white chocolate pastry called a “Napoleon”. We returned for Napoleons daily.
As the election reached a conclusion, I aimed to catch up on the sleep that can be a rare commodity in the world of breakfast TV. Any reluctance at being dragged at sunrise to visit Arlington Cemetery disappeared as we paused in front of JFK’s Eternal Flame and by the grave of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I had the same sense there as on the Mall, of what’s called into question at moments of national significance, and what endures.
Overseas holidays are currently subject to restrictions – check the latest advice before booking and travelling. British Airways flies daily to Washington Dulles International Airport, with return fares from £529. British Airways Holidays offers flights and three nights at the four-star Kimpton Glover Park Hotel from £859pp, travelling in September 2021. Includes World Traveller return flights from London.
