Four states - one day: Washington D.C., Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania

Wednesday 09.06.

Cloudy weather with drizzling rain as we set off in Washington. The 4 nights including taxes and parking in the hotel cost us 800 dollars. Cheap it is not..

We first drive to Virginia and wanted to see the Pentagon Memorial, which was built there in memory of the 9/11 attacks. After all, one of the planes crashed into the Pentagon. We circle around the Pentagon - photography is prohibited. Parking spaces are only available to authorized personnel.

We see signs but cannot find any parking spaces that we are allowed to use, we see people in uniform, fences, and the Air Force Memorial - which rises like three ribs into the gray sky.

At 11:45 am, we give up the futile search for the memorial and start our tour that will take us to the Amish corner in Lancaster County.

First, we drive up to Baltimore, where we arrive in the rain and park the car at the Inner Harbor for an hour and 6 dollars in fees.

Walking around the harbor basin is not very enjoyable as the rain gets heavier. We see the USS Constellation, an old sailing ship, and another red signal ship from a distance. Quickly grab a coffee from Starbucks and jog through the rain back to the car. It's pouring down.

We drive a few miles off the highway on Route 25, which leads through gentle hills along great houses, estates, and farms. It's pouring down like buckets. We reach Lancaster around 4:00 pm - it's still pouring down. The city looks quite nice. The Central Market is closed, although it should be open until 4:30 pm. This old market hall is a sight to see in Lancaster - well, today is probably not our day. So we sprint back to the car, the water is running into the sandals in the front and out in the back. The thermometer shows 59 °F (about 15°C), it has never been this cold on this vacation.

On one of the outskirts, we find a Quality Inn, check in, and continue towards Strasburg. The Amish really drive around in black carriages (single-horse carriages) and in front of the supermarket, there are not only car parking spaces but also cross beams, like in old westerns, to tie up the horse reins.

Even by the roadside, there are traffic signs indicating the carriages. The people in the carriages are all dressed in black. Looks very strange.

We notice many small and pretty houses in Strasburg and also many German names on the signs. The Mennonites are descended from Swiss brethren, and the Amish are a splinter group of an Alsatian named Amann.

We find a steakhouse. There is also a modest group of young Amish sitting here. The girls with white bonnets.

At 9:00 pm, we are already in the hotel. Since we were in the Tanger Outlet next to the hotel before, we pack our bags a bit... My handheld luggage scale shows that we both have a lot of "air" left - which encourages further shopping attacks!

Today was the first day on this vacation when in the evening I felt the need for socks and sneakers. It's really chilly.

During the night, it continues to pour down, and for a change, we spend the evening quietly in the hotel, sitting on the beds, drinking a little bottle of wine from our plastic toothbrush cups, and watching HBO, which also does not have an exciting program. An early lights out.