Washington DC Day 2

Another excellent day in DC. I woke up a little late but thought I could still make it to my 9:30am tour of the Washington Monument. I left the house about 9am. Not bad. I decided as I walked to Union Station that my best bet might be to take a taxi. When I got to Union Station, I realized it was Monday morning. There was a line of about twenty five people in suits waiting for taxis. Well there went that plan.. Plan B was to take Metro subway. It would take me two different rides and at this point in was 9:15. I hadn't given up yet. When I got down to the subway, I decided to pay a day pass. I put my day pass in the ticket slot and it spit it back at me and said see attendant. I walked over and the attendant told me the day passes start at 9:30. My heart sank. I figured my tour was now out of the question. I had about 10 minutes till 9:30 and I didn't want to pay for another Metro card. I went back up to see if the taxi line was shorter. Nope. So I decided on Plan C. Take Metro and see if there were any later tours available. I got to the Washington Monument at 9:50. By the time I walked up to the tour area it was almost 10 o'clock. As I was walking towards the Park Ranger, I noticed that there is a group of people sitting on a bench with a sign saying 9:30 tour. Next to them on the next bench it say 10:00 tour. I asked the Park Ranger if I was too late for 9:30. She said 'You just made, I am taking the last group from the 9:30 tour right now". Whew! I was soo excited. The view from the top of the Washington Monument was incredible. You could see each direction as if you were a bird. It was great to see the White House, the Jefferson Memorial, the mall, and the Capitol from 500 feet in the air. Check the pictures.. so cool. It got even better on the elevator ride down. When you go down, the frosty windows on the elevator doors turns become see through and the elevator slows down so that you can see a collection of stones built into memorial the represent different states and differnt countries. Each has a unique design that represent that state/country. I was unfortunately in the middle so I was unable to get any good pictures.

After the Washington Monument, I grabbed a quick bite for lunch. I had a wonderful salad that had mixed greens, goat cheese, figs, roasted corn, walnuts, and grilled chicken. Yum!

Then it was off to my Capitol tour. The building, like many historic buildings in DC, was incredible. Our tour leader was a cute old lady that knew a lot and was funny as well. We got to see several rooms including the inside of the dome, the crypt (where Congress wanted George Washington to be buried but he decided against it) and the room which original held the House of Representatives but know is a statue room that is used for special events. I decided after my tour to head over to my House representative to get passes to view the Senate and House galleries. The House was not in session but I was able to go in and see the House. It was much smaller than what I had imagined. I then went to view the Senate which was in session. When I got into the gallery, I encountered the senator from North Dakota giving a speech about oil. There is not another senator on the floor. There is a someone sitting at the front as well as several clerks. The man at the head looked beyond bored. He reminded me of some of the .teenages boys I saw with their families during the Capitol tour. Several of the clerks were on their computers and were also obviously not engaged in what the senator was saying. I stayed about ten minutes before I realized I had to leave before I nodded off.

Across the street from the Capitol is the Library of Congress. I wanted to check out the Library gift shop. I had been to the Library of Congress on my last tour so I didn't feel the need to spend much time there. When I walked down to the lower level where the shop is, there was a sign for a public tour at 3:30. I looked at my watch and it was 3:25. Well why not I thought. I hadn't done the tour the first time. Our docent was an older woman who's memory was beginning to fail. She was insightful at times and down right boring at times. The tour lasted about an hour and I felt luke warm about the experience. I then went to the shop and bought myself a mug (mugs are my weakness), a new water bottle, and gifts for my coworkers. I then headed back to my lodging to drop off my Library of Congress bag.

I saw a teriyaki place about a block from my lodging during my walk last night so I decided to check it out for dinner. I walked over and was delighted that they had teriyaki chicken breast and a nice selection of sushi. I ordered chicken teriyaki and a spicy tuna roll. I got it to go so I could come back and sit on the couch. The meal was very yummy. The grilled up a nice chicken breast and some vegetables and poured teriyaki over the top. It came with perfect rice and some great miso soup. The sushi was very spicy but good. I had enough left over to pack it up for lunch tomorrow. Score!

After dinner, I put on my tennis shoes and headed out to see the National Crime and Punishment. It wasn't free like most of the musuems in DC but it sounded right up my alley. When I walked in the door, there sat the VW bug of Ted Bundy. Creepy but cool! The museum was incredible..well worth the admission price. It went through crime chronologically, then walked through what happens after the crime. How are killers caught, what happens once they are caught, what is jail like, etc. The had a replica of a jail cell that you could go into which had a hole dug out of the back which you could crawl through. Fun! Then they had several rooms on the work of police officers. I got to sit on a replica police motorcycle. The light lit up, the sound of the engine reving occured, and the police siren turned on. Fun! The next floor was the CSI experience. Any fan of the show or of crime scene investigation will drool. YOu first walk into the scene of the crime, then walk through the process the police go through to solve it. They have a replica medical examiers lab (including an autosopy table with dummy victim). The last floor is the studio of America's Most Wanted. Very cool. John Walsh has done great work in bringing criminals to justice.

The minute I walked out the door of the museum, my ears were greated with music. It felt like I had been transported to New Orleans. I walked towards the music to find a group of men on the corner playing. It was incredible. I took video for your pleasure.


Next stop was Ford's Theater and the house where President Lincoln died. The visitor center was closed but it was worth the walk to see the buildings.

That was my day. I did end up with my first blister. My legs and feet are super sore. I still have Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of exploring. Yikes. Thank goodness for IB and band aids. I am off to bed (should have been there about an hour ago) I have to be up at 5:30 to be at the White House at 7am. What a great finish to Washington DC. Then I am board a train for Philadelphia.

Talk to you tomorrow. Love to everyone! Below is a link to Day 2 photos.

Wahington June 21, 2010

Day One: Washington DC

The first day is coming to a close. I am sitting here with a half cantelope with yogurt and blueberries from Whole Foods. Yum! I had an incredible day.

Before I tell you about the days events.. I just wanted to take a moment to say Happy Father's
Day to my poppa. I feel pretty darn lucky to call him my poppa. Thanks poppa for loving me no matter what, for supporting me in both good and bad times, and for being a good friend to me. Oh, and thanks for picking such a great step mom!! :)

I flew out of Seattle Saturday night @ 10pm. I was hoping to sleep on the plane but between the old married couple next to me talking very loudly and the bumpy plane ride, I think I got about 2 hours of sleep. When I was waiting for the flight out of Seattle, I ran into a fellow classmate who was taking the same flight as I was. He was going to see family. This made the two hour wait in Seattle and the hour wait in Newark go by faster. When we landed in Baltimore, the pilot announced that the current weather was 82 degrees. It was only 9am. I knew that the weather forecast of high 90s was going to happen. I had worn long pants, a t-shirt, and a zip up short sleeve sweatshirt. Eeck! Since I had checked my bag, I could simply slip into the bathroom and change. I then took an Amtrak from Baltimore Airport into Union Station in DC. The path I am staying at is about two blocks from Union Station. Those two blocks felt much longer due to the heat and my choice of clothing. I started dragging my duffel and ended up putting a small hole in it.

The place I am staying is really nice, super convienent, and the owners are super nice. If I come back to DC, I hope I can stay here again. After checking in, I took a quick 20 minute nap and then decided to hit the town. Though I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I decided to just start walking. I first walked by the US Capital. I don't think I had been that close on my previous visit to DC. It is such a beautiful building. I am looking forward to my tour tomorrow. The grounds of the capital have several fancy water fountains. I uploaded pictures of a few of them. I then walked over and checked out the US Botanical Gardens. Very cool. Though going into the Jungle Room seems a little goofy when the weather was 90 degrees out.

I then walked part of the mall. I walked from the Capital to the Smithsonian. I stopped in at the Museum of Natural History. One of my favorite museums. They have several new exhibits. It was super super busy. I think people wanted to be in the air conditioned buildings. I checked out the new Human Origins exhibit, the new Ocean exhibit, and then went and saw the Animal and Dinosaurs rooms. A large tour group came in and I decided to move on. There is one more exhibit there that I hope to check out tomorrow if I have time.

After leaving the museum, I walked the outdoor Sculpture garden and enjoyed my 3rd bottle of water. I thought about heading back to the rental but I had dinner plans in Dupont Circle at 5pm which was only 2.5 hours away. I knew the National Zoo was close to the restaurant I was meeting my friend at so I decided to check out the Zoo. I love seeing the pandas, gorillas, and big cats. I think humans weren't the only ones trying to stay out of the heat as most of the animals were hiding indoors. I did get to see the cheetas, gorillas, zebras, and the sloth bear. The other great thing about the zoo was they had misters. It felt so great to walk through a fine mist of water.

After the zoo, I headed down to Dupont Circle to have dinner with a friend. It was great to catch up with her and dinner was fantastic. We both filled up on sushi for $25.. for both! Can't beat happy hour sushi. After dinner, we decided to take a little walk. She took me down to Georgetown. It was fantastic to talk a walk through this old neighborhood. Even the manhole covers were fascinating! We then took a walk down to Whole Foods (yum!) and got some goodies. I picked up a half cantelope filled with blueberries and some yogurt (the one currently in my laps know almost all gone).

She then walked me back to the subway and I head back to my lodging for the evening. I decided to take a little walk around the neighborhood before settling in. A lot of the houses are exactly the same townhouse style buildings. It is fascinting to see how people differentiate the buildings through paint, landscaping, and porch/yard art.

That was my day. I have uploaded pictures. I am up early tomorrow to go to a tour of the Washington Monument and then the US Capital. Still haven't decided what to do after that. Off to read the guide books. Oh.. and I only have about a 1 1/2 by 1 1/2 spot of sunburn on my back. Pretty good for being out in 95 degree weather for several hours. :) Talk to you tomorrow. Good Night!

East Coast Adventure 2010

All Packed!

All Packed!

What a day. I started packing this morning but soon realized that no matter how I tried my clothes were not going to fit. I did a quick trip to the mall and found a nice wheeled duffle at Ross for $25.. (score!) but also picked up a cute carry on bag, a new pair of Teva sandals and a cute little dress. After grabbing a quick bite at Jimmy Johns and depositing some checks into the bank, I came home and finished laundry. Everything fits into the new duffle......just barely. I likely could have got rid of a few things but hey the bag is zipped and ready to go. I checked in for my 10:30 flight online and paid the $23 to check my bag. I know I know. It sucks but totally worth not having to wear the same underwear twice. :) The weather forecast for DC tomorrow is 95 degrees. Quite the change from the balmy 65 degrees in Seattle. I realized I made no plans for the early afternoon tomorrow. I will see how it feels and either spend the time in Museum of Natural History (air conditioned) or maybe go to the national zoo. I am meeting my good friend Eloise for a nice sushi dinner in the Dupont neighborhood at 5. She graduated from the UW MLIS program last year. We used to go to lunch weekly and I am looking forward to catching up with her. Well I am off to take a shower and make some turkey burgers for dinner. Then off to the airport where the adventures begin. Talk to you when I land on the other side of the US.

2010 East Coast Adventure

I leave tomorrow for my 2010 vacation. I can't believe it is here already. I started planning this trip in January. Time has flown. I promise to take lots of photos and provide daily updates.

Here is my schedule:

June 20-22: Washington DC
June 22-23: Philadelphia
June 23-24: New York
June 24-30: Providence

I am going to squeeze in a day trip to Salem and Boston as well.

I better go pack!