Category: Family (Page 9 of 13)

Okay, I’m about a week removed from my trip to The District. All in all, I’d say it is a great place to vacation. I’d even consider living close by maybe. We saw tons, and there is still lots more to see. But here are some bulletpoints that came to mind while I was there:

• DC may be the most diverse place I’ve ever been to when you consider all the tourists.
• I’ve no clue why people from Bangledesh and Peru want to take pictures of a statue of Abe Lincoln.
• Having a laptop and a hotel with free high speed internet is now a must on vacations (helps with numbers, maps, directions, menus, schedules, prices, distances, movies, email, blogs, facebook, newspapers, espn.com, and instant messaging.)
• The Yellow Line seems to be the slowest of the Metro Rails.
• But the Metro Rail system is a nice way to get around.
• The burgers at Five Guys are big and HUGE!
• The burgers at ESPN Zone are pretty good too, and still HUGE!
• But if you walk around all day, I think it doesn’t matter how big of a burger you eat.
• 75% of people on the streets in China Town smoke when they’re outside.
• China Town has a lot of non-chinese people in it.
• Could almost be Africa Town at some point.
• I didn’t meet anyone named George in Georgetown.
• But I think Georgetown is a really cool place.
• But I could never live there….real estate is WAY above my means.
• Georgetown U is pretty cool too. A pretty diverse campus. And they have mad school pride. Part of me wishes I’d gone there.
• I like the Circulator.
• National Community Church is doing some great things there in DC.
• Most of the “nice” people in DC seem to be from the South.
• It’d be cool to do a segway tour of DC. But those things cost over $5k.
• Seems people either run (lots of runners around Capitol Hill) or smoke (lots of smokers everywhere.)
• If I liked coffee a lot, I’d probaby hang out at Ebenezeer’s Coffee House.
• But if I wasn’t in that area, I’d be okay. There seemed to be about 1.5 million Starbucks around DC.
• Somethings look smaller in person. Some look bigger.
• Jason Bourne is a very bad man…in a good way, of course.
• I wondered if George Bush always looks that happy to see people on the sidewalk or if he was genuinly glad to see ME.
• I want to read some books and watch some movies again that are based in DC since I know where stuff is now.
• If you can help it, try to fly into Ronald Regan Airport…it’s much easier/cheaper to get to your hotel from there.
• Most of the areas we went to were pretty clean. I was impressed.
• It’s really loud in both the Hard Rock Cafe and ESPN Zone.
• Stadium Seating is best for movie watching.
• There are cops everywhere in DC.
• Food is really expensive in the Smithsonian Museums.
• The Loews Theater in G’town gives one free refill on your popcorn and your drink. Now that’s awesome!

That’s it for now. Now I want to go back and spend more time.

Who wants to go with me?

I SLEPT IN ON A SUNDAY. Man, that’s the first time I’ve done that in a long while. I loved it. Actually woke up and watched a movie before getting out of bed.

We hit our new brunch stop in the Air/Space Museum and then set out for our biggest day walking yet. We spend a little time in the American History presentation in the Air/Space Museum. The actual American History Museum is under renovations right now, so they put a few of the most popular items in there. It was quite impressive. I’d like to come back to see the whole collection some time later.

We walked to the Jefferson Memorial. We passed the Holocaust Museum, but the line was out the door. So we kept moving. After the Jefferson Memorial we walked all the way to K Street and 14th to get on the Circulator Bus. I’d been wanting to go check out Georgetown University and this was out best option instead of walking (ha ha! more to come on that).

So as we moved through Georgetown (the neighborhood) to get to the University. As we rode and then walked through impressive areas with shops, row houses, and expensive cars we admired most of what was around. But as we approached the campus we could hear someone singing. We could see a huge wall surrounding the campus. As we approached a gate there was a buzz in the air too.

We walked in and rounded the corner and saw literally thousands of students. The SAC Fair was going on. Yes, the SAC Fair!!!! I didn’t know what that meant either, but I saw signs up everywhere. Turns out it’s the Student Activities Commission and they have TONS of student organizations set up tables and try to recruit students to their causes or social gatherings. There were the very serious to the very silly and all things in between.

I started to try to see how many free t-shirts I could drum up posing as a student. But decided against it. But I was really looking at the Hoya Habitat for Humanity one. I did score some Tootsie Rolls while The Wife got some cotton candy. Then I had to go by the bookstore to get a Georgetown t-shirt. I’ll wear it proudly. I can see why people have some Georgetown pride. Seems like a great placed to go to school.

Then we hightailed it out of there to go to the theaters and watch The Bourne Ultimatum. Good movie.  We left the theater to walk along the Waterfront. Lots of shops, dining, and a fantastic view where you can see into Virginia and a little of DC. So now comes more walking…

We walk to the JFK Center, then up to Washington Circle, and then to DuPont Circle. From there we start back south and pass The White House, and decide since we’re fairly close we’ll go take a picture of a restaurant called Ella’s Fired Pizza. Would have eaten there but we were full of popcorn (the theater gave you one free refill…now that’s a great theater). Then back south yet again to the hotel. I added it all up and we walked probably over 12 miles today.

Back at the hotel. A little US Open, a little hot chocolate. And a little blogging. Now it’s almost midnight here in The District. Our ride to the hotel is supposed to be downstairs at 7:30am. If it doesn’t then we’re here in DC for longer than intended.

All in all, it was more than a fantastic trip. We saw tons, but discovered many more things to still see or spend more time on. I would love to come back and spend more time. There are lots more pictures I’ll put up and some short video snippets that will show some surroundings and encounters too. I’ve still gotta tell the story of seeing The Prez, and I’ll have a general review of Washington and things I learned while here.

So after sleeping longer than I expected to, the day started in a dark hotel room. But soon after we set out. We breezed through a few places as we were finding out feet. But we hit what I call “Monument Row” or something. We walked The Mall then saw the Washington Monument, The WWII Memorial, The Reflecting Pool, and the Lincoln Memorial. There were tons of people there taking pictures of Big Ole Linc. I took a picture of people taking pictures of people by Linc. It made me wonder how many digital cameras are in the DC area at any given time. TONS! You see tons of point and shoot cameras, and then plenty of SLR’s too.

Also while up at the Lincoln Memorial I was struck by how many different people there were there. I wished there was some sort of bubble or indicator over each person’s head to tell where they’re from. Some are obviously not from the US, but others look like they could be locals but are definitely not speaking English. There was one point when I bet at least a fourth, maybe a third of the people around me were not Americans. I guess they have a big interest in Lincoln and all things USA.

We moved on to the Vietnam Memorial, then started walking up Constitution Avenue. It says it’s a Snow Evacuation Route…but snow was far from anyone’s mind. It was HOT! We witnessed a wreck (nothing bad) as we turned up 17th St. to head towards La Casa Blanca.

We actually got to see The Prez. I’ll put the details in a further post, but suffice to say that it was unexpected and sort of weird all at the same time. If it really was him in that limo, he seemed really happy to see us standing there on the street corner. And all the foreigners around me were really happy too. You’d think royalty was passing by, which to them…I guess he is pretty close. Love him or hate him, he’s one of the, if not THE, most powerful men in the world.

So then we pass on to check out the Hotel Washington with an outstanding view of the DC Skyline from it’s rooftop restaurant. Then we hit the White House Visitors’ Center. Then stand outside Ford’s Theater (which wouldn’t be famous w/o a certain murder happening there) before realizing we were wiped out and needed to go back to the hotel.

After watching a little US Open in the room, getting cleaned up and rested, we… Continue reading

Here are a few quick pics from today around The District. But a better update and explanation of our day to follow later tonight.

This is at the Lincoln Memorial. Lots of people up here snapping pics. The Wife is reading some stuff on the wall. This red headed lady is looking the other way while hair tries to escape from her pit.

Me in front of my new friend’s house. I saw him today and he waved very excitedly towards me. I think he wants to be better friends. I’ll show you a pic later.

Outside of the WWII Memorial

Pretty obvious…

From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial looking back over the Reflecting Pool towards the Washington Monument. The Capitol is just behind the Washington Memorial.

We walked a few dozen miles I think looking at lots of stuff, taking lots of pictures. I’ll put some more up later, but we’re about to head out for supper.