Washington, D.C.

Is it just me, or is the lighting in the Washington, D.C. subway stations extremely erie?  Anyone who has had a childhood should know that lighting from underneath, like faces with flashlights around a campfire, creates an instant ghost story--or in the case of the Metro, a 70's sci-fi flick where aliens abduct unsuspecting passengers for study on their home planet.

Thankfully, Cam and I managed to avoid the aliens and enjoyed the almost-plush seating and cleanliness of both the Metro system and the city as a whole (at least, the touristy parts that we managed to visit during our 2 1/2 days there).  I'd like to scoff at the lack of cracked pavement and weird sewer smells (psshhh this isn't a REAL city, real cities smell bad!) but I can't help myself--it was really nice!

Something we learned, though, is that cramming as much sightseeing into one weekend as possible does not make for a very relaxing vacation.  Friday we did the Air and Space Museum in the morning, Chinatown for lunch (sadly we couldn't find any mambo/mumbo sauce, but the food was still delicious), and the Holocaust Museum in the afternoon--after wandering around near the capital building, discovering that the Botanical Gardens were already closed, and checking out the Navy Memorial, we were too worn out to do anything besides trek back to our hotel in Crystal City to shower and grab dinner nearby at Legal Seafood.  Dessert was chocolate cake and a (decaf) irish coffee back at the hotel, which put me right to sleep.

The Holocaust Museum was as memorable as it was depressing--very well done.  I'd recommend it to anyone visiting D.C., and I'd also recommend making some time afterwards to sit on a bench and eat some ice cream.

Saturday we missed our scheduled walking tour of the National Mall because we couldn't find a new breakfast place quickly enough after seeing the absurd line outside of Lincoln's Waffle House (And here we see the under-caffeinated hungry monsters emerge from hiding, stalking their prey viciously and without remorse, determined to destroy everything in their path until food and caffeine is provided...).  Eventually we ate at a french bakery with delicious omelets--at which point it was raining, so we probably didn't miss out on much on the tour.  Our morning was better spent inside at the Natural History Museum, which we may not have had time to see otherwise.  The human evolution exhibit was definitely my favorite.  Once the rain stopped, we caught a glimpse of the White House and hung out at another memorial (there are so many, I lose track...).  We met friends for a late lunch at Ben's Chili Bowl (try the chili cheese fries--yum!) before heading back out to see MORE memorials (Lincoln, Korean War, Vietnam...).  My feet are still sore!      

Sunday we let ourselves sleep in before having an early lunch in Georgetown at Tackle Box (I finally got my lobster roll!), visiting the Marine Memorial and taking a (rather brisk) walk through Arlington Cemetery.  We then spent an absurd amount of time in the airport because our flight was delayed 2 hours--I don't fly much, so maybe I've just been having terrible luck this summer, but I have never flown on American Airlines and NOT experienced a delay of at least one hour.

Today I am back at work and still trying to process everything.  I will upload the pictures on my camera tonight, after I hit the gym to work off some of the delicious food I ate over the weekend!

Overall it was a really great trip! (Insert cheesiness about getting to spend it with Cam d'awwww). Someday I would like to go back to see everything we missed--but first, I think our next vacation should involve a lot less walking and a whole lot more sitting on a beach :)