It was a whirlwind trip and I'm kinda exhausted from it, but it was well worth it. Here's the breakdown of our weekend:
Thursday:
Paul, Kathleen and I headed to the airport around 5 pm for our flight. No problems at the airport (other than security being sure Kathleen had something hidden in her flip-flops and sweater which were scanned at least three times) and our flight was short and uneventful. From Regan we grabbed a cab to Dupont Circle where we were staying and our route took us past the Jefferrson Memorial, Lincoln memorial, Kennedy Center etc which was pretty cool since they were all lit up and it was getting dark. I thought it was a neat way for Kathleen to get her first glimpse of the city. The B & B is very cute and just as I'd remembered it from the other times I'd stayed there. Shannon had just gotten to the hotel (her flight was cancelled, delayed and delayed again) and we decided to head out for a drink. We walked down to the Circle and ended up at Buffalo Billiards where we sat and chatted for quite a while until Paul looked like he was ready to fall asleep in his beer (he'd worked all day while us three slackers/teachers didn't). So, we hiked back up the tremendous hill along Connecticut Ave to the hotel and promptly hit the sack.
Friday:
Kathleen had gotten us tickets to tour the Capitol through Senator Levin's office so after breakfast at the B & B she, Paul and I headed to the Russell Senate Building. Kathleen extolled the virtues of public transportation as she took her first Metro ride and I felt a twinge of missing DC. We made it to Carl Levin's office and two of his interns took us and some other visitors on an extensive tour of the Capitol. We even got to ride the little underground tram that runs from the Senate building to the Capitol and *just* missed seeing Hilary Clinton. It's funny, I lived in DC for two years but never did a lot of this stuff, I guess when you live there you just don't have time in the midst of your daily life. I think I might have been to the Capitol when my class took a trip to DC in 8th grade, but that was aeons ago and I don't remember a whole lot of the trip. Anyways, from the Capitol we then headed to lunch at Union Station (kinda a neat building architecturally) and then over to the Library of Congress for a tour. I'd done research in one of the LOC buildings when I was down in school there, (and didn't have the fondest memories of the LOC) but the tour was really interesting and our guide was great. We got to see a draft of the Declaration of Independence, complete with notes from editors such as Ben Franklin, and that was really cool. We also got to see Thomas Jefferson's personal collection which was very impressive. After the LOC we went to the Folger Shakespeare Library which I love (Still wish I could have done research there). After that I took Paul and Kathleen to see Chinatown and then she and I did some shopping at H & M at Metro Center while Paul went in search of coffee and a bookstore. By then it was nearing 7pm so we headed back to the Metro since we had 7pm dinner reservations at Thaiphoon (one of my favorite restaurants in DC). The food was great (mmm, pad thai) and Paul and Kathleen seemed to really enjoy it. Shannon had dinner plans with some former co-workers and I was a bit surprised that she wasn't at the hotel when we got back. I was happy to watch lousy tv (got sucked into watching the E True Hollywood story of Britney Spears), put my feet up for a bit and give Jon a quick call. However, it wasn't long before my cell rings and it's Shannon trying to get me to come to Georgetown with her so she can meet up with a guy she'd met in Boston a few weeks ago. I was tired but caved so she came back to the hotel, I changed and we got a cab to Georgetown. The Rhino Bar kinda sucked, I'd been there before but not during a major baseball game (the Red Sox were playing the Yankees) and the place was packed to the gills with rabid sports fans. We got a few beers and Shannon texted the guy she was trying to meet up with. Turns out, he and his friends decided not to go there and were at the Sign of the Whale in Dupont instead. Since Shannon still wanted to meet up with him, we got a cab to go back to Dupont where the other bar is. The place was INSANE. It's a small bar but was packed and there were people even trying to dance despite the lack of space to do so. We ended up talking to a few guys who all decided that I wasn't the fun one (I'm not, I'm ok with that) since I didn't want to dance (it was also totally not the kind of music I like) but it was a bit entertaining nonetheless. Shannon finally met up with her guy and I was totally unimpressed with him (he was drunk, lacked any kind of ability to converse and wasn't stunningly attractive to make up for his monosyllabic conversation). He too deemed me the un-fun one since I wasn't drinking at that point (too full from wonderful thai food). Eventually he and his friends disappeared which was no big tragedy to me but Shannon was kinda bummed by it (he wasn't worth it) and I was extremely grateful for not having to put up with meeting idiots at the bar at this point. We got a cab and headed home around 1am.
Saturday:
Tired from the late night but also looking forward to the plans on tap for the day, Paul, Kathleen and I headed to the Spy Museum to try and get tickets right away. Unfortunately, their morning tickets were sold out so we reserved tickets for the afternoon and went over to the National Gallery instead. We made the 10:30 am tour and got to see the highlights of the collection which included some beautiful paintings by Monet, Vermeer, Van Gogh, Renoir, Rembrandt and Degas. I think my very favorites were the Vermeers and getting to see the Little Dancer statue by Degas. From there I took Paul and Kathleen to my very favorite restaurant in Chinatown and had a great lunch even if we had to rush a bit to make it back to the Spy Museum by 1pm. I'd been to the Spy Museum before, but it was still really cool to see again even if it was really long (there's so much to see). We were pretty tired after that and decided a sit down and some ice cream would help with the fatigue and heat (it was in the 90s and humid all weekend, ah the joys of building a city on a swamp). We came to the conclusion that heading back to the hotel for a bit of a rest would be a good idea since we had plans for the evening and it would probably be a late night. Around 7pm the four of us walked over to Lauriol Plaza for some of the best Mexican food ever and wonderful frozen sangria/margarita swirls. The restaurant is enormous but it was still packed. Luckily we only had to wait about 15 minutes or so for a table. Dinner was fantastic (Paul tried quail) and we had a great time chatting about school, students, co-workers, bachelorette parties and people watching. From there Paul and Kathleen headed to the National Mall to take pictures of the monuments at night and Shannon and I went to U Street to grab some drinks. We ended up at Stetsons and got to sit on the back patio which was really nice. It was really good to catch up with her and I wish we could manage to hang out more than once or twice a year. Paul and Kathleen had said they might try to meet up with us but I didn't hear from them so I'd assumed they'd gone back to the hotel. Shannon wanted to meet up with another friend of hers and I was tired, so I grabbed a cab back to Dupont and was shocked when I got a text from Kathleen that she and Paul were just leaving the mall (it was after midnight). If I were them, I'd have taken a cab but they took the metro which took them forever since there were so few trains running at that hour. I don't think they got home till after 1am.
Sunday:
Again, a tired morning but there was still a lot to do. After bidding Shannon farewell, Paul, Kathleen and I headed to the Washington Monument since Kathleen had gotten us tickets to go to the top (again, something else I'd never done before). Unfortunately, it was the hottest day of the weekend and the humidity was through the roof. Luckily the monument is air conditioned (to my surprise) and they let us go up earlier than our ticket said. It was really cool seeing everything from that high up and i could even see Catholic U from there which was neat. After that we hiked over to the Air and Space museum and Paul was in his element (though even he laughed when I said that the reason some plane's engine made the sound it did was because it was full of bees). We then went back to the National Gallery to go to the gift shop which we hadn't gotten to the day before (I got some really cool stuff with Mucha prints, he was an awesome art nouveau artist) and as we we were leaving, it was starting to sprinkle. We walked to the Archives-Navy Memorial metro stop so we could go to lunch at Gallery Place (only one stop, but we were hot and it was gross out) and in the time it took to go one stop the weather changed tremendously. We got to street level at Gallery Place and it was pouring, not just a bit, but thunder, lightning and torrential downpour. Luckily, that metro stop has a canopy so we were able to wait for it to let up a bit which only took 10 or 15 minutes. From there we ran to Gordon Biersch (another of my favs in DC) for lunch. Despite eating too much and the three of us being in a bit of a food coma haze, we went back to the Mall area to see the Newseum which I'd never been to. It was SO cool, all about journalism and media and such. We got to see huge panels from the Berlin Wall, the flak vest Bob Woodruff had been wearing when he got hit in Iraq, an antenna from the top of one of the World Trade Center Towers, and historic newspapers going all the way back to the beginning of journalism in the US. I wish we'd had more time there but the museum closed at 5 and we had to get back to Dupont to get our bags and head to the airport. Although we'd originally talked about taking the train to the airport all of us were exhausted enough at that point to say to hell with it and take a cab which was much more easy. No problems at the airport and before we knew it, we were back in Detroit.
It was a fun trip but, as you can see, exhausting. I'd totally do it again though and I'm glad Paul and Kathleen had a fun time. It was neat seeing Kathleen's reaction to all these things since she'd never been to DC before. I also really liked getting to take them to some of my favorite restaurants in the city and the only places I didn't get to show them that I wished we'd had time for were where I used to live (although Paul has seen it) and Adams Morgan. Oh well, maybe next time we go:)
Gel V-Nova Feminino GEL V-NOVA Funciona ?
6 years ago
