Washington, DC! It's the greatest place to be...
Washington, DC! It fits me to a T...
So, in August we went to Washington, DC... if you couldn't already tell what this post was about.
Daddy's actually there right now. He's been traveling there frequently. In fact, he returned the week after we came home only to be (1) shaken up by an earthquake, and (2) threatened by an oncoming hurricane. Craziness hit the East Coast with a vengeance this summer!
Well, we arrived in DC and waited for Daddy's flight to come in. From there, we went in search of our hotel during which I fell and tore my knee open. Upon finding the hotel, we procured every bandaid in our arsenal to patch the gaping hole in my leg. We then went to dinner in Chinatown (a block from our hotel) and wandered around in the gloomy weather. A block away sat the National Portrait Gallery, so we headed on in to look at the portraits and other artworks. After that, we went to the hotel.
The following day, I really have no idea what we did... excuse me while I look at photos to remind myself. Oops. This is embarrassing. Hold on.
Oh yes. The following day we went to Pentagon City to do some shopping. We then went from the mall to the actual Pentagon to visit the 9/11 Memorial. I found it rather crazy that it had been exactly 10 years since I'd been to both Washington, DC and New York City. It was a little emotional, but we paid our respects and went back to find some place to eat.
The next day, August 8th, was MOMMY'S BIRTHDAY! We celebrated by taking her out to eat at our FAVORITE place in all of Washington, DC: The Old Ebbitt Grill.
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| Best. Restaurant. Ever. |
Anyways, after we ate our delicious hamburgers, we decided to take a walking tour of the monuments. I led my parents because I seem to be the only one who remembers where everything is. Well, turns out Daddy, in all his years of traveling to Washington, has NEVER visited the monuments. Now that I think of it, every single picture I have of every single trip we've went on... he's not in any of the pictures. He's probably at work or something. That being said, I took them around to the Washington Monument, a stone's throw away from Old Ebbitt, down to the WWII Memorial, further down the (empty) Reflection Pool to the Lincoln Memorial, and back down to the Korean War Memorial.
We were on our way across Independence Ave. to visit the FDR and Jefferson Memorials when we noticed a commotion right across Daniel French Dr. There was a Chevy Tahoe parked on the running track and police and ambulance vehicles surrounding it. Turns out a pedestrian or jogger was run down by the Tahoe. There was a large crowd forming, so we went across Independence to where a softball game was being held and watched from afar. The park police cleared the field to make way for a helicopter to take the injured person to the nearby hospital. Mommy, unknown to us until then, actually has a bit of a morbid curiosity. She held us back to see what was going on. The helicopter then came and left, and by that time we had backed up so far, we were right next to the site of the MLK Memorial. I actually got some preview shots since whoever covered the statue did a poor job. A few seconds after the medevac helicopter flew away, the President's helicopter, Navy1, flew RIGHT ABOVE OUR HEADS. It came rather close to us and I shouted out at it and jumped and waved as if the Backstreet Boys had suddenly appeared. I hope President Obama noticed!
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| EEEEPPPP!!!! MISTER PRESIDENT HIMSELF!!! |
We made it to the FDR Memorial, and my tendinitis was acting up. I was definitely not wearing the right shoes for a 5 mile walk. We continued walking along the pond and up to the Jefferson Memorial when suddenly my feet decided it was time to die. However, we weren't done yet. We walked along the street back up to the Washington Monument when my feet actually did die. Mommy bought me a Gatorade to bring me back to life while Daddy hailed a cab to take us back. When we got to the hotel, I soaked my feet in bath water so hot it would make hell green with envy. It worked enough for me to walk around the hotel room without wanting to cut my feet off and I fell asleep soon after.
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| You try walking this route in Lela Rose flats with no arch support... |
The next night we ate at a blah restaurant with blah chicken. Seriously, it was blah. Not that great. We later got froyo and headed off to see the White House. While there, we took photos and walked around. I was looking for my beloved White House McDonalds, but alas. It was gone. 10 years had definitely changed the scenery... While looking upon the North Lawn, I saw a little bouncy dark figure emerge from the press area. After a few resounding barks, I realized it was none other than First Dog BO OBAMA! I was so excited and I let out a few "I love you, Bo!"s. He looked ready to play fetch but his bodyguard clearly wanted him to just do his business then return inside. He ran around, got some exercise, then went back in. I was so excited to have seen him. He's really cute and fluffy and cuddly-looking in person. We returned home.
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| Daddy: That guy's probably like 'I went to Harvard all those years just to pick up dog shit?' He's probably upset. |
The following day, Mommy and I travelled to the National Zoo! The best part? It was free as part of the Smithsonian. The worst part? It was like, a billion degrees outside. No matter how loose and floofy my clothes were, I was still gross and hot. We saw a few Amish there in full Amish garb and wondered how they were possibly alive despite wearing hot clothing in hot weather. My purpose at the zoo was to see some red pandas, but since they had just had some babies, they were inside for observation. We DID see some Giant pandas, but they hardly lived up to their name. I was expecting HUGE panda bears... that did Kung Fu. Mommy started to feel icky with her allergies and all, so we went home after spending a gratuitous amount of time in the indoor exhibits.
On our last day in DC, (we cut our trip short by a day because we were all dying from the heat and other ailments), we went to the Supreme Court. We had originally planned on seeing the Capitol building, but Daddy was more set on the SC, so we changed our plans. We stopped at the Art Museum first, then went on to see the SC. It was rather impressive and I actually knew some of the answers to the guide's questions. I felt smart. Thanks, Brian Williams!
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| You're welcome. |
That night, we met some family at an Irish pub in Virginia for drinks and dessert and it was good to see them. I hadn't see Daddy's cousin since... yikes. I don't even know when. I got to finally meet his kids and they were so adorable! His wife was also really sweet and seemed like a wonderful person. I wish they lived close enough so we could see them more often. They were a blasty-blast!
After drinks and desserts and Harry Potter and fun times, we returned to DC and turned in for the evening. The following morning, we flew out and came home to find the Sequoia infested with ants. Great.
Well, hope y'all enjoyed my run-down of our trip to DC. Thanks to Mommy buying me a new camera cord, I can share photos with you!
<3 Ally
