Washington D.C.

Since my graduation in May, I have 3 trips under my belt..... Asia, the U.S. Open, and Atlantic City.  Next up, our nation's capital- Washington D.C.  The crew for the trip, my sister Rachel, my cousin Lindsey (who was at the end of her annual visit to NC), and Fabio Lemos. (He was an exchange student of our family in 2006 and was in the middle of a 5 week visit back to NC.)  I wanted to take Fabio somewhere cool during his stay, Lindsey loved the idea from the second she heard it, Rachel had never been and wanted to go, and I just love D.C.- great idea for all parties involved.

Me, my sister Rachel, cousin Lindsey, and Fabio in front of the White House

Fabio arrived at the end of June and Lindsey arrived on July 11th for a 2 week visit.  On Wednesday the 13th, the 3 of us began the journey to Raleigh to pick up Rachel (Who was somehow continuing her studious ways in Raleigh.... I thought we graduated Rachel??? Just kidding, I know you need the classes) We stayed in Raleigh on Wednesday night and headed out for D.C. on Thursday evening.  The drive took about 4 and a half hours and Rachel and I decided to switch off driving.... I took the first leg because Rachel needed to study.  After a refueling stop for the car, our stomachs and Cal (an inside joke) I continued to drive.  About the halfway point, I just decide that I'm driving the whole way and about an hour from D.C., Rachel's mouth is open and she is dead asleep.  "Some people just weren't built for life on the road."  We got on the outskirts of the city around midnight and a drive through D.C. at night is awesome, everything is lit up and you can see all the monuments.  We arrive at the Renaissance Hotel at about 12:30 on Thursday night.  Rachel booked adjoining rooms for us and.... nope, no adjoining rooms- not that big of a deal, but one of the few times we were lied to on the trip.  We call it a night after catching an episode of Friends in the hotel room with Fabio.  (Did you know that the 6 main cast members made a million bucks an episode in their last season?  Thanks Wikipedia)

Friday morning started about 9 am followed shortly by an awesome breakfast.  We decided to buy a 48 hour bus pass that covered 3 routes through the city.  They went through almost all of the major monuments and museums, the White House, the Capital Building, Arlington National Cemetery, and plenty of cool places throughout the city.  The pass allowed us to hop on and off as many times as we want until the buses stopped running at night.  (Little to my knowledge, they stopped running at 6)  We started off on the wrong bus line, but quickly got the train back on track and headed out to do the the tourist thing.  First stop- the White House.  The perception everyone gets is that the White House is off by itself away from everything.  Sure, it sits back a little from the road with a huge front yard, but it is pretty close to everything else.  Interesting to think that arguably the most important person in the world lives in the middle of a city.  

The White House

We then paid a visit to the White House Visitor's Center, one of the underrated places in D.C.  It gives you a glimpse of what life is like inside the White House for the family of the President.  You can see the layout of the White House and follow its transformation throughout history.  Below is a fun fact about Abe Lincoln's son

Really Tad?  Your Dad didn't save the Union or anything

Next up was a trip to the National Archives, where the original Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, and Constitution are all held among many other cool things and tidbits of history.  No pictures were allowed inside because the flash from the cameras can ruin the material.  To be honest, they were really cool to see but you couldn't hardly read what they said.  What if we have been following the wrong rules for 200 plus years?  Our founders probably messed up a word during the document, realized they didn't have erasers or a new piece of paper and just said screw it, let's just figure this out later- I would rather fight those assholes from Britain anyway.

During our tour, the bus had an audio tape narrating the ride around the city.  While passing by the Japanese Internment Memorial from World War 2 and not actually seeing the memorial, the audio tape went something like this... (After they bombed Pearl Harbor, we put some Japanese living in the United States into internment camps because we were going to war with Japan.)   

Tape:  And on the left is the Japanese Internment Camp Memorial.  The memorial is two Japanese cranes entangled in barbed wire to signify their ability to rise above anything.......   

Me:  So, what a minute, what was their Memorial and what did it mean?  And where was it anyway?  Are they talking about cranes to building something with?


During the late afternoon, we made a stop at Union Station- the huge train station in the city.  Next came the Air and Space Museum, my favorite museum in D.C.  Anything dealing with space exploration, the planets, airplanes, time travel, and you know, air and space- it at all rests here.

The planes hanging from the ceiling

Rolls Royce Engine anyone?

Rachel beside a few astronauts

So after getting done with the Air and Space Museum, we went outside and waited at our stop for the bus to come for about 25 minutes.  Lindsey was about positive the buses weren't still running.  This was about 7 pm and I was sure the bus was still running routes.  "It's 7 o'clock, we are in Washington, and I have done this before."  I was the only one who had done the bus tour before so I had to be right, right?  No, not quite.  I check out the website for the bus tour company and sure enough, the bus doesn't run after 6 pm.  Lindsey gave me immortal hell for the rest of the trip and probably deservingly so.  

Nope, that bus isn't coming

So we walked over to the Washington Monument, the tallest building in D.C. (No buildings are allowed to be taller than 110 meters, or about 10 stories).  The monument commemorates the state of Washington and how they won their independence from China.  Or maybe it was built in honor of George Washington, our first president.  The monument can be seen from so many places within the city.  We tried to go to the top of it, but tickets were impossible to get, so the bottom was as close as we got.

Washington Monument from the bottom

Right in the same area as the Washington monument is the World War 2 Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.  The Vietnam Memorial is the famous black wall with the names of everyone who died during the war.  I wasn't even alive during it but walking past it is a moving experience.  Every name on there was a person just like you or me.  The Lincoln Memorial is awesome and has the Gettysburg Address and his 2nd Inauguration Speech on the walls right by Lincoln sitting in his huge chair.  From the Lincoln Memorial, you can the see the Washington Monument and then in the reflecting pool between the two. (But it was under construction so the view wasn't as good as usual)  We walked around and saw these 4 items and caught an interesting picture of the front of the White House somehow during this walk.  (Yes you can see the White House from there)  If you look closely on the upper balcony, there is someone sitting up there.  By process of elimination and the people who are even able to hang out up there, it might have been Obama.

2nd floor balcony in the middle..... Has to be Barack

World War 2 Memorial

Vietnam Memorial 

Rachel and Fabio in front of the Lincoln Memorial

Abe Lincoln

Me crushing the Washington Monument from the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial

Rachel holding the monument with the moon behind her

We watched the sun set from the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial, took about 75 pictures of me crushing the Washington Monument and then set off to find food.  Our phones found a pizza place about a half mile away, Bella Pizza.  We followed the GPS to the pizza place to find..... nothing.  We asked around and no one had ever heard of a Bella Pizza.  Hmmmm, so we found a cool restaurant and ate outside on the streets near George Washington University.  We grabbed a cab back to the hotel afterwards and Fabio and I had a drink at the hotel bar.  We attempted to get on the roof shortly afterwards, but unfortunately the door was locked that led to the roof- probably a good thing.  Day 1 ended with plenty of walking and quite a few places visited.  Fabio and Lindsey both claimed to have very sore legs but to their credit, we were all pretty damn tired.  

Day 2 began with breakfast at the same spot as the day before.  Then it was on to the American History Museum, which houses the American flag that flew over Fort McHenry in Baltimore during the war of 1812 with those damn Brits.  (But no pictures) This inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner as the British retreated.  Also inside are exhibits on the history of the food packaging industry, our water transportation system, and info about some famous assassinations and other crazy events in our nation's history.

Making a cameo appearance for the D.C. trip for Saturday afternoon and evening, drumroll................ Rob Olson, aka Rob on the Cob.  I went to stay with Rob for the US Open in Northern Virginia a few weeks ago.  Now he decided to be a tourist for a day and joined us for the afternoon.  We got a tour of the Capital Building, where the legislative body of our nation does business.  The House of Representatives and the Senate are here and we got a short tour of the place.

The Capital Building

Rob in the background, and definitely my best look

The old business room for Congress.  It got too small so they put statues in it and let us go in, not a bad deal for tourists. 

Rachel really wanted to go to the Holocaust Museum, one of the better museums in D.C., but I had been a few months earlier.  Rob and I decided to go the American Indian Museum and then onto the Natural History Museum while Rachel, Lindsey and Fabio attempted to go the the Holocaust Museum.  Come to find out you need a tour time- so a no go at the Holocaust Museum, at least for now.  We met up at the Washington Monument and then went to the Jefferson Memorial and then the Franklin Roosevelt Memorial along the Tidal Basin in D.C.  The Jefferson Memorial has a huge statue of Thomas Jefferson in the middle (Imagine that) along with a famous speech or words of wisdom on 4 walls.  We met a friend on the trip, Charity, who was from Columbus.  Lindsey made small talk with her and she joined us for a few hours.  Charity was in D.C. for the summer and gave us the rundown on living in D.C.  Charity, I hope you hold true to your promise to read this.

Rob and I giving Fabio the rundown on Borat, he had never seen the movie until this point.

Jefferson Memorial

Thomas Jefferson Quote- Something to think about

Fabio following asleep, Rob, Lindsey, and Charity at the Jefferson Memorial 

Next, we wandered onto the FDR Memorial, my favorite in D.C.  It is secluded along the Tidal Basin (Small body of water that comes inland from the Potomac River) and covers a few acres.  He is the only president to serve more than 2 terms, and has a different section for each one of his terms in office.  Every other memorial has about two or three things to look at, while the FDR has plenty of famous quotes and statues along the memorial.  Right by the Jefferson and FRD Memorial is the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial that is still in the process of being built.  

FDR Memorial Entrance

Bad times in the Great Depression

The view from the FDR Memorial

Martin Luther King Jr Memorial in process of being built

After the run of memorials, we went to a pizza joint in the downtown area near the Verizon Center where the Washington Wizards play.  After eating, Rob says his goodbyes and catches the metro back towards his place.  Fabio and I decided to go into a bar that I had been to earlier that year with Rob, Bub and Josh Yoakum.  It was a huge sports bar below another building so it had a basement bar like feel.  After 1 drink, we decided to roam the streets and see where the night took us.  As we are wandering near Chinatown, a guy approaches us who claims he is homeless.  Now, I have seen plenty of homeless people in my life, and this guy was the cream of the crop of homeless people.  He was dressed in decent looking pants and a nice t-shirt.  Hell, he even looked like he had shaved that morning, and on top of that, I might have even smelled cologne on him.  He didn't hardly make direct eye contact with us at any point and it seemed like he was watching out for someone the whole time, like he was doing something wrong.  Our conversation went something like this.....

Supposed Homeless Guy:  Name any country in the world and I will tell you capital and the major political events.

Me:  What?  

SHG:  Name any country and I'll tell you the capital

Me:  (Slightly startled) Any country in the world? (He nods) Ok, France?

SHG:  Paris, French Revolution, WW2

Me:  Spain

SHG:  Madrid, Spanish American War, mumbles a little more.  Come on test me a little bit

Fabio:  Colombia?

SHG:  Bogota

Me:  South Korea

SHG:  Seoul, Korean War, Cold War

Fabio:  Azerbaijan 

SHG:  Sarajevo 

Me and Fabio:  Laughing, that can't be right can it?

SHG:  Look it up, I promise you it's right.

Me:  Well i'll be damned, good call.

SHG:  You know, i'll tell you boys, knowledge isn't about how much you know, it's how much you remember.....

Me:  (Thinking.... Thanks for the words of advice, homeless guy)  Looks like you have it all figured out man.  How bout Equatorial Guinea.

SHG:  Come on man, you're pushing the limits, how the hell am I supposed to know that?

Me:  Gotcha!

SHG:  How about a few bucks to help a brother out, come on guys.

Me:  Ok, that was pretty impressive to be honest with you, here's 3 bucks.

The supposed homeless guy saunters away and Fabio and I look at each other and just start cracking up. We rehash the event like 10 times on the walk back, laughing the whole way.  I'm not against giving the homeless money, but if they stand out or do something unusual, I'm much more likely to give them money- you know, like knowing the capital of every country, singing really good, having a good sign, (One in Raleigh said, "Dying for a cheeseburger, help me out") or having a cool hat.

Definitely the 2nd best homeless guy experience in my life.  The best being in downtown Atlanta at 3 in the morning with Bub and Allen Bradley.  We can't find a cab and after about 20 minutes of searching, we decide to walk a mile and a half to our hotel.  A homeless guy we had been talking to claims he is going to sleep on the other side of town so he can wake up in a good area to ask for money and joins us for the 30 minute walk.  I score a pair of bright yellow sunglasses from the guy for a few dollars and he provides the entertainment for the walk, telling stories that couldn't possibly be true, singing, and making jokes about us.  About halfway through, he says he is going the other way, bids us goodnight and walks the opposite direction.   

We went to sleep on Saturday night fairly late, but not without attempting to get on the roof again.  After failing miserably one more time, we call it a night.  Rachel and Lindsey decide to check out the Holocaust Museum on Sunday morning (For the 3rd time), while Fabio and I sleep in until check out time.  I grab the vehicle and meet them nearby for lunch in Georgetown (The super nice area in D.C.) where we can watch the final of the U.S. Women's soccer game against Japan.  Well, needless to say, I was highly disappointed by the outcome.  (We were up a goal with 10 minutes left in regulation and let them back in, and then we were up a goal with 8 minutes left in overtime and Japan scored again.  It came down to penalty kicks and they beat us)  Rachel and Lindsey went to the D.C. cupcake shop during the middle of the game, (supposedly they have a tv show on some random network) and brought a few back.  I have eaten plenty of cupcakes in my life (My mom and Rachel do make pretty damn good cupcakes) but these were incredible.  Carrot cake anyone?  

Following the disappointment, we headed to Arlington National Cemetery before the haul back to Raleigh.  Arlington is the site of Robert E Lee's old house that overlooked the city. Following the Civil War, it was turned into a national cemetery.  It is the resting place of John F. Kennedy and some of his family including his brother Robert Kennedy, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (To commemorate any soldier who went missing in action or any soldier whose body was not found in war) as well as thousands of soldiers, military members and their families.  Arlington is such an amazing place to visit and we got to witness the changing of the guard for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  It is patrolled by a guard at all times of the day and supposedly the training is very intensive and a couple month ordeal.  I have a good video of it, but finding a good connection on the road it tough.  I will upload it when I can.   Rachel and Lindsey both said it was their favorite part of the trip.

The Cemetery

JFK Quote with Washington Monument and the city in the background

JFK Tombstone

After Arlington, we set back towards Raleigh on Sunday night.  Lindsey, Fabio and I dropped Rachel off, stayed Sunday night, and then drove to the lake on Monday afternoon.  We spent Lindsey's week at the lake riding jetskis, learning how to do backflips into the water, relaxing, and playing plenty of board games.  What a great trip and thanks Dad, for making it all possible.  (You screwed me on that round of golf before I took off on the road trip by the way, I had been playing good as of late.  Hell, I haven't shot that bad since the '90s. )  D.C. is one of my favorite cities in the world and visit it if you have the chance, it's only about 5 or 6 hours from NC.  It has a cleaner feel than most big cities, and best of all, all the memorials and museums are free.  Stay tuned for the post from Ryan and now Cassie Kelley's wedding, my annual trip to Wisconsin to see my dad's family, and the post for week one of the road trip.  I am a little behind in the posts, but hopefully I will have a few out in the next week.  So long for now.