My Trip To Washington, D.C.

If you don't wanna read, and think a picture is worth a thousand words, the pics are up on shutterfly.

Last Friday, I left chilly Denver for chilly Washington, D.C.. Had no real issues with my travel, though my connection in Atlanta was tighter than I would have liked. Arrived safely, called Kelly to arrange a meeting place, and in no time, I was being escorted to her place. I loved that you could see the Washington Monument from almost everywhere. Enjoyed a lovely dinner when we got home, and we watched Shoot 'Em Up and Psych. Once I kicked Wimsey out of my room, I slept okay.

Saturday morning, Kelly & I got out around 11am and headed for the Air & Space Museum. My first choice museum at The Mall was closed, the American History Museum, but a few of the artifacts were being housed at Air & Space. The big thing I wanted to see was Dorothy's ruby red slippers, and they were taken out for filming. :( But I did see Abe Lincoln's hat, and some items from television and music. I figured I should see at least one thing in the Air & Space, so we checked out the Wright Brothers exhibit. Saw the famous plane, only the fabric has been altered, everything else is original.

We had lunch next door at the Native American Museum, where lunch was okay. Next we headed towards the Natural History Museum. We did a quick tour of the Sculpture Garden, before we went inside. We went right for the 2nd floor to get a look at the Hope Diamond. Cursed or not. I'd totally own that! We looked at the Harry Winston collection, and hit the gift shop. Last stop was the Smithsonian Castle. Inside was the crypt of James Smithson, as well as artifacts representing all the museums.

We went home to relax for a bit, then departed for Gallery Place, where I wanted to see the Presidential Portrait Gallery. Lots of great pictures there, learned some history and then sought out the Stephen Colbert Portrait. It was just where I heard it was, in the bathroom hallway. There was a line of people to see and laugh at it. I was glad I saw it, since it's only there temporarily. We hit the gift store before it closed, and then crossed the street to have dinner at Clyde's.

Rachael Ray visited Clyde's (in Georgetown) on $40 A Day, and said it was good. And the food was, it was excellent. The service, on the other hand... I spoke to a manager, and ended up getting our desserts for free. It was disappointing. On the way home, Kelly drove me by the Watergate. All The President's Men is one of my favorite movies. We brought home some dessert for Roman, then played some Scrabble, drank champagne, and watched british shows on PBS.

Sunday morning, we headed to the White House. I really, really wanted to do the tour, but you have to be a group of ten, and book in advance. I'll probably have to wait until the kids go in school and be a chaperone. But the grounds looked nice. We checked out the White House Information Center (a few blocks away), and it was really neat to read about the history of the Presidents' pets. The wind was really blowing, and I regretted not having my scarf, Kelly regretted not having her hat. We drove home to grab them, picked up Roman and the three of us went out to lunch. We went to Lauriol Plaza and I wish I would have ordered Kelly's lunch, because it was way tastier than mine. I saw a few more neighborhoods, and then we headed home. Kelly & I played a game called Booktastic, which is more fun than you'd think. You have to collect books and whomever has the most money and valuable books wins. I swear, it's fun.

For dinner, Kelly & I went to Five Guys, for awesome burgers & fries. I'm excited to learn they are opening one in Aurora soon. Sweet! For dessert, we went to Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe. When I read my Washington, D.C. book, I said to myself I have to go to this place. It's a book store in the front, a cafe in the back. Then Kelly said she loved that place, so it was a must-do. It was very hard to not buy a ton of books. What I should have done is write down all the books I saw that I wanted to read. Anyway, we enjoyed some tea and dessert, and then headed home.

Monday morning, I got up at 7am, had some cereal & tea then took the bus to the Lincoln Memorial. To get there, I had to walk past the Vietnam Memorial, which really made me sad. It's such a big wall, with 58,000 names of soldiers who died. To see so many names, it puts it in perspective. At the Lincoln Memorial, a few high school groups were there, so it was not as quiet as I would have liked. But it was pretty cool to see. I sort of tried to take in the view from there, seeing the Potomac, the reflecting pool, the Washington Monument. I stood on the spot where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have A Dream" speech, and on MLK day even. I walked along the tree groves beside the reflecting pond, and I was all alone. A runner would go by, a plane overhead, but otherwise silence. Just me & the winter chill. It lead me to the WWII Monument. I walked around there, then crossed the road to the Washington Monument. After seeing this obelisk from everywhere, I was finally right beside it. There must have been at least 300 high school kids waiting in line to go to the top, and I didn't have time to get in line. I continued on, heading for the Smithsonian Castle, to pick up my last souvenirs. I hopped on the Metro there, which dropped me downtown, and then took the bus back to Kelly & Roman's. I had packed the night before, so I just hung out until it was time to go.

Kelly drove me to the airport for my 2pm flight, and we passed by Arlington National Cemetery and the Pentagon. Then we had to say our goodbyes. Security searched through my bag, but didn't find what they thought they saw on the scan (something that looked like a jar?) I had to connect in Cincinnati, so I called Geoff to passed the time.

My boys met me at the airport, and we had Jim 'N Nick's for dinner. It was good to be home, but I sure miss Kelly. I wish we lived closer, and I can not wait to go back to D.C. I want to go with Geoff, and we can bring the kids when they are older.

Did you get through all that? Sorry, I really did try to pack in as much of D.C. as I could.