Day 2 April 5, 2012

Windy and I slept late, but got ready and ate breakfast quickly eager to begin our touring of the nation's capital. We rode the metro to the Smithsonian station and rode the escalator up to ground level. Our necks were craned looking up at the historic and intricate buildings surrounding us. We passed under the two arches of the Department of Agriculture building walking towards the Washington Monument, which is about 555 feet tall. The air was cool and the sun was warm making the temperature in the 70s. We took pictures of the magnificent structure symbolizing such power and history. It is one of my favorite historic sites. The earthquake in 2011 did some damage so the monument is closed off to the public; however, you can still walk around the outside of the flags surrounding it. Since the monument itself was closed we circled it finding its shadow blanketing the grass in grey and took pictures sitting on the tip!
After that adventure, we trekked over to the American History Museum. We made our way through almost every section. Starting with the Star Spangled Banner exhibit, which displayed the orignial flag that inspired Francis Scott Key's song in 1814, and ending with the Technology and Transportation section, which we just walked through briefly. The American Lives and wars through history were very interesting and they portrayed so much history including colonial times, slavery, and every war America has ever been involved in. We were crossing to the east side of the museum on the 2nd Floor when they gathered volunteers and opened the replica of the Star Spangled Banner flag, which was 30' by 42'. Then we all sang the National Anthem and it was a wonderful moment when you could physically feel the patriotism and appreciate our history.
After that we wandered around the Mall, we went inside the Smithsonian castle and looked at Smithson's crypt and then walked around the Sculpture Garden in front of the Archives. We rested our tired selves by the beautiful fountain on the stone benches surrounding it. Aunt Pam helped us with our next move and we found the Archives/Navy Memorial Metro riding it to the Navy Yard. At first we didn't see the building with the TV on the side, but then we spotted it. The guard in the building asked what we were doing and wanted to see IDs, then we rode the swift elevator to the 8th floor. Pam got us candy while she finished up work and then we made our way to Shirlington for dinner with Pam's friend Laura. We ate at Busboys and Poets, which is a restaurant that mixes cultures providing a place that any ethnicity can come and share their artistic talents. The food was delicious. I ate blackened salmon, rice pilaf, and asparagus. We strolled around the cute downtown area full of shops and restaurants before heading home. Pam went to the gym for her hour of exercise and Windy and I planned out our week scheduling all we want to do. To wind down, I read my current fiction book, but not for long because my eyes started closing and head starting bobbing. Being a tourist is exhausting and fantastic!

Day 1 April 4, 2012

Starting our first day of vacation in the wee hours of the morning, I woke up to get read at 3:15. Windy and her cousin Anthony came and picked me up around 4 and we were leaving Ridgecrest by 4:30. It was quite a feat considering I am not a morning person. So as I looked out the window at the moon and black night sky, I repeated, "No one should be awake at this hour." The drive down was filled with laughter and talking and we only ran into a little bit of traffic. Reaching the airport before 8, Windy and I had plenty of time to check in, go through security, and relax before the flight. Unfortunately, our seats were across the plane from each other and both middle seats, but we made the best of it. As I sat in my seat, the man in front of me wrapped up a phone conversation about someone's sister saying things like, "conniving is a good word" and "perpetually enraged" ending with, "she was like a vampire." Windy was walking by my seat to board at that moment and we looked at each other holding back laughter. At the beginning of our flight I spoke to the lady on my left, who lives in Virginia and said her favorite thing to do in DC was eat. Eating is my favorite hobby, however in DC I think there is plenty more to do. I saved the soda from pouring onto my other neighbor and the rest of my flight we kept to ourselves. Windy's seat mate was an awesome guy, who had been in the military and now teaches martial arts.

Upon reaching Dulles, Aunt Pam picked us up at the baggage claim. Although we were standing approximately six feet from her for a while, Windy was the one to point her out. We headed to Harris Teeter's to get the fixings for spaghetti and some breakfast foods. Neither Windy nor I could quit commenting about how green everything was. Once we were home, Aunt Pam made dinner in her single person kitchen. Pam's office is doing a challenge called Get Moving and she has to exercise each day to earn points for her team. To begin our exercise we walked to Ballston metro station and Pam gave us Metro 101 so we would be prepared for the next day of touring. Then we accompanied her on a walk around the neighborhood and down to Sandra Bullock's high school track for an hour. We had no problem falling asleep that night having only got 3 hours of sleep the night before.