1 day in DC...how it went
First off, let me just say that I haven’t left Maryland yet. Yes, I am still here, but I knew that I needed to write something before I forgot what all happened. That much stuff has gone on so far and it’s all starting to flow together! Yeah, that’s bad. Sasha is sitting here on my lap.
This weekend has been awesome. I’ll do a day by day so that you can follow along easily.
I left Ruston at 4:30pm on Friday and made it to the airport in Monroe by 5:10. It was a pretty nice drive, I guess. It was pretty nice outside and was probably in the mid 60’s. The plane from Monroe to Atlanta was just a little late in leaving. It left probably around 6:45 or so and it was dark by the time we crossed over into Mississippi. The flight to Atlanta was great. Just a little turbulence and stuff (I happen to like turbulence) and we landed almost on time. If you’ve never been to the airport in Atlanta, this next bit won’t make much sense. By the time I got off the plane, I had 50 minutes to make it from Concourse E to Concourse A. That’s a LONG trip! Thankfully, they have this underground tram system that rockets you along at a nice speed. I go to A with plenty of time to spare.
The flight from Atlanta to Baltimore was on a Boeing 757 that was maybe a quarter full. It was awesome! I had a whole row of seats all to myself (that’ll never happen again, I know). Anyway, the plane landed in Baltimore at 11:50 or so, and I finally saw groovy around 12.
We had been contacted by one of our friends, Pacemaker, and were told that he was going to be in town for an interview on Saturday. We ended up picking him up at his hotel for breakfast at IHOP. Breakfast was really great because we got to catch up with all the time that we had spent apart. We dropped him off at the airport later on and then went to DC to begin out sight seeing.
We parked groovy’s car at the underground parking garage where she works, and then hopped on the Metro to go to the Smithsonian station. Riding the Metro is like riding on pretty much any other subway car that I’ve ever ridden on (read: Just like in Boston…except cleaner). It’s very well planned out with stations all over the place (we even walked back past one of the stations on accident…oops). We got off the Metro, and groovy said, as we were riding up the escalator, “This is really pretty.” As we got to the top, I looked around and was amazed. The Smithsonian station is right in the middle of the grassy area that goes between the Capital and the Washington Monument. I just stood there for a second or two and just looked around. It was amazing.
We walked around for a little while. I took a bunch of pictures of the grassy area and the Smithsonian complex (it is on both sides of the grassy area and is comprised of 10 buildings or something…very extensive). We then walked toward the Air and Space museum. As someone who is interested in almost everything that deals with flying and or space, I thought the museum was awesome. We were there for several hours, I guess…much to groovy’s chagrin. We then sat down to get something to drink at the McDonalds located inside the museum (yeah, you read that right), and we decided that we would go to the museum located right next door that was all about American Indians and their artifacts (“There were American Indians in France?” “Um…yeah.”). We ate lunch there at the Indian place and had a Buffalo burger and Buffalo chili in this weird bread “bowl” thing. It was really good.
After we went through that museum, we decided that it was getting kinda late, so we went to walk down the grassy area toward the Washington Memorial. Words really can’t describe the feeling of walking around the buildings that you’ve heard about your whole life. I mean, here is a building built a long time ago, that I’ve seen pictures of since I was a little kid…but until you see it…it really means nothing. We weren’t able to get close to the Washington Monument because they were working on it or something, so we walked WAY around it to get to the Lincoln Memorial. On the way there, we saw the WWII memorial. It is very awesome even in the winter, but groovy said that it wasn’t as nice as it usually is because all the water was frozen up. That didn’t matter to me, so much because I still thought it was pretty cool. We then walked down the Mall to the Lincoln Memorial. At one point, I turned around and looked back at the Washington Monument with the Capital building in the background…it was awesome. I tried to take a picture of it, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t turn out worth a crap as it was getting dark.
The Lincoln Memorial is amazing. You look at it in pictures on the internet and stuff…but there is nothing that can even come close to explaining the size of the place. It’s HUGE! I mean, Lincoln is sitting on a chair inside…I was thinking it was a normal sized statue…but I was quite wrong. It was huge….HUGE! We walked around there for a bit and then went to see the WWII wall. I can honestly say, it’s quite moving. Depressing, yes…but moving. The number of names contained there are the names of Americans my age and younger that died in the service of their country. It’s amazing. Horrible, but amazing.
That pretty much ended our day in DC. I mean, we went back to the car and then back to groovy’s apartment where we cooked a pizza and just hung out, but that really didn’t sound as exciting as all the other stuff. Now, please note, that was just Saturday…it’s now Tuesday, so I have a lot more to write about, but it will have to wait for a while.
This weekend has been awesome. I’ll do a day by day so that you can follow along easily.
I left Ruston at 4:30pm on Friday and made it to the airport in Monroe by 5:10. It was a pretty nice drive, I guess. It was pretty nice outside and was probably in the mid 60’s. The plane from Monroe to Atlanta was just a little late in leaving. It left probably around 6:45 or so and it was dark by the time we crossed over into Mississippi. The flight to Atlanta was great. Just a little turbulence and stuff (I happen to like turbulence) and we landed almost on time. If you’ve never been to the airport in Atlanta, this next bit won’t make much sense. By the time I got off the plane, I had 50 minutes to make it from Concourse E to Concourse A. That’s a LONG trip! Thankfully, they have this underground tram system that rockets you along at a nice speed. I go to A with plenty of time to spare.
The flight from Atlanta to Baltimore was on a Boeing 757 that was maybe a quarter full. It was awesome! I had a whole row of seats all to myself (that’ll never happen again, I know). Anyway, the plane landed in Baltimore at 11:50 or so, and I finally saw groovy around 12.
We had been contacted by one of our friends, Pacemaker, and were told that he was going to be in town for an interview on Saturday. We ended up picking him up at his hotel for breakfast at IHOP. Breakfast was really great because we got to catch up with all the time that we had spent apart. We dropped him off at the airport later on and then went to DC to begin out sight seeing.
We parked groovy’s car at the underground parking garage where she works, and then hopped on the Metro to go to the Smithsonian station. Riding the Metro is like riding on pretty much any other subway car that I’ve ever ridden on (read: Just like in Boston…except cleaner). It’s very well planned out with stations all over the place (we even walked back past one of the stations on accident…oops). We got off the Metro, and groovy said, as we were riding up the escalator, “This is really pretty.” As we got to the top, I looked around and was amazed. The Smithsonian station is right in the middle of the grassy area that goes between the Capital and the Washington Monument. I just stood there for a second or two and just looked around. It was amazing.
We walked around for a little while. I took a bunch of pictures of the grassy area and the Smithsonian complex (it is on both sides of the grassy area and is comprised of 10 buildings or something…very extensive). We then walked toward the Air and Space museum. As someone who is interested in almost everything that deals with flying and or space, I thought the museum was awesome. We were there for several hours, I guess…much to groovy’s chagrin. We then sat down to get something to drink at the McDonalds located inside the museum (yeah, you read that right), and we decided that we would go to the museum located right next door that was all about American Indians and their artifacts (“There were American Indians in France?” “Um…yeah.”). We ate lunch there at the Indian place and had a Buffalo burger and Buffalo chili in this weird bread “bowl” thing. It was really good.
After we went through that museum, we decided that it was getting kinda late, so we went to walk down the grassy area toward the Washington Memorial. Words really can’t describe the feeling of walking around the buildings that you’ve heard about your whole life. I mean, here is a building built a long time ago, that I’ve seen pictures of since I was a little kid…but until you see it…it really means nothing. We weren’t able to get close to the Washington Monument because they were working on it or something, so we walked WAY around it to get to the Lincoln Memorial. On the way there, we saw the WWII memorial. It is very awesome even in the winter, but groovy said that it wasn’t as nice as it usually is because all the water was frozen up. That didn’t matter to me, so much because I still thought it was pretty cool. We then walked down the Mall to the Lincoln Memorial. At one point, I turned around and looked back at the Washington Monument with the Capital building in the background…it was awesome. I tried to take a picture of it, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t turn out worth a crap as it was getting dark.
The Lincoln Memorial is amazing. You look at it in pictures on the internet and stuff…but there is nothing that can even come close to explaining the size of the place. It’s HUGE! I mean, Lincoln is sitting on a chair inside…I was thinking it was a normal sized statue…but I was quite wrong. It was huge….HUGE! We walked around there for a bit and then went to see the WWII wall. I can honestly say, it’s quite moving. Depressing, yes…but moving. The number of names contained there are the names of Americans my age and younger that died in the service of their country. It’s amazing. Horrible, but amazing.
That pretty much ended our day in DC. I mean, we went back to the car and then back to groovy’s apartment where we cooked a pizza and just hung out, but that really didn’t sound as exciting as all the other stuff. Now, please note, that was just Saturday…it’s now Tuesday, so I have a lot more to write about, but it will have to wait for a while.
posted by LaTech at 5:32 AM
4 Comments:
Um... Tech? You need to read your D.C. guide book, rofl. That "grassy area" is called The Mall and the wall is the Vietnam memorial, not WWII.
And for making Groovy put up with you in the Aerospace museum, I think you should be sentanced to stare at the Hope Diamond (which is in one of the Smithsonians) for a couple of hours. Bwahahaha! Lol. Sounds like you're having a great time. Can't wait to see pictures!
Dang! I knew it was called the Mall, but I couldn't remember if that included the reflecting pond or not, so I just assumed not. As for the Wall...well, erm...yeah, I messed that one up. Sorry DC folks! :-)
Heeeey. I just thought of something. When you move, Jared and I will have an excuse to go to D.C.! Cool!
Woot....sounds like you are having a blast my other brother..hope all is going well..sure as hell sounds like it and send me some pics of stuff...I don't get out much since no job to roam the country..but anyways keep up the adventures and have a safe trip..I have the recipie u want it will be to u and groovy soon..coolio.......laters...WIll
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