Washington DC Part I

The White House

Ricky and I at the Iwo Jima Memorial

Ricky and I in the National Mall with the Capitol Building in the background

Ricky and I sitting inside the Jefferson Memorial.. there is such a nice breeze through the building

Ricky and I in front of the WWII Memorial Fountains

Part I: The Nightmare of a Day followed by the longest walk ever....

Thursday morning we woke up bright and early because we were planning on leaving the house at 7:15AM. Barb was extremely kind and agreed to take us so we didn't have to pay an outrageous amount for parking in or around the airport. We managed to get everything packed into the car and made our way successfully to the airport. We successfully and quite efficiently made our way through security, boarded the plane and took us. An hour later we were in Atlanta, a Delta hub (keep this in mind). Under normal circumstances, I have been very fond of Delta since they have managed to transport me successfully to and from my destinations with ease, but for some reason, this trip was not slated to be an easy one. 

We had about an hour and a half lay over in Atlanta so we got something to eat and were relaxing back at our gate. Once it started to get close to boarding time, a lady comes over the speaker and explains that the air circulation system is not working on the plane and that they might have to put us on another plane as standby passengers. Aside from the fact that our plane was supposed to be full that was not the information we wanted to hear. So we waited for updates, but all the while I was thinking to myself, "This is a Delta Hub... one would think they would have an extra plane or 2 standing by in case something like this happened.." About 20 minutes later they tell us that our gate has changed but that we will all be on the flight departing at 1:10PM. This wasn't so bad because we were originally supposed to leave at 12:30. So all the passengers made their way to the gate and waited for the other plane. Then the next announcement comes on... If you are waiting to get on this flight we need you to form a line so that we can see who we can get on this plane since it is pretty full.... We all freaked out.. what do you mean its full??? So panicked we all got in line. After about five minutes they came over the speaker to specify that the page was only supposed to be people who did not already have a confirmed seat. Ugh.... Finally we boarded and eventually arrived in Baltimore. Needless to say our 90 minutes layover turned into a 3 hour layover. 

So you might be thinking to yourself, well at least you made it to Baltimore... and my response would be, yeah.. but wait til you hear the rest of the story... So when I looked online to figure out how to get to DC the directions online said that all you have to do it take the train straight in. Well great that works for me.  The only problem was that you couldn't actually do that. We had to board a bus that took us to the metro station that was 30 miles away and then take the Metro in. Unfortunately, we didn't realize that the bus only takes cash and it only takes exact currency unless you don't want to get the extra funds back. So since I had gotten my cash out of an ATM all I had were 20's. Since the bus fare was 3.10 I would have been wasting a lot of money to go on this bus. So we decided to take a taxi. The problem was, at the time we didn't realize the station was 30 miles away. So after we start driving the cab driver says that for an extra 20 he would take us all the way to Crustal City where Kenneth's hotel was so the fare would be 80 instead of 60. We all of a sudden were confused. We didn't know the station was so far away and it confused us that it was only a $3 bus ride but a $60 cab ride. So after getting into a tiff with the cab driver he only got part of his fare and no tip and we called it a mistake. After that we just decided to cut our losses and get on the next bus and as irony would have it the money machine on the bus was broken so we didn't have to pay that fare. 

Once we got to the Metro Station we spoke to a very nice individual who helped us figure out what fare we needed for the final potion of our trip. He also told us that the Hilton my brother was staying at was right off the metro station exit. So we ride the metro, exchange cars and eventually discover that certain trains do not run during rush hour. After all of this we finally arrive at the metro station and exit to the road. A giant Marriott stood in our view, but no sign of a Hilton. Now I have stayed at this Hilton before but I flew directly into DC and had a taxi take me to the hotel, so I had no idea where I was. After much arguing and debate the Hilton Crystal City shuttle just happened to pull up. Finally we got Kenneth and Kristine settled into the hotel, made arrangements for the following day and called it a night. 

We met up with Toni at her place and went out for some dinner. If anyone is familiar with the program Top Chef, a few seasons ago there was a contestant named Spike. He happened to have a burger joint down from Toni's apartment so we decided to have dinner there. It was absolutely delicious. One of the best burgers I have ever had. 

Day 2 (Day 1 in DC)

We decided to meet Kenneth and Kristine at the Metro Station near their hotel to start the morning early. Museums didn't open until 10 so we were going to hit up the monuments first. We walked into the Mall area and had some Starbucks and decided since we were already on Pennsylvania Ave that we would try and see the White House. Since 2002 when I was in DC last, the White House is much more protected than it used to be. You used to be able to walk right up to the black fence, but now you are standing at an incredibly different distance. We took a few pictures, but were promptly pushed away because Michelle Obama decided to take the dog out onto the front lawn. Since we did get pictures though we decided to head over to the Washington Monument. Then the walking continued.. We saw in the course of approximately 8 hours all of the following... White House, Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, WWI Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean Memorial, FDR Memorial, George Mason Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, and finally made our way back to the American History Museum. Let me tell you how bad my shins hurt that day. I must say though, out of all the memorials we saw, I liked the FDR Memorial the most. It was the first time I had ever seen this particular memorial and unlike the others that are large buildings with one statue, this one had multiple statues of FDR including him in his wheelchair, his dog, Eleanor, and even things like people listening to radios and standing in unemployment lines. On the walls of the memorial were quotes cut into the stone and each term of his presidency was marked on the walkway. The coolest part however were the waterfalls. Depending on the status of the country during certain times during his terms the water would indicate if it was calm or chaos. For the calm part the waterfall was just a trickle, while the chaotic parts had rushing waters. It was breathtaking. 

After a day of walking (and since it was Friday) Ricky, Toni, and I had tickets to see Star Trek in IMAX. Oh yes.. I love IMAX. The movie was pretty good considering it was a director that I was not fond of, but I do think that most of the film was good. The only casting issues I had was using Harold as Sulu. I couldn't get his previous roles out of my head because he really isn't that good of an actor. 

It was along day, but we managed to survive the trek...pun intended... and we were looking forward to the next day since Toni was going to be able to join us for the day. 

...to be continued....