Washington, D.C. | a sneak peak

Wednesday, June 20, 2012 by Nicole | 26 Comments

Y’all, this fat girl is TIREDDDDDDDDDD. Ohmygoodnessgraciousgollygeez. I think I’ve walked 100 miles since yesterday morning. Of course, I can’t forget to mention that D.C. is experiencing a RECORD HEAT WAVE this week. Sonofabiscuit, it’s really hot, y’all!!!!!

I’m keeping this short because Husband and I are going to dinner soon, but I had to share some of the photos I’ve taken in the D.C. area. Yesterday, I opened the gate of Mount Vernon (George Washington’s estate). No joke, I was literally standing outside the Texas Gate waiting for somebody to welcome me to the property. While waiting, and hoping no one was watching from behind a tree ( or worse! ) a security camera, I used the self-timer on my camera to take a photo of myself. It was quite the event, let me tell you. At least I got one worthwhile shot in the endeavor. Inside the welcome center, I watched a video, narrated by Pat Sajek (Wheel of Fortune, anyone?), inside a 200-seat auditorium. It was a private showing just for me! Later on,
I enjoyed a “private” cruise on the Potomac River via the Spirit of Mount Vernon.
Seriously, I was the only person on the boat!!!!!!

After spending the morning with George Washington (not literally, you know he’s dead, right?),
I drove to Arlington National Cemetary. I had to make a detour because I got confused at a traffic circle and went the wrong way. I eventually got to where I wanted to go though. Darn road signs in bad locations! The cemetary was crowded but I walked to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and watched the Changing of the Guard.

This morning, I left early – butt crack of dawn kind of early – and a very nice man from the facility drove me to the METRO train station, about 10 minutes away. I boarded the “red” line and rode the train into D.C. I can’t say enough *GOOD* things about public transportation, especially transit/people movers. Buy a ticket, board a train, and off you go. Whoever developed that concept was genius. I spent the morning walking around the ENTIRE National Mall (and now have the blisters on my feet to prove it!) and was in line to go inside the National Archives before 10:00am. I can now say that I’ve seen the original Declaration of Independance,
the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. I also saw the original Magna Carta. Very. Cool. Stuff.

I ate lunch at Old Ebbit Grill and the crab cakes were DEEEEEEEEEEE-lish. They were so good I had two. I ordered a side salad thinking it would be small, but it was as big as my head.
The citrus vinegarette was tasty too. And Helen was my waitress. She was super-duper cool and awesome and helpful and insightful and diligent and attentive and concerned about my allergy and friendly and nice and wonderful …. if you know Helen that works at OEB, tell her I said hello. Thanks. Oh, and the plush velvet seat cushions felt oh-so-heavenly on my tired-tush.

Was that too much information?

After lunch, I went to the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church for its mid-week worship service at noon. I listened to some great music, a powerful sermon, and met some fantastic folks. I was so engrossed by the old architecture, stained glass windows, and pleasant conversation, that I didn’t take a single photograph. EPIC FAIL.

Did I mention that I walked 21249481 miles today?

Alright, that’s all you’re gonna get tonight. I’m starving and Husband is ready to leave for supper. I hope you’re having a fan-tabulous week wherever you are and staying cool. I was told by two separate individuals to take this heat back to Texas ASAP. It was cool and comfortable last week but as soon as the Texans arrive, the mercury goes above 100. Don’t worry, folks, we’ll be gone before the weekend!

~ Nicole ~

 

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