Ahhh...isn't Old Glory beautiful?? Maybe I've been away too long. So, in an effort to keep up on my blog (which I haven't done), I'm going to write up my week in DC. I'll try to lace it with lots of pictures, too!
My friends, Sheri and Derek, were going to be there for a
class that Derek was doing through his MBA program at the University of Texas. Sheri, not wanting to be forced to see all the sights alone while Derek was in class all day, invited me along! I had a blast!
I arrived on Saturday, January 6 and met up with my friend, Rachel.
We hadn't seen each other since before our missions (circa BYU days) and it was great to catch up! The weather that day had been a balmy 70 degrees...had me thinking that Baltimore is insanely beautiful and that yes, I think I could be an East coast girl.
I was able to get in touch with some of my old friends and went to church with Marissa, my amazingly talented, piano performance-majoring roommate who now lives in Ashburn--if anyone needs a great piano teacher. We saw Holly there, another incredibly fun roommate who is a workin' woman in DC.
I got in touch with old friend, Nikki Buckmiller, too. She and I had been on the ballroom team together. She's doing her PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy at the Unive
rsity of Maryland. I met her extremely nice husband of 2 weeks, Ben Jones. They have a cute little apartment where they invited me to dinner and showed me all the fun photos of their wedding that they'd just had! It was great to catch up!
That night, they dropped me off at the Residence Inn, where Sheri and Derek had a room with a hide-away couch. I slept well the whole week (Sheri assured me that my bed was probably more comfortable than theirs :)
So, the next day, Derek headed off to class and Sheri and I attacked the DC sights with vigor. We went to the National Gallery (I LOVED it!), the National History Museum to see the Hope Diamond and the dinosaurs, and the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress was amazing! What an incredible building. And free tours are always appreciated!
Tuesday was the walking day from Hades. We walked and walked and walked and walked. Ouch. It made for a LONG day we started out
by going to Arlington National Cemetary, saw the changing of the guard, JFK's tomb with the eternal flame, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Very impressive and somber sight. We headed over to the Iwo Jima statue that is outside Arlington (which is a HUGE cemetary). That afternoon, we went to the National Portrait gallery and American Art Museum. Sheri was nice enough to not complain as I dragged her through room after room. She DID say that she liked the
Portrait Gallery. We met up with Derek that evening and chose to see the monuments by night. More walking. We went from the Lincoln to the Vietnam to the WWII, to the Washington...which doesn't sound like much, but it was exhausting! However, the highlight of the whole day: at the Residence Inn, they have a "social hour" where they have food and all the guests can socialize in the evening. Well, I had the
privilege of seeing the funniest sight of the week. Seated at a table was a man in his late 40's...a professional-looking type. He had on a business-blue button up shirt, khaki pants, and (here's the kicker)
BLACK FISHNET STOCKINGS and RED, PATENT-LEATHER, OPEN-TOED 4" STACKED HIGH HEELS!!!!! Not kidding. I saw it as I was walking past...in the corner of my eye. But, upon further inspection (yes, I made Sheri and Derek walk past, too), he was sitting there by himself, calm as a summer morn...with his ankles daintily crossed. Derek wanted to ask if he'd lost a bet...I thought that would be more appropriate than telling him I loved his shoes and asking where he got them from! Hilarious!
Wednesday, January 10, was my 26th birthday! Happy Birthday to me!!! That morning, Sheri and I braved the cold (brrrrrr!! We were frozen) and went to the White House Visitor's Ce
nter and the National Archives. After lunch, we were tempted to go get gelato (in spite of the cold) to celebrate my birthday, but decided that we didn't have time before our Senate/Capitol building tour. We searched and searched for the Senate building in the freezing cold...and got there about 5 minutes late. Oops. The tour was very interesting and we got to see the inside of the Capitol building which I found fascinating.
That evening, I got together with old best friend from middle school, Erin Wilcox Jensen. Her very nice husband, Nathan, picked me up from the metro station and drove me to their nice townhome in Ashburn. Erin made a great dinner, I met her adorable kids, and we spent the next few hours catching up on the last 5 years
of our lives. It was wonderful...so fun! Finally, around midnight, we decided to call it a night. Erin braved the winding roads (thank goodness for On-Star...we got turned around once or twice) and took me back to the hotel. It was great to see her! Happy Birthday, indeed!
Thursday, Sheri and I went to the National Zoo to see the pandas. They were adorable. We were lucky to see them while they were awake. The mama panda was busy polishing off a large stack of bamboo while the baby was laying spread-eagle on his belly, asleep in the grass. It was a cool, crisp d
ay...but perfect to see the zoo. Sheri and I stopped at a sandwich shop not too far away and had the best sandwiches ever! That completed the whole trip to the zoo!
Derek didn't have class that afternoon, so we decided to see the Smithsonian museum that day. Sheri and I popped into the Freer Gallery while we waited to meet up with him and saw some gorgeous art. Whistler's Peacock Room is recreated in there and it was amazing! We met Derek at the Washington Monument, took the elevator up and saw DC
from 500 feet above. Back down, we hoofed it over to the Smithsonian's Air and Space museum where we wandered around. The American History museum is being renovated, so they had a mini-exhibit there which showed some of the most famous American items (Dorothy's Ruby Red slippers and the droids R2-D2 and C3PO from Star Wars).
That night, I met up with Marissa and Holly for dinner in Alexandria. We went t
o a great little Italian place and laughed and talked just like we used to in roommate-days. Ahhh...I miss those girls! We walked around the area...very cute with cobble-stone streets and small brick shops. Cold, but great fun with friends.
Friday was
the last day for DC. Sheri and I got up early and went to our tour of the White House. It was fun to see the East Wing and the State room and the "official" stuff. I lost track of the time and was late meeting up with Nancy Godfrey, another great friend from BYU days! Nancy made things easy on me by driving from Baltimore with her two adorable daughters to meet me near the Washington DC temple. We sat in the visitor's center and talked about life and what we were doing to keep busy. Her two daughters were busy little girls and kept us BOTH busy :) It was great to see her, though...and
I'm looking forward to visitng her in San Diego (hint, hint Nanc!).
And then I had to say goodbye to the capitol city. I took the Chinatown bus from DC to Philadelphia to continue my East Coast Tour. The Philly chapter is coming!
Tuesday I took an overnight "cruise." My friend, Mikael, me, and his mom and stepdad took the cruise ship from
Stockholm to Helsinki. If you cage enough humans on a boat with alcohol and karaoke as the only means of entertainment, it can be pretty amusing. Have you ever seen Finnish karaoke? I have! There were gypsies, drunk men throwing up, icy waves, and one woman--who was, sadly, terribly drunk--that amused us all with her solo groove dancing. Wow!
Wednesday I had my first REAL sauna experience. I felt a bit like a roast in an oven. Mikael, Heikki (his stepdad) and I sat in the sauna. Mikael sat and translated for me because Heikki doesn´t speak English...just Finnish and Swedish. So, we sat there, sweating and sweating...Heikki throwing more and more water on the rocks, making the temperature go up and up (Mikael said that Finns have to show off for visitors). Then we ran
outside, bare foot, and made snow angels in the snow. Mind you...we were all only wearing bathing suits. It was crazy fun!! I think I could get used to the sauna experience!
