DC: Adventures in the Big City

DC, Day 1

After a delicious breakfast of gluten-free blueberry muffins, Rachel took me to go see the sights. She guided me through the metro, and we walked along the National mall to see the Washington monument, the WWII memorial, the Lincoln memorial, and the white house. It was fun to see everything in real life (as you may have heard, the white house is a lot smaller than you’d expect. Still really cool, though.) Am including another one of my favorite terrible landmark shots: We asked a passerby to take a pic with us in front of the Washington Monument (see right...thanks, dude. I'm sure Rach appreciates her new hair accessory). Later, like true city girls, we had sushi for dinner.

DC, Day 2

Took the bus with Rachel to her work and she pointed me in the direction of the Smithsonian museums. Walking from the bus stop, I quickly discovered that to step into a crosswalk when the walk sign is on is to take your life into your own hands. Cars don’t stop. Ever. In fact, they will honk at YOU, leaning out the window, flipping you off and cussing at you for the very AUDACITY you had to cross the street at the right time. (Can you tell I’m extremely disturbed by this custom?) I darted like a rabbit across every street I came to, hoping I wouldn’t be picked off by the SUV that couldn’t wait 15 seconds for the light to change. Having escaped with my life, I started my sightseeing with the Museum of American History, spending a few hours looking at all kinds of artifacts, from serious and significant (the original Star-Spangled Banner) to serious and creepy (the bloodstained cuff of the actress who held Lincoln after he was shot) to just plain random (the original Kermit the frog. oh, Kermie!!). At left: Judy Garland's ruby slippers.

Ate a boiled egg and a granola bar on my way to the National Museum of Art. (No way was I going to spring for the $10 hot dogs or ice cream that were being hawked along the way!) These museums are just so vast that I didn’t even bother getting a map. My plan of action was as follows: wander in a vaguely left-and-back direction, then wander back in a right-front-ish kind of way. Saw pre-Renaissance Italian art, classic Dutch paintings, and a lot of Impressionists. Sorry, am about to art-geek out on everyone, but I saw: Gauguins, Vermeers, Cassats, Goyas, Winslow Homers, Van Goghs, the fauves, It was a lot of art to absorb, and that was only the West building! Crossed over to the East building, and was promptly reprimanded for sipping my water bottle in the lobby. (My bad, I might have spilled filtered water onto your lobby floor.) Visited my college (paper) buddies Warhol, Thiebauld, Matisse, Katz, Mondrian, Caulder, and Pollock.

After this artfest, I darted my way a few blocks up and found the National Portrait Gallery. Equally amazing. Could spend years in the museums here, but Rachel was about to get off work and happy hour was calling...