DC with Nick, day 1

So, before meeting up with Nick I did go spend some time at Teresa and Mark's house. It was a whole lot of fun, so it's unfortunate I did not take any pictures, but it at least deserves a mention. They live in what appears to me as a tiny army town, complete with grocery stores and guards who scan your ID when you enter the grounds. It was a little weird, but actually a really lovely place. Mark cooked dinner (grilled burgers, corn on the cob, and pasta salad) while I caught up with Teresa and played with her dogs. They built an obstacle course for them, and seriously, you should see them jump. It's crazy!! Also, I could not be more excited about grilled food and Schlafly beer. It was sooooo great! The food was delicious. I stayed maybe a little too long, and was a little late for meeting up with Nick (ok, a little late to the show he got me tickets for, but I still made it!) but I do not regret it. I loved every min and was incredibly happy I got to stop by.

I went from there to the show that Nick is working on. It was pretty good. A straight play, I prefer musicals (it starred Valerie Harper, if you know who that is. I didn't. I've never watched the Mary Tyler Moore Show though.). My timing was perfect though because I missed all the rain while in the show. Yay!

So after the show, I finally get to spend some time with Nick and we decided to walk the Mall at night.

This picture is just screaming to be a "welcome to DC"postcard.

Sillouettes and lightboxes are two of our favorite things!

I love this picture!!

Nick was not as amused by the previous pic as I was.

Asking Mr. Lincoln a question. That is what you're supposed to do, right?

There was just the right amount of people out. Enough so that we felt safe and like it was ok to be there, not as many as during the day so you could actually get good pictures. Also, there was some wicked lighting going on! I couldn't get a picture of it. No rain though.

Together again!

DC!!

Almost exactly a month ago, I went to DC for 2 days.
It was wonderful.
I have missed travel so much. I just stared out the window in complete happiness the entire trip down. Even when the AC broke down, I was just happy to watch the scenery go by. Trees! Hills! Deer!
Fun fact: they name the rest stops here after famous people. I didn't trust the Walt Witman one as much as the Thomas Edison one, but was completely reassured by the Clara Barton one.
And DC was lovely! I wasn't expecting to like it much, but Nick was there and told me I would love it. And he was right, of course. Just look how clean and pretty the streets are:


So different from NYC!
Fun fact: the streets in DC are just letters and numbers. So it's like a giant game of battle ship. No "street" even. Just "B" "N" "1".
Anyway, so the bus dropped me off in Chinatown, and with no map (I didn't even look at one before I left.) I headed off with only Nick's directions of "go south".

So I found the Mall with no problems, and settled down by a fountain in a sculpture garden to eat the muffin I brought for lunch.

Then I headed in the direction of what I thought was the Capitol. It was actually the Lincoln Memorial, which I only realized when I could actually make out the Lincoln statue. But first: the Washington Monument.

I really lucked on the weather this whole trip, but it did get pretty hot when you were walking in the sun. The breeze off the fountain felt really good.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I actually liked seeing all the monuments. I didn't think I would. While walking around, I noticed a lot of Honor Flight people around.

There were ducks everywhere!

The view from the Lincoln memorial. It doesn't look very far, but it is a lot of walking between all these things! So, the best thing about the Lincoln memorial on a hot day like this: it is nice cool marble.

The ceiling was so cool!

I could just sit there for hours. I almost did. Watching tourists, staying cool, if I wasn't meeting Teresa for dinner I just might have.

I stumbled upon the Vietnam memorial on my stroll back. I was kinda shocked at how sad it is in real life. Not that I was expecting it to be fun and happy, but pictures don't do justice to just how sad it is.

A pretty, tourist-free section of the park.

More ducks!

So after this, it was onto meet Teresa and then Nick! Yay for sight-seeing!

Today on the subway I saw a man wearing one white cotton glove, which he was using as the hand to hold onto the poles. So: was this a Micheal Jackson tribute or just a guy paranoid about the Swine Flu?

hot 'n cold

Happy first day of summer! Here is the forcast I woke up to:


And here's a little game I've been playing for the past week and 1/2 called guess the city. Hint: one is STL and the other is NYC.



As much as I'm enjoying this weather, I'm gonna feel a little cheated if it never warms up to sweltering. That is summer!! It is hot and sticky and uncomfortable and everyone should be able to wear tank tops and flip flops with out grabbing a sweater. Also, I want to eat watermelon, but it just doesn't seem right untill it gets hotter.

'Bout time for some DC posts...I will get to that eventually!