Had a great trip out to DC, one of my favorite places on earth. Chicago has my heart, but DC pulls at my head. Such a nerd town in a non-geek way, but also has an ugly self-indulgent / self-promotional feel.
We had a quick flight out and stayed in a fancy-pants hotel just off of Dupont Circle. Lots of places to check out in Dupont including Afterwords bookstore. How can you not love a book store that is open by 7:30 am and is open all night on weekends.
The first day we took the metro up to a great breakfast place named Open City (http://www.opencitydc.com/) near where we stayed last year. After breakfast we hit Arlington Cemetery which was a tough visit, lots of sadness and pride on those grounds. Hard to not get teary-eyed, particularly when seeing new graves being dug. Something like 27 graves are prepared daily. We didn’t stick around to see the changing of the guard, I was already a bit on the edge.
We needed something a bit more lighthearted after that adventure. We headed back to the Smithsonian area to see the Museum of American History. It was closed for renovation last time we were in town and there’s still a lot of work being done. Seeing the Stars and Stripes was amazing to see. I’m not the most outwardly patriotic person, but you can’t help feeling a sense of something when seeing the 30 ft tall flag in it’s restored state.
After checking out one floor, we headed to the American History Museum where they have a pretty hip restaurant. Mighty fine food for being served on a massive scale.
I dragged Jen to the Hirshorn Modern Art Museum and saw the amazing “Big Man’. I can’t describe the feeling of turning the corner and seeing the seated 7 ft tall giant with angry eyes, nude, incredibly lifelike, and seemingly ready to pounce on the nearest person. It was a great shock and fun to see others get the same shocked expression when he came into view.
Jen again showed amazing patience with me as we hit the Air and Space Museum which never fails to make me happy. So much amazing stuff, and so inspiring. Jen found a bench and crashed for awhile while I stared gape-mouthed at the rocket displays. Seeing ‘The Right Stuff’ at a young age stuck with me and I’m a sucker for anything related to the space program.
We headed back to the Dupont area and had some lousy Mexican food at Alero’s then hung around the hotel watching the Yankee’s/Angles game.