DC, Day Five: Audrey and Shane Go to White Castle

One would normally think a travel day, such as today, would not be a very eventful one. Packing up, checking out, six hours of driving with a rest stop or two mixed in...not very exciting. But I don't think Shane and I have ever been about doing things the easy way...whether we mean for it to be that way or not. So we, of course, planned things for the day of our trip home. I don't think either of us thought that would be a big deal...and it probably wouldn't have been...but we both ran into some major minor disappointments (and I do mean major minor...that is not a typo).

First off we went for a delicious breakfast cupcake at the highly anticipated Georgetown Cupcake.


We were able to score a street parking spot within a block of the little cupcake bakery and blissfully trotted on in.

Look at all the pretty cupcakes...



Ooooo....aaaaahhhhh... We then ordered two cupcakes each. I wanted a red velvet and a chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting (two of my favorite cupcake flavors) and Shane wanted a red velvet and a lemon berry cupcake. I was so extremely excited...I had been looking forward to this for the entirty of the trip. It's absurd my enthusiasm about cupcakes. But while the lovely folks behind the counter were packing our cupcakes into this cute little box I noticed something...


They had given us a vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting instead of chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting...view the cupcake in question at the bottom left of the picture below.


Now normally I would be a rational human being about this and just accept the mistake and go along my merry way. But I was so exhausted this morning and I had hyped this all up so much in my mind that this was just unacceptable. I didn't know what to do with myself...I didn't feel like I could tell them they'd made a mistake because it was pretty busy in the store but I really really wanted the cupcake I'd had in mind. It was a big difference! This was my major minor disappointment of the day.

BUT Shane, being the true gentleman that he is, went back in and purchased an additional cupcake...this time with chocolate cake and vanilla frosting. My hero. ;)


After Shane returned triumphant with the additional cupcake we sat in the car and enjoyed the spoils of our victory...



No, we didn't eat two cupcakes in one sitting...we each only had one for the time being.

We then hit the road again...heading north towards home...and White Castle.

It had been the plan all along to go to Sonic on the ride down to DC and White Castle on the way back up to CT...so that was no big deal. But sometime about halfway through NJ we hit the nasty, rainy weather we had just begun to forget about. Ew.

No matter though...we made our way through the torrential rain to a White Castle somewhere in one of the lovelier parts of NJ (imagine me saying that dripping with sarcasm) and ordered up some grub. Between the two of us...10 sliders, 2 orders of onion rings, and 2 soft drinks.

Brace yourselves...it is now, unfortunately, time for Shane's major minor disappointment of the day.

It's probably no surprise that Shane was looking forward to this side trip a bit more than I was...and the little burgers had been hyped up so much (just as my cupcakes had been hyped up for me). But when we went to dig in Shane discovered each and every one of our 10 sliders had ketchup on them. And if you don't already know, Shane hates ketchup. I felt so horrible I wanted very badly to go purchase some more without ketchup, but he wouldn't let me. He pulled himself up by the bootstraps, picked some that didn't have AS much ketchup, and ate them anyway.

In dealing with today's major minor disappointments, I do have to admit that Shane handled himself a bit better than me. I have no doubt that he will remind me of this often.

In the end we both agreed on one thing though...ketchup or no, the famed little sliders weren't as good as we hoped they'd be. The meat was a little like shoe leather and they were very soggy. Definitely no better than a burger from McDonald's. The only real novelty was that they were tiny...which was kind of fun. We made a White Castle castle out of the little burger cartons...


We then proceeded to get stuck in horrendous traffic because we forget to take a detour around the George Washington bridge...in the middle of which I got severe indegestition due to our interesting meal choices earlier in the day. Oops. Something I probably should have foreseen but it didn't really wind up being a big deal...we both made it back home safe and sound.

And despite the little hiccups on the way home today...I can say I had a truly amazing time. We had a whole lot of fun together and I think we made a lot of really great memories...including the ones we made today under slightly less than great circumstances.. This trip will keep a smile on my face for quite some time. I can't wait to see where we go next. :)

DC, Day Three and Four: We're Alive

A note right off the bat: I apologize to anyone who worried about Shane and my safety because I did not blog yesterday after the horrible metro collision down here in DC. We actually didn't even know about it until fairly late in the evening when we came back to our hotel room and I realized I had a bunch of concerned text messages from various people and a missed call from my dad. The really creepy thing is that we were on the red train earlier that day...we never went through the area where the accident was...but still, it was enough to give me a chill. Needless to say, my thoughts and prayers are with all who were involved and the families of the 6 people that died. Truly horrific.

Other than that we've really enjoyed ourselves the past couple of days. We did go to the zoo and our nice dinner yesterday but we didn't make it to Georgetown Cupcake...yet. We plan on going tomorrow before we hit the road instead.

Today we hit three of the Smithsonian Museums - Air and Space (again), Natural History (again), and American History. We are BEAT. It's been pretty crazy but it's also been really fun. However I may need a vacation to recover from my vacation...

On to the pics!

On Monday morning we had a delicious McDonald's breakfast...mmmmm...it was so good my arteries were clapping.



Then we went over to the zoo.


We saw gazelles...


...zebras...


...a great panda (yes, we saw a real one too...not just this statue)...


...a TON of flamingos...


...some pretty peacocks...



...and many many other animals.

Then we got all fancy and went to dinner at a restaurant called Proof after taking a stroll through the National Portrait Gallery (which was very cool).


It was sooooo good...the wine was delicious and the food was excellent. Couldn't have asked for a nicer night out.

Then this morning we went over to the Air and Space Museum to see a show in the planetarium. It was a lot of fun because it'd been a long time since either of us had been to a planetarium...but I didn't taken any pictures while we were at the museum. We'd already been there so we didn't stay long before heading out.

We started walking to get lunch and took a detour through the sculpture garden next to the National Gallery of Art.





(Believe it those pics of Shane and I separately were not posed. We're just excellent photographers.)

Then after we got lunch we went over to the Museum of Natural History.

Shane next to some creatures that are (or were) actually taller than him...


We also saw the Hope Diamond while we were at this museum but...once again...I didn't take any pictures. It's very big and very sparkly...take my word for it.

After that we went over to the American History Museum which I actually think was my favorite of the three we visited today. I didn't even take any pictures while I was there I was so absorbed! We got to see the original star spangled banner while we were there which was actually an amazing sight. It was in a low light area to prevent any further fading or damage from light and it was HUGE. The original flag was in the neighborhood of 35'x40'...but it's now closer to a square shape because of the tests of time. And they actually flew that huge thing! It's the very flag Francis Scott Key saw in the distance that inspired the song "The Star Spangled Banner." And seeing it in person was truly inspiring. Another favorite part of this museum was the photos of the 2009 inauguration.

I've said it once but I'll say it again...I'm BEAT! Now time for some relaxation and sleep...tomorrow there will be cupcakes, White Castle, and lots and lots of driving.

DC, Day Two: Take Me Out to the Ball Game

First off I have to say that I am incredibly tired right now so the narrative of this particular blog is going to be brief. I apologize if this is upsetting to anyone.

Today was jam-packed with activity. We got up, got a quick breakfast at the hotel and then headed over to the metro to go down to see the Nationals game. Here is Shane waiting for the metro in, what I thought, was a pretty cool looking station. At the very least it was clean...for public transportation.


Then we got to the field...


The stadium was incredibly nice. It's essentially brand new. However, the Nationals have some very odd mascots...


These are "the running Presidents"...I'm not really sure what their point is. The Nationals also have a normal type of mascot...Screech the bald eagle. Why they need these scary President type things as well is beyond me. Shane insisted I have my picture take with Lincoln.


As you can see in the picture I was rather uncomfortable about this. I found him very scary and I did not want him to touch me. Lincoln, that is. Not Shane.

Our seats were incredible...even better than Shane thought they'd be. Here is the view from where we were sitting.


It was around this time that we were both good children and dutifully called our fathers on Fathers' Day. Yes, we remembered.

And then we took the obligatory "at arms length" picture.


Awwww.

A surprise bonus...today's game turned out to be one of those free stuff games. We each walked away with one of these Geico duffel bags.


The game was a lot of fun. As expected, the Nationals lost, but it didn't rain at all even though the sky looked ominous at times and it wasn't oppressively hot either.

This evening we had plans to see Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian in the IMAX at the Air & Space Museum...so after the game we went straight there.


We picked up the tickets at will call and then poked around inside the museum for a bit since the movie wasn't for another couple of hours.

Here is Shane playing in the museum:


Here is me playing in the museum:


Here are the two of us in front of the lunar module:


It was shortly after this that we realized the movie we were seeing was not at the Air & Space IMAX...it was at the Museum of Natural History IMAX. Why the lady who gave us our tickets didn't tell us that is beyond me. We had about 20 minutes to get over to the other museum so we speed-walked across the Mall and managed to make it with plenty of time to spare. It was a very cute movie but we both agreed it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun if we'd seen it anywhere other than in DC...in a Smithsonian museum.

And so ended a busy day. We've got the zoo, Georgetown Cupcake (hurray!), and our nice dinner tomorrow. It may be a small miracle if I actually manage to blog tomorrow night.

DC, Day One: Accepting That We Are Tourists

Shane and I are at the end of a very very long day one here in DC. The drive down was relatively uneventful aside from the fact that we almost didn't find our way out of New Jersey along with the occasional torrential downpour...but by the time we actually got into the city the weather was warm and beautiful, albeit a bit humid. Here are some of today's highlights...

On the way down we planned a stop at the ever illusive Sonic. There are commercials for this mysterious fast food chain in the CT area but there aren't any that are actually close by so we were determined to partake in what we've only heard was incredibly good, quick eats while we could.

Here is the drive-up menu. When you're ready to order you push the little red button that can be seen at the bottom left of this picture. Someone eventually takes your order in a similar fashion to a drive-THRU.

BUT instead of driving up to a window and taking your food away, someone actually comes out to your car and brings you your food. What a novel idea! However, much to our disappointment, we only saw one server on roller skates.

The food was alright...Shane got a chili cheese "coney" (a.k.a. hot dog) and some popcorn chicken and I got a grilled chicken sandwich and some tater tots. I think he enjoyed his food a lot but mine was really only on par with McDonald's...although the tots were very good. We also each got a cherry limeade which was, in my opinion, the highlight of the meal. Mmmm...


This is a picture that Shane took of the people in the car next to us. He was attempting to get a picture of the guy in the driver's seat eating his hot dog.


Here is me with my tots.


Shortly after eating we switched drivers (I drove for the first part of the trip). Here is Shane driving my car...


Before long we were in our nation's capitol and driving around trying to find a place to park. While driving around Shane kept grumbling about the tourists crossing the road at inconvenient times (mainly when we needed to quickly make a turn) and I kept reminding him that we are, in fact, tourists ourselves. This is something that I don't think really settled well with either of us. I mean...who really WANTS to come across as a tourist. Not us, that's for sure.

Which is why the sign we discovered on our hotel was particularly humorous...


You can't really tell in this pic but it says "Hotel Harrington: Washington's Tourist Hotel."

Uh oh...they're on to us.

We were both pretty tired and achy from being in the car for 6+ hours so we collapsed in the room for a little while as we tried to figure out what to do for dinner.


And I forced Shane to take the first of many "at arms length" portraits of the two of us.


Not bad...not bad at all. We finally decided to go to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner which happened to be about one block down from the hotel...I had requested we go there purely for nostalgia's sake because it's one of the few things I remember from my first DC trip around the time I was 10 (if my family is reading this I have only one thing to say to you...boy scouts).


Then we started our walk over to "the mall" to see the White House, Washington Monument, etc. On the way over there we caught a glimpse of the Capitol Building in the distance.


And then we saw Barack's house.


And then we took pictures in front of the Washington Monument...which is so much bigger than these pictures suggest. Also for some reason Shane looks normal size in his picture and I look like a miniature version of myself. I'm not actually half Shane's height. The pictures are a bit dark in the foreground...oops...



Then we headed down toward the Lincoln Memorial alongside the reflecting pool which was actually in pretty sad shape, as you can see in the picture below. The water was oddly low and dirty looking.


The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is right next to the reflecting pool so we took a quick detour over there. This memorial is really very striking in person. There are so many names on that wall it's staggering...


Finally we arrived at the Lincoln Memorial and ascended the steps to see our 16th president.


And I got to stand where Martin Luther King, Jr. stood when he made his "I have a dream" speech.


Here is a picture of me with Mr. Lincoln...


And then the second of the forced pictures...



Before heading back towards the hotel to get some ice cream and turn in we stopped by the Korean War Memorial...which I'd never seen before.


The looks on the statues faces were truly haunting.

And now, my friends, I am completely exhausted. I've probably made lots of grammatical errors but in the interest of going to bed, I am not proof reading. Baseball and IMAX tomorrow...goodnight!