Washington D.C (finally!)- Part 1

In order to make the most of my hotel time, I bought the paper copy of In A Heartbeat in order to make some headway on the editing of it. However, I can't really focus right now so I decided its about time I sit down and talk about the big trip to Washington D.C.

A last minute bout of strep throat found Erin left behind in Kentucky and me hit the road with three other Kentuckians for the event that was to stop a Nation. To coin a phrase. Despite a slight mix up with meeting locations (these things happen) we were soon driving across Kentucky, then into West Virginia and up into Maryland. West Virginia was beautiful. Snow had fallen and it was stunning to look at. There were deer standing close to the road, just standing and grazing. At one point we even had a coyote come charging down the hill, almost up onto the road and then turn around and run back in the other direction.

Our stopping point was a middle of no where gas station which was in a log cabin, and had adds to rent log cabins just behind the gas station. It had a toilet and food, so you know, what more could you ask for? It was pretty smooth sailing after that.

There wasn't any traffic going into Maryland, though we had some fun spotting cars doing up to the D.C area for Obama's big day. We even had one group of people from Illinois take our photo for some random reason.

We got to our hotel, checked in, took in bags and decided to head into the Capital to check out The Mall. It was dark by the time we got there, and a little chill, but despite that there were still a descent number of people around. Screens and barriers had started to be put in place (this was the Saturday night) for Tuesday. In addition to that, there was an endless line or port-a-loos along the outer edges of the Mall. They were all locked. However, later in the night we spied an open one.

As we neared Lincoln Memorial, we discovered that we might not actually be able to go up into the Memorial which bummed Kalan out quite a lot. I was pretty bummed too, it a very awesome place to go into if you have the chance. Anyways, as it turned out, U2 was doing a sound check on the steps for the concert which was going to take place on the Sunday. That was pretty awesome. A free show from u2 with Abe Lincoln in the background, awesome! After that we walked a fair distance and ended up eating Ethiopian food which was scrumptious! And very filling in a deceiving kind of way. The evening wore on and I suddenly came to realise that my knees were not coping with the cold and as a result I was walking a whole lot slower than I wanted to be.

Sunday started off with sore knees and a major disappointment at the Smithsonian when I discovered that the brilliant X-Files display I'd been wanting to see since the items were donated, wasn't actually on display. The first guy I asked was dumber than dog shit and probably wouldn't be able to tell me who the next president was going to be if I had asked him. The second person wasn't too much more help, simply said it wasn't on display. Ha, no shit.

A little while after that I split from the others who were planning to see things I'd seen on a previous trip. So off I went, and able to go at my own pace without feeling like I was slowing everyone down. Seriously, I suddenly realised what it must be like for an old person living in a cold climate. It sucks bigtime! I made my way past the IRS Building, up to the Hoover Building (home of the FBI) and up into a Barnes and Nobles to grab some Starbucks and get warm. Little did I know staying warm was going to become an even bigger issue in the days to come.

From there I jumped on the Metro and went up to Dupont Circle to look at the old and weird homes up there. I also ventured across to the Australian Embassy which I discovered was all closed up, no one was home. Deciding what to do next was an issue. I was tired all ready, and just bored and cold and blah. Looking at my map I discovered I was close enough to the National Geographic Museum to check it out. And I did. It was small and I'd missed the photographic exhibition by like 10 days which I was bummed about. Whales are cool and all, but not exactly my thing. Stacy would have loved it! However, the amusement factor kicked in when the woman in the gift shop asked where I was from. Upon informing her, she and two other works cheered and declared I was the furthest so far. I'm pretty sure there's not too many other places that are further from Washington D.C then Melbourne, Australia. I'd made their day.

It was with renewed excitement that I left and headed out to Arlington National Cemetery. Here I finally found the first dregs of large crowds. It was really busy out there!! Arlington is such a vastly creepy place. But beautifully sad at the same time. I mean its just row after row after row of headstones. There are some lovely memorial areas out there and you can also get a great view of the Capital from the steps of Arlington House. I happened to be out there when the Inauguration Concert was on and it was actually echoing across the river to where I was!

A little under two hours out there turned me cold and darkness was starting to arrive. I headed back into D.C to meet up with the others at a Starbucks only to run into issues on the Metro, namely I couldn't get off at the stop I wanted to because of the crowds that had been in town from the concert. I had to get off two stops later and walk. Needless to say I was sore and cold when I got there to face a line of like 30 people waiting for coffee. I have to admit, I feared I'd be in line for like half an hour, but in actual fact it was less than ten minutes which I was highly impressed by. I lost count the number of times I'd been in line at Highpoint Starbucks and waited like 20 minutes for a coffee when there had only been three people in front of me. The crowds and lines were also a theme which would repeat themselves in the days to follow.

For now I am leaving it at Sunday night as I'm starting to get a headache. Not too much more happened that night, we went back to the hotel and got warm, drank beer and watched TV. And slept, which I have to admit was nice!!