Our Day in DC

Bob wrote this last night... posting with pictures now:

Hey everyone, Bob here…Melissa is watching yet another Matthew McConaughey movie.

This morning started early for us - around 5am. I guess we just couldn’t sleep because of the anticipation of the day ahead. No just kidding… although we loved DC, we were up because our room was like a hot box. Once I took care of the temp situation we were awake so we decided to get the day started. Anyone who knows us will get the importance of this next sentence. When we got to the lobby, "Dreamgirl" by DMB was playing on the hotel radio.

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We headed over to Brueggers Bagels for a little wake up and to plan our day. Next time we’ll grab a cab because we walked to the rail station and it was about 40 degrees to start the morning. With breakfast in us and the planning done, we headed toward the White House. We may fancy ourselves worldly, but we ended up in a tourist trap of a store to buy M a sweatshirt because of the cool temp. A happy M makes for a happy B.

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With M finally warm we continued on to the White House. We made a brief stop in Freedom Plaza to check out the grandstand on the planned Inauguration Parade route and to take a few pics so we can look back and say, “we were there”, but I guess all of DC is like that. I couldn’t help but notice the incredible architecture that surrounded us around every corner. And the White House is no exception. There’s a sense of awe when you look at a building of this grandeur. M and I wanted to take the tour but you have to sign up for that like a year in advance. Maybe we’ll get there someday.

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One of the amazing things about this town is the never-ending list of photo ops. The White House, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and all of the museums, just to name a few. And believe - me we took pictures of everything. After the White House, we jumped a cab and headed to the Lincoln Memorial for a little reflection. Lincoln’s statue is enormous and beautiful… but fragile and stoic at the same time. We really loved this part of the day.

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The Vietnam War Memorial was more powerful than either of us could have ever imagined. To say it affected us would be an understatement - and seeing all of the soldiers’ names put a chill into us both. This was a sobering moment that I think will stay with us forever. Another cab ride and we made our way to the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Apparently we hit the line at the right time because by the time we decided to leave, the sheer volume of the crowd was massive. This museum was just reopened this year and it didn’t disappoint - but next time we’ll hit it early in the morning so we can avoid the crowds.

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By this point in the day we needed to eat something or M was going to smash me in the face with a rock. So it was back to the hotel to gather our thoughts. In our pre-trip planning we saw a TV show that did a story about this place called Ben’s Chili Bowl. It’s a small family owned restaurant that’s been around since 1958 and is located in DC’s U Street District. For me this was the highlight of the trip. I know I should say it was the White House or the Vietnam Wall… and yes they’re great, but Ben’s is THE place. The food is incredible. It’s not what the doctor ordered but I could eat it everyday. I had the “half smoke” with chili cheese fries and a Sprite. They give you more food than any single man, woman or child should eat in one sitting. M had the veggie burger and veggie chili cheese fries with a banana shake. When she took the first sip of the shake she almost fell off of her stool, which we were lucky to get because this place was mobbed. I mean -people everywhere but because of the amazing atmosphere, we didn’t mind having strangers bumping us as we soaked in the entertainment of the dancing wait staff and waited for our food. Ben’s wait staff is unlike any we’ve ever seen before. As soon as we muscled our way through the door, we could see why it’s been around so long. Singing, dancing, smiling… they all seemed happy to be there. I may have said this already but I could eat at Ben’s Chili Bowl everyday and twice on Saturday.

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After lunch it was off to the International Spy Museum, which turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. We actually intended on going there early in the morning, but found out at breakfast that it didn’t open until 10am, as does most of DC on a Saturday morning. Yes, it was somewhat interesting but the lines and crowds made this a very anti-climactic way to end the day. By this point we’d had enough of lines and waiting so we headed back to the room for a little nap.

Our original plan was to nap for about an hour or two then shower and head out for dinner. We even had a reservation. Well as you might imagine, the day finally caught up with us. Our nap turned into us staying in and getting room service, which was definitely the best thing we could have done.

DC did not let us down. The food, the sights, the people all made for an amazing start to this trip. Tomorrow, Florida here we come. Good night.

From Washington DC and Florida Road Trip

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Washington DC and Florida Road Trip

Listening to: "Here Comes My Girl" by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers