Tuesday, August 19, 2014, is our first official day at our home in Alexandria, Virginia. It is exactly 1 week since I left Idaho. What a crazy week! Now, to unpacking. Wait?!?! Are we seriously going to unload that beast of a moving truck? No way! Yep, we hired movers and it was amazing. We still unloaded and sweat like crazy because Virgina is super green cause of the evil thing called humidity!
Tuf's friend Leslie wanted to take us to a nice restaurant in DC to welcome us to the city. So we goggled some restaurants and found this amazing place called Matchbox. Matchbox has now turned into my favorite restaurant in DC. We went to Matchbox in Eastern Market and it was amazing!
Leslie and Tuf had never been to DC and Leslie was flying out of Baltimore on Wednesday to go back home. So, on Wednesday morning we thought we would just hit some of the high points of DC. Soon, I learn that you physically can't do everything in DC in one day or even one week. When you come to DC you have to decide what you want to see and be okay with missing out on some things. There is just so much to do and see.
We haven't figured out this whole big city metro thing yet and thought it was in our best interest to drive to Crystal City and park and then get on the metro there. Yeah, not smart, parking at Crystal City was $20! Now we know - don't park at Crystal City, park at Huntington metro for $4.85. We caught the metro for 2 stops and went to the 9-11 Memorial (photos in another blog post). After going to the memorial we take the blue line to Arlington National Cemetery. Where we do a very fast tour of the main 2 places (Tomb of the Unknown Solider, Changing of the Guards and then the eternal flame at JFK's burial site).
Next we take the blue line train to McPherson and go to the White House. This is about a month before the White House jumper spree - so you can actually get to the fence line. Not anymore, there is a 6 foot barrier there with armed guards walking around. Tuf took this great photo of the White House.
We are now hungry and hot (it's August). So, we stop at Cosi for lunch and then thanks to my awesome ability to always go in the wrong way we walk away from the National Mall and miss the Washington Monument, but we ask some police officers and they point us in the right direction and we make it to Lincoln! I must not have taken pictures of Lincoln - fear not, I have many more in other blog posts :)
Travel Alert: When are you are the Lincoln Memorial the closest metro in any direction in 0.9 miles away. That isn't that bad - but when you have been walking a lot (which you will do in DC) you are stuck on which metro to walk too. On this very hot day we decided to walk to Arlington National Cemetery (Another note: do not chose Arlington at night because once Arlington closes the blue line no longer stops at Arlington).
Also, another lesson learned. If/when you come to visit and you want to fly to Baltimore - that is completely fine, but we are also going to ask that you buy an Amtrak ticket to Union Station for $11 and we will pick you up there. Because that Amtrak ride is 22 minutes long. For us to get from Baltimore to our home is 2 hours.
I am glad that we were able to show Leslie some of the sights of DC, but we did not plan well and all of us were burnt to the point where we peeled and we had blisters on our feet. So many things we learned since our first time in DC.
Sometime during that first week, Tuf and I went to a restaurant close to our house for biscuits and gravy that were suppose to be amazing - they were not! :( But I liked the cheesy place mat they had.
On Saturday we went to the our first Smithsonian - The American History Museum. I really like this museum, I had been to this museum on my first trip to DC in 2004. I like seeing the First Ladies dresses and china sets, Dorthy's red slippers and the Star Spangled Banner flag.
You know since we hadn't really driven anywhere in a week - I think it is time for another road trip!
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