Spring Break: DC

Hello Spring Break! Because of a great teaching schedule and a cancelled Monday class, I was able to plan a Spring Break trip that was longer than expected. This gave me the opportunity to take advantage of the East Coast and visit friends and family I had over there. I found really cheap flights to and from DC and New York and the Megabus was cheap for transport from one place to another. So first stop: DC!

Shiri picked me up from the airport and took me back to her cute little apartment. She decided to go to work on Friday so I had the morning free to shower, get organized and then head up to enjoy the free things provided by the Smithsonians and our tax dollars. I first headed to the Postal Museum which, let's be real, was awesome. I'm sorry but the mail is fascinating. Especially how complex and yet so fast the systems are to get mail from one mailbox to another. Seriously though, so freaking fascinating. I'm not kidding. 

I then headed to the Folger Shakespeare Library where, along with enjoying their exhibit about how Shakespeare influences so many different things in life, I participated in a twitter exchange with the Reduced Shakespeare Company (hi guys!) and the Library itself. This was because I was, of course, listening to the RSC podcast in the Folger Library. Meta to the extreme. The best part of the exhibit was the musical comedy version of Macbeth. Hysterical.

One of my favorite buildings in DC is the Supreme Court and the sun came out just as I was going down the front stairs so I got some great pictures. The exhibit inside was wonderful, especially the special exhibit about Sandra Day O'Connor. By this point, it was mid-afternoon, so I took the metro back up north to meet up with Shiri and her co-workers at a Happy Hour and then head out to dinner with her roommate Megan, her friend from Israel Cody and Cody's bf Mark. We went to a restaurant called Ted's Bulletin, which was delicious, and then went back to the apartment for wine and Cards Again Humanity, which was just the epitome of class. And hilarity.

 

The next morning, we picked up Danielle! Yay! This was the highlight of my morning, to be honest. We headed out to Mount Vernon to experience the house of our first President and the Father of our Country. We were a bit early in the season so it wasn't incredibly sunny and the gardens were all pretty bare. But on the plus side, it wasn't incredibly busy, we were able to see all of the rooms without pushing people out of the way. The house itself was absolutely gorgeous and the docents inside were all extremely knowledgable. We joked, which out of earshot, about how it seemed like GW was good at everything. He was an inventor and a gardener and a building and a solider and a politicians and a writer and really, what didn't he do well? Apparently singing but other than that, clearly this was a Jack of All Trades. Special bonus of the visit to Mount Vernon was a short film (with amazing production value) that starred Sebastian Roche (SPN's Balthazar!)  as GW. It was pretty great.

We picnic-ed with our Trader Joe's lunch on the banks of the Potomac and then decided instead of wineries, to head into Alexandria, wander around, and pay Ricky a visit at his new job. Highlights of Alexandria: introducing Danielle to Ross, getting some delicious ice cream from a shop where children clearly ran around unsupervised, popping in and out of many antique stores and wondering how on earth they all stayed afloat and of course seeing Ricky in his element at his new shop. I'm so excited for his new venture and wish I had been hungry enough to have one of their delicious sandwiches. Next time for sure!

Shiri and I spent a quiet night at home, catching up on TV and hanging out with Megan, and then were able to sleep in since Shiri wasn't needed to help out until the 12:15 service of church. We headed over to Columbia Heights and the two of us helped out with food and drink before going to listen to the service. I really liked her church, which reminded me a lot of Paradox Church in LA that I went to with Beth a few times. We had a few hours to kill before meeting up with Danielle and Ricky for dinner so we went down to the National Gallery and wandered around a bit. Best part of the afternoon was the Armand Hammer exhibit. Think about it...

Dinner that night was at Daielle and Ricky's apartment and was absolutely delicious. Even better though was going throgh old pictures, reminiscing about old times, telling stories, laughing, and spending time with friends. Shiri said on the ride home that it's crazy that Danielle and I were friends such a long time ago, when we were so little, yet can still pick up where we left off. I don't have any doubt that if we met each other on the street or at some event today that we would still be friends, even without our history. She's my favorite!

Monday morning, I ended up leaving the house with Megan, so I could give her the key and Shiri's metro card. I thought I'd go to both the Arboretum and the National Archives but ended up only going to the archives since I had to stand in line for nearly an hour. So frustrating. And cold. And I was surrounded by kids. And I had my big back pack on the whole time. There was a great exhibit inside though about rights and another one about signatures and autographs so I suppose it was worth it but it was still frustrating.

I made sure that I was at Union Station with enough time to find the bus stop I needed to be at and get a seat exactly where I wanted to with some lunch so I could enjoy my bus ride off to Philly. Thanks for a great time, DC!