The Nations Capitol

The next trip that my wife and I took was to Washington DC. I had to go for several days so my wife tagged along and we stayed for the weekend and for several days afterward I finished working. I didn’t have to work the day we arrived so we started out at the Air and Space Museum located at the airport. The things that particularly interested me on display were the Enola Gay, a Blackbird, a Corsair, aP-38 Lightning, and the space shuttle. The sculpture/water fountain outside was particularly interesting too.

Next we headed to the hotel and found out what DC traffic was really like. The next few days I spent working and my wife headed downtown. We were actually in Germantown but luckily for us there was a bus stop right outside of the hotel that went to the subway. So my wife was able to head to downtown DC while I was working. She was able to go to the Museum of Natural History, Museum of American History, the Freer Gallery of Art, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, American Art Museum, American Indian Museum, Art and Industries Building, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the National Mint. She also met a former coworker and saw the Capitol. The Folk Art Festival was going on at the National Mall too. I think that she had a great time even though I didn’t get to go with her (or is that why she had such a good time?!?!?)

One of the nights we met a college friend of mine that lives in DC. He suggested that we go to Grapeseed American Bistro and Wine Bar for dinner. It was a little on the expensive side but such a nice, cozy, little place. I think that their gimmick is that they design a dinner around a wine instead of picking a wine to go with a dinner. We really enjoyed dinner and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

By the weekend I was finally finished with work and ready to see the sights. I really wanted to see the Museum of American History so I dragged her back to that. Then we went to the National Postal Museum and the Museum of Natural History. The next day we met another college friend of mine and had lunch down at Union Station. We ate at Uno’s, which I wasn’t too pleased about since I travel to Chicago frequently and eat at Geno’s East and Giordono’s regularly. However, that Chicago style pizza in DC was just as good as any I had ever had in Chicago. After looking around Union Station we decided to take the Duck Tour. This took us to all of the highlights in DC and then took us to the airport for the water part of the tour. The planes were coming in for a landing just over where we were. After that we went to the International Spy Museum.

The next day we went to the Lincoln Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the Washington Monument, the reflecting pool, and the National Mall.

After 7 interesting days, we checked out of the hotel to spend the last night closer to the airport. We drove well out of our way to go to IKEA. IKEA is my wife’s favorite store. I don’t get it. But she doesn’t get Bass Pro Shop either. I have to admit that IKEA is pretty cool and might be worth the money if it were closer. There was also some big mall nearby that we went to. We spent the night at Chantilly, VA at a Comfort Suites. I got the free upgrade and got an enormous room. As you enter the room, the bathroom was to the left and was pretty normal. The closet was to the right and just beyond that was the mini fridge and microwave. Past the bathroom the room opened up and there was a full size, 2-person Jacuzzi. Then there was a full size couch, loveseat, chair, coffee table and a big screen TV. To the left was another room with a king size bed and full size closet. It was nearly two full hotel rooms. The Jacuzzi was nice end to the trip.