Bukkit Tour Day Eleven: Smithsonian Institutes

Sorry for the lateness of the day eleven blog. We got an early start on day twelve and I didn't have time to write it. So without further ado, day eleven...

We got going for the day at noon time. Since we wanted to start taking in the sites as soon as possible we had brunch at the Chartwell Grill & Lounge. That is the restaurant in the hotel lobby. It was decent food but nothing to write home about.

Driving in Washington, DC kind of sucks and all of the parking around the museums is one or two hour so we decided that we'd take the Metro rail. There is a stop in DuPont Circle which is about five blocks away from the hotel. We'd managed to figure out the trains in Boston and New York so we figured that DC wouldn't be any more difficult. (In the interests of full disclosure, Anthony was always with us in New York.) The first thing we tried to do was purchase tickets in the same method that we did in New York. Put all of the money on one ticket and pass it between us. Guess what? That doesn't work in DC because you have to pay when you get on and when you get off. As soon as you scan your ticket to get on, you can't use it again until you scan it through the exit turnstile. When we asked for an explanation of how it worked, the Metro transit worker just got pissed and let all three of us through the handicapped gate. Of course that didn't do anything to help us out when we got to our destination. Fortunately, the one nice public worker we encountered in DC was working at the exit. He took us over to the machines and split the money we had put on the one ticket into three tickets.

We got off of the train and started making our way to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. I was so excited! I'd always wanted to see the Wright Flyer, Spirit of St. Louis, Glamorous Glennis, and Apollo 11 Command Module in person with my own eyes. Being that close to history was truly an awe inspiring event. I didn't realize that there was another hanger in Virginia which houses many other historical air and space vehicles. I was slightly disappointed that we didn't get to go there, but the only thing I really would have wanted to see would have been the Space Shuttle Enterprise. Honestly, the Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson Air Force base is a more impressive museum. The problem is that it the experience at Wright-Pat always felt cheapened a little bit because the actual history making vehicles weren't there. That's how I got the bug to go to DC and see the actual vehicles. We spent a good deal of time there and saw a movie in the planetarium about stars. Bonus, it was narrated by none other than the air and space pioneer....Whoopi Goldberg!?!

We left the museum and stopped at one of the snack carts because it was H.T.B. outside. Walking around in 94 degree heat all day gets exhausting. The girls each got ice cream treats, but it seemed like the most logical choice was the lemon frozen ice. That's what I got and it was the big hit between the three of us. We consumed our frozen goodness while making our way over to the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

Now, I'll be honest with you. The big reason for going to the Smithsonian Museum of American History was to see the popular culture exhibit. Aside from Fonzie's jacket and Kermit the Frog, it was a bit of a letdown. The exhibit was contained in one rather small room and was kind of underwhelming. The rest of the museum was awesome and I enjoyed seeing the items pertaining to the American Revolution and the presidents themselves.

This would be day two of trying to find decals for the bukkit, but no souvenir shop seems to sell stickers. We started getting worried that we wouldn't be able to find any because all of the gift shops are almost exactly alike.

We got on the subway to make our way back to DuPont Circle with no hassles this time until we got to DuPont Circle. The up escalator was out. I'm not normally one to be complaining about climbing steps because it doesn't bother me. I prefer it over elevators, but the tunnel to get down to the subway is almost straight down and a LONG climb. Given my current condition, I really had to stop when I got to the top because I felt really winded. Check out the photos of Laela and Miranda on Bukkit Tour Day 11 album on my Facebook page to see how steep the subway stairs are. I finally caught my breath. We were really hungry at this point because we hadn't eaten a meal since noon and it was now after 9:00. We went to Five Guys Burgers. Holy carp, that was a good choice. The burgers taste just like they would on the backyard grill and the toppings are excellent. They also give you a mountain of fries when you order them. I got the fries with the cajun lovin' spices and I was stoked!

We finished dinner and started making our way back to the hotel with one quick pit stop at the liquor store. I wanted to get a beer to have back at the room. I went in and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but Yuengling Lager! I grabbed a sixer, we went back to the room and I enjoyed a couple while we got cleaned up from the day's adventures. Finally turned in at about midnight. What a day.

Bukkit Tour Day Ten: Welcome to the nations's capital

We had another leisurely start to the day on day ten. The girls got up about 11:15, we packed up the room, and got the Escape loaded up for our 12:00 check out time. When we finished loading up the car, we went back into downtown Philly because Laela had seen a breakfast/sandwich shop about four blocks away when we were out walking the night before. It is called the Corner Bakery Cafe'. Laela had a salad, I had eggs/bacon/toast, and Miranda ordered French toast that was an explosion of awesome. It was a mini cinnamon raisin loaf of bread that had been rolled in egg batter and pan fried. It was then sprinkled in powdered sugar and came with a cup of syrup and bacon. I was immediately jealous. Fortunately being the svelte young lady that Miranda is, she was unable to finish it and I was able to reap the benefits. (Truth be told, she shared it while she was eating it but that doesn't make for as good of a story does it?) We left the restaurant and proceeded to pass the giant clothespin sculpture above a subway station. We had walked past that sculpture on three separate occasions and each time there was a different crazy person standing under it screaming obscenities at no one in particular. Gotta love the big city!

Miranda has been reading quite a lot while we've been travelling and had exhausted her supply of books so we needed to swing by Borders to replenish her stock. I made a quick phone call to the place where my motorcycle came from to see if the oil leak was fixed. They said it was still on the lift. Hopefully it'll be finished by the time I get back. After that we made our way back to the car and got on the road to Washington, DC. The GPS said it'd be about a 2 hour and 50 minute drive, but there was an awful accident on the interstate which ended up adding an our to our trip. We finally made it to DC a little after 5:00. We got up to the room and settled in. We're staying at The Churchill Hotel. After settling in we drove down to the national mall to have a look at the sites. We took in the Washington Monument, the World War II memorial, the Reflecting Pool, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Memorial.

I was kind of disappointed in the upkeep of the area. The grass looks awful, there are footpaths worn into the sides of the Reflecting Pool, and duck poop EVERYWHERE. The monuments themselves are all massive and do a really good job of making you as an individual feel very small. I think I'd like to go back and re-visit the Vietnam memorial today because I'd like to see it in the daylight. It was tough to see after the sun went down even with the soft lighting.

After we'd finished site seeing, we went out to dinner at an Italian joint called Bertucci's. It was really good food, but I think they were pissed to see us walk in at 9:30. We didn't realize they closed at 10:00. I had a fantastic calzone with pepperoni, onions and sun-dried tomatoes. Got back to the hotel at almost 11:00, got caught up on things and went to bed. We're going to try to organize things a little better today and are going to give public transportation a shot because driving in DC sucks.