Fun Times in D.C.!
We are back from Washington and I loved it! The 9 hour drive was perfect. On the way home, we got all the way from Washington to almost Buffalo on just over 3/4 of a tank of gas. I love our little Toyota Corolla... she made the ride very enjoyable! James and I had never driven through the U.S. before and we were both struck by how similar it is to Canada (or at least New York State and Pennsylvania). I thought the whole place would be built up like crazy, with lots of commercialism, but it wasn't that way at all. There were times where we would drive for a couple hours without seeing any restaurants right on the highway. In fact, the highway took us right through the Appalachian mountains, so the scenary was beautiful. I guess my previous view of the States as being totally built up and commercialized goes hand in hand with the view of many Americans that in Canada it is always cold and it is a vast wilderness! Too many stereotypes.
James and I were going to hit Washington really early, so we went to this weird restaurant in Hagerstown called "C&J's". James ordered a coke and it was the biggest glass of coke I have ever seen! It was slightly bigger than his head - we were just dying with laughter. And then, when he was half way done, the server asked if he would like another! He politely declined the offer.
We left Canada around 4:30am because we thought the traffic would be horrendous. Since it wasn't, we ended up getting to D.C. at about 2:30, so we went to Arlington Memorial, since our friend Corie (who we were staying with) was still at work. By the way, Corie is a close friend from law school and she was granted an internship at the Inter-America Commission on Human Rights (smarty-pants!). Below is a picture of her and I in the sculpture gallery... I missed the girl so much!!
After Arlington, we managed to find our way to Georgetown to meet Corie at her house. I loved the neighbourhood! It has a great "village" feel to it, and AMAZING shopping! I'll admit, I picked up a few pairs of shoes!
For the rest of the trip we just went to all the sites. Corie was a brilliant guide! She took us to all the memorials (Lincoln, Washington, Korean War Veterans, Vietnam War Veterans (EXCELLENT!), WWII Veterans, etc.). We also managed to fit in some museums - Natural History, Air and Space, and of course, the Holocaust Museum.
The Holocaust Museum nearly brought me to tears. Everywhere I looked, I was reading or viewing pictures of the atrocities the Jews faced at the hand of Hilter. One thing that struck me in particular was in a video of a male survivor who had been in one of the prison camps and he said, "I kept crying out to God. Why are you letting this happen? Aren't we supposed to be the Chosen people?" What they were facing reminded me of the sort of torture that Job faced and that the Jews faced during their time in slavery to the Egyptians. My heart silently wept for the Jews and their continued persecution and even now, I can feel that ball of emotion rising in my chest. And yet, in this video, the man said that when the war was over, he thanked the Lord for sparing his life... despite all of the persecution, despite losing most of his family and friends, despite the fact that his life had been entirely overturned - he THANKED the Lord. What an awesome testimony of faith.
As one can imagine, we also attended many art galleries. James was in an artist's heaven! The National Gallery (east and west building) and Hirshorn Gallery were excellent. Especially the Hirshorn Gallery with its great number of indoor sculptures. There were two outdoor sculpture gardens as well which had some of my and James' favourite sculptors. What a treat!
We also attended several great restaurants. One, was a Spanish restaurant where we ordered tapas and paella. Unfortunately, after a few bites of paella (a rice dish), James said that his tongue was feeling very weird. He went to the washroom and said that it was bleeding. I know from a friend of mine who is allergic to cantalope and melon that her tongue bleeds when she eats those foods and as a result, I was pretty sure James was having an allergic reaction to something. He said that he felt like he was having a bit of trouble breathing, but after drinking some water, he recovered. So now James has to go for an allergy test. The only thing that he had eaten that night that he had never really had before, was the saffron in the paella. So we think it was that - but it was a bit scary!
Below is a picture from our first night in Washington. Corie and her friends took us to a latin salsa club to go out dancing. (Left to right: Owen, Corie, Amy, moi, and James).
