Baltimore/DC!!!

So last Friday afternoon, Jimmy and I jetted off to BWI to visit Jay, Jimmy's best friend, and his girlfriend Sara, for a weekend of fun on the East coast and a visit to the capitol city!! And boy did we have FUN!!! First of all, thanks SO much for Jay and Sara for being such fabulous hosts! We had so much fun hanging out in Baltimore and seeing where you all live...and then THANKS for taking us all the way to DC and trekking around sight seeing with us all weekend! It was such a good time and we can't wait to come back :)

To kick off this picture heavy post (I have WAY more, so these are just the most entertaining), here is a shot of the four of us at a local bar. Which I referred to as "Narrow Bar"...everything thing in Baltimore is narrow! Sounds weird, but being from the Midwest where we have plenty of space....the East coast is quite different because all they have to go to add more space is UP! So that's how everything is...houses, bars, restaurants, etc. Just very different! And makes for a lot of running into people.

The next day, after a nice relaxing night of sleep, we hopped in Jay's infamous Neon and were off to Washington, DC. We actually didn't get stuck in much traffic, which was lucky because they said it could be bad! Sara and I were just chilling in the back seat catching up :)

And...we made it! After we checked into the hotel we were staying in that night and dropped off our luggage, we stopped for some coffee (duh) and were off to see everything that DC has to offer! First stop, the Washington Monument. A really nice guy actually got on his back on the cement sidewalk to take this picture so he could get the whole monument in it with all of us. Now THAT's dedication people!!

After that, we walked over to the WWII Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial that were both amazing! And the reflection pool....well it was amazing and the perfect day for site-seeing with beautiful weather!! This one is going on our Christmas cards folks!!

Here are the KS people representing at the WWII Memorial!

On our way to the Lincoln Memorial (to see it up close) we figured out that DC has some pretty brave squirrels. Either that, or they are just hungry and not afraid to BEG. Hilarious! I got super close to one to take a picture and then freaked out because all I could imagine was it just attacking me!! But they were so cute; I would put their friendliness up there with the squirrels in Manhattan, KS...which says a lot! PS That's Jay's foot.

We made it to the Lincoln Memorial...without getting attacked by a squirrel!! And look at how awesome it is :) It was so huge and breathtaking and hard to believe the construction, detail and work that went into this to honor a great man!

Jimmy and Abe.

He got really mad because I made him take this picture :)

After a short stint there and a bathroom break, we headed on a LONG walk along the Potomac River, we made it to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial! We were beat from all the walking, but not ready to give up site seeing yet! However, we were ready for some FOOD to refuel!

This was when Jimmy and his walking GPS on his phone took us on a "wild goose chase" after a PotBelly. We walked around for what seemed like literally FOREVER and through all these buildings where there was no other tourists and lots of big buildings. Then we spotted it and everyone got excited to A) Eat and B) sit down and get out of the wind. Well, it was closed. Yep...so after a complete disappointment, we luckily found a cab and went to the museums because we didn't know where to go. The cab driver was not-so-friendly and didn't have any suggestions at all on places we could eat (REALLY??!). So then Jimmy found another PotBelly, called to make sure they were open, and we were off and walking again.

After finally getting some food in our stomach and warming up a bit, we headed back to the museums and hit up the National Museum of American History first. The Americans at War exhibit was amazing and very powerful, as it took you through a visual timeline of America from when George Washington was fighting for freedom to present time. It was definitely a great history lesson for me, as my husband is well up to speed on his history, so it was like I had my own tour guide :) But seeing the uniforms that people wore, the impact the wars had on all of society and honoring the men and women that served to protect our freedom in all the wars across history, was...powerful.

Where it became so real was stepping in front of the September 11 exhibit and literally being transported in time to my junior year of high school in economics class. Watching the TV because the first world trade center had been hit and then seeing the 2nd one on live TV....it takes my breath away thinking that we lived through something that impacted America so much. I have to say, I am so much more thankful for all the men and women...and the families they come from for serving to protect our country, now and before, after seeing all of this.

After we finished that exhibit, we headed over to the exhibit on presidents...and found none other than Jimmy Carter himself on the timeline :) Of course, I forced Jimmy to stand in front of it!

We then headed across the West Lawn, saw the U.S. Capitol Building where Congress and Senate meets! We didn't make it all the way there or get a tour of that, which is a bummer...but there's always next time, right?

Here we are in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. This was pretty cool to see how much things have changed from when the first flight happened. We saw some WWII fighters, went inside a cockpit of an older plane....and THEN Pat called (Jimmy's brother) about the KU game and that was about it for us. Haha. I happily took a seat to rest my tired feet and waited for Jimmy to check continuous updates on this phone and talk to his brother. Sara and Jay were still exploring :)

After that, the museums and sites were closed and we were off to see the town! We got all dolled up and headed to the W hotel's rooftop bar, called the POV :) Very swanky, very DC. Haha! Here we are headed out for the night....leaving our hotel! Jimmy and Jay look like twins!

Sara and I waiting for the guys to get us a drink in the downstairs. You had to go up and get a ticket that told you a time frame you were allowed to go up the elevator and get up to the bar. Interesting. We had to wait like 15 min and then go through all these roped off areas to get the elevator. It made us all question how much overhead/payroll goes into that operation of getting people up to the bar. But when we made it up there and bought some drinks, based on the cost I realized they were probably doing ok employing like 15 people for that process :)

Jay and Sara and the cool lights!

Jimmy and I!

And....we made it up! The monuments were pretty cool to see at night from so high up!

Apparently all the tables are reserved...as it specifies "standing room only" on our ticket. Even though there was no one in them. Odd. Guess that's what makes it fancy? So we sat at the bar and had a few drinks and tried to figure out where we were going to eat!

Per a recommendation from Jay's co-worker (or maybe boss...) who mentioned it's a great place to eat but you better have your credit card ready (yep, he was right), we ended up at Occidental Grill and Seafood, just 2 blocks from the White House. It was fun going to a fancy place and eating delicious food though, and even for all the food Jimmy ordered---he did eat it. And I had the most delicious lobster bisque! AND we got dessert, which was all wonderful.

The restaurant is 105 years old and they have pictures EVERYWHERE of all the famous people and politicians that have eaten there over the years. It's crazy. JFK, Thomas Edison (yep, the inventor of electricity ate there!), Ronald Regan, Richard Nixon....and the list goes on and on. So after dinner we took time to look at all the pictures, which was neat and got the waitress to snap one of all of us!

NEXT (yes, this is still Saturday....), we were off to Dupont Circle to meet Lauren and Chris at Buffalo Billiards where they were watching the K-State game! I'm SOO glad we got to see them and we did a lot of catching up! Their life in DC/Virginia is so cool and it's just such a different world than old KS :) However, I can't wait to have them back in KC (hopefully) after Chris finishes law school!!

Sunday morning, we woke up and headed to eat brunch at the hotel, complete with a made-to-order omelet station. It was delicious and gave us a nice break to sit down, chat, and catch up on other things than monuments.

But then, right after we were off to see the final destination of the weekend: the White House!! DC is just such a cool place because you will just be walking and literally you will turn the corner and some historic monument smacks you in the face! Which is what happened when we were looking for the White House! It was so pretty, I had to get multipe shots in here. And there were SO many people snapping pictures in front of it. Sara got asked to take a group's picture and they liked her so much....they made her get in one with them! Haha! So funny!

Jim and I in fron of the White House. I contemplated making this our Christmas Card picture...but my hair was too poofy.

So, after we saw the front....I wanted to see the back. So around we went and on our way, we passed the Department of Treasury. I liked it because it has to do with fiscal things. Haha.

Jimmy, admiring a statue. He was in awe of all the history all weekend. Probably got home and set the DVR to everything on the history channel!!

And the "back". So gorgeous! However, on our way to the back, we almost got in huge trouble by some police/secret service people. Jimmy figured since the road was blocked off, there was no reason why we couldn't walk on it and didn't need the sidewalk like all the "other tourists". However, about 3 steps in the street, a man blew a LOUD whistle and with a very strong hand gesture, suggested that we get off the street. Jimmy was mad at him the rest of the day. I think he was just embarrassed :)

And that's it! Our trip to visit Sara and Jay in Baltimore, MD and site-seeing in DC! What a fun weekend. We made it back to KC and our flight landed early, which was amazing. However, Jimmy dvr-ed the Chiefs game, which didn't end too well...but we were happy to be back home to some great KC weather and see our dogs!!!!

Thanks again for being such great hosts, Jay and Sara!!!