8/31 - 9/1 - A Capitol idea.

Adam tries to be regal in front of the White House.









Before we left California, Adam hadn't read any of the Harry Potter books or seen any of the movies in their entirety. So, as per Trista's request, he downloaded the first four audio books so we could listen to them along the way. At this point in our little adventure, we are near the beginning of the third volume: "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." Trista correctly predicted that Adam would really get into them because of how imaginative the stories are, and, for the record, the man reading the books is superb (he does all the voices).

Adam's Uncle Sonny assured us that whatever time we arrived would be just fine. Again, we didn't want to intrude at a late hour of the night, but they insisted and we carried on through Virginia to Great Mills, MD, near Lexington Park, and arrived at about 12:30am. Thankfully, they were all mostly awake, and VERY welcoming - social even. Sonny, Cheryl (Adam's aunt), and their oldest, Stephen, were up for about an hour catching up with us on every one's lives.

Trista in front of the Washington Monument.


When we were ready for bed they gave us the entire basement level of their deceivingly large house, complete with a full living room, bathroom, and separate bedroom. Waking up without any natural light peering in can sure throw you off. We didn't get out of there until almost 3:00 in the afternoon, with all of Washington to still see.

Adam's cousin Stephen was kind enough to treat us to breakfast/lunch and we said goodbye to him (he didn't know yet we were going to Michigan with everyone else), and we drove into D.C. for some typical touristy stuff.

Not that Adam is an ex-patriot, but he is convinced that Washington, D.C. has the highest crime rate in the country, and that almost all of it takes place inside its impressive buildings. We were both further tipped off by the outlandish parking situation. In order to avoid any tickets while we walked around we were forced to park in a structure that cost us $18 for less than four hours. Whenever we tried to ask anyone for assistance we were completely brushed off. So far, at least in our experience, D.C. holds the distinction of having the rudest people we've met; St. Louis had itself a similar population, although our caretakers during our dinner cruise were super nice.


Cartwheeling on the National Mall lawn.

Trista touching the Vietnam Vets Memorial - a very powerful tribute.










Adam solutes the Vets of World War II.





Unfortunately, as seems to be the case lately, we didn't leave ourselves much time to explore the many, many things that the Capitol does have to offer (its people aside). Of course we saw the Washington Monument, but we didn't go up in it; we saw the White House, and waved to its unseen occupants; we gazed at the U.S. Capitol building from a distance; the amazing, yet sad WWII and Vietnam Vets Memorials; and our favorite point of interest was the Lincoln Memorial, with its awe inspiring and incredibly well detailed sculpture of one of our mightiest presidents. Also, as we walked the lawn of the National Mall we were halted at a crossing by an enormous procession of long black cars book-ended by an entourage of police on bikes and in cars. Hmmm. Could it have been...?

New York is no more than four or five hours from Washington, so we are sure to return soon to squeeze in some of the Smithsonian Institute and other famous museums and libraries.

Adam's cousin Stephen does lots of traveling for work so he was extremely gracious to book a room for us in Philadelphia, our next stop, with some of the hotel points he has saved up. We had to leave D.C. around 10pm in order to get there at a reasonable time to sleep. Thank you, Stephen, and see you all in Philly.


The WWII Veterans Memorial - with some rather obnoxious commentary from Adam.