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So we went to Washington D.C. this past week. It was kinda a last minute trip, and basically it all started because of Chrissy's matress. At any rate we were suppose to leave at noon using Nick's father's van. We were getting the van because Nick's father and brothers were going on a cruise. Nick just had to drop them off in Boston that morning and we could take the van. Well, Nick's father decides to wait until 11:30 to leave because his brother can't manage to pack for himself, which means Nick won't be back before 1. Then, there's the Boston traffic. So, by the time he got back from the Boston ordeal, it was already 3:30. We then had to go pick up the matress
from Chrissy's sister's exboyfriend. At this point I'm getting worried 
about it being so late, but since we were so behind schedual to begin we decided, what's another half hour? So we got dinner at Campus Wings before we left, pizza and chicken fingers.
Well, we finally get on the road at 5pm and lie to my father telling him we've been on the road for an hour already. (We were staying with him). We figured at this point, on a Sunday, it should be smooth sailing all the way there and we would arrive around 1:00am, no big deal. So we're happy and enjoying the open road 
when all of a sudden, we hit traffic 
. Immediately our expressions changed, 
.
So, we spent over 2 hours sitting in horrendous traffic in Conneticut caused by construction. At this point, we're not getting in until 3am. I call my father and we agree that we will drive until we get tired, and then check into a hotel for the evening. So, we continue our journey and get our second wind. We decide to drive straight to D.C. and just sleep in the parking lot of my dad's building until morning, rather then waste money on a hotel. Of course, this seems all good and fine until we actually get into D.C. and get lost in the middle of the ghetto. We drive around for 2 hours looking for the right way to get back and keep passing the less safe feeling parts of the city. On our quest to get out of the ghetto we did pass the "ramed ass" pharmacy 
, which caused us to stop and take a picture, despite the safety issue.
Finally, after passing the same HoJo (Howard Johnson's) on the way out of D.C. for the third time, we decide, at 5am, to pull in and get a room for the next four hours. The next morning 
, after some fighting to get Nick out of bed, we head off to D.C. again after 3 hours of sleep. We finally pull into D.C. and my dad gives us a ride to the "malls" (Smithsonians) on his way into work.
We check out the Natural History museum and take our picutures with D.C.'s version of Mr. Potato Head statues, Painted Pandas, 
.
After the Natural History Museum we decide to walk over to the Washington Monument 
. From there we decided to walk to all the monuments, about 2 miles each way.
First we came across the World War II Memorial 
. Then we saw the Korean, followed by the Lincoln Monument 
and had our photos taken in front of it
. Although Nick had a hard time mastering the zoom option, so I'm barely noticable in the photo 
.
We took a few photos of the reflecting pool as seen from the World War II side and the Abe side as well. 
Then we made our way to the Vietnam memorial 
. There we saw the soldier statues 
.
Finally we got to the White House and had our photo taken in front of it 
.
After that we saw the IMAX movie BUGS, which was suppose to be in 3D, but the 3D projector was broken. Then my father picked us up and took us to this place called "Fuddruckers" for dinner. It was kinda like a Johnny Rockets, but with a nicer atmospher and better food.Unfortunately my camera died after that. The next day we toured Chrissy's school, the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Then we had dinner with her and her friend Jeremy at an Irish pub, followed by gelato and walking around the inner harbor area of Baltimore. Nice city. Jeremy is quite a character too. We dropped off Chrissy's matress and planned to see her the next day as well, but again, getting on the road on time was hard.
Wednesday we went to the Capitol, checked out the US History Museum and ran through Air and Space real quick. We also ate in China town at this nice Thai resturant called Kenayla and road the Metro all over the place (like a subway/monorail type deal). We didn't get on the road until 7pm that night and again got lost in D.C., this time, trying to get out. We ended up not having time to see Chrissy on the way back and had to just drive straight home, where we arrived at 5:30am, after nearly 12 hours of travel. Then, I got up at 8am and babysat for 8 hours. Not a fun time. But all in all it was worth it.
The End.
