Ready, Set, Jet!

I have 3 trips planned for 2016. 2 with girlfriends, 1 with family.
Possibly more with another friend.
And a weekend thing with that guy.

But I'm excited for the girlfriend trips. I think the happiest I've been in a long time was when I went to DC by myself last spring. I'm once again back in the mindset that I need to stop waiting around for a man to rescue me from my situation. And now with my side hustle, I don't need rescuing anyway.

I can go wherever and do whatever.
I'm not really sure what to do with all this freedom but I know I'll have fun figuring it out and getting drunk along the way.

Day 5 in DC

I went to the White House! Jack has a friend, Tim, who works in the White House and got me in for a tour. What I didn't realize was that Tim would be giving me my tour. Time met me with a handshake out front of the visitor's entrance and helped me navigate through all the security check points (ID check, metal detector, and being sniffed by a dog).

I couldn't take pictures but it was a great experience. I'm always irritated on these tours (Alcatraz, Versailles, etc) that you only get to see 10-15% of the building. I so badly want to sneak away and explore more. But at the White House there was a man with a very big gun guarding a hallway where visitors were not welcome.  So no sneaking on this tour.

Also! As Tim was showing me Jackie Kennedy's garden, we saw the Obama family's dogs Bo and Sunny out playing in the yard. They were sticking right by the side of the head groundskeeper who has worked at the White House since LBJ's administration. So cool!

After the tour, which ended all too soon, Tim walked me to the gate and we parted with a hug. He was very nice and I greatly appreciated his generosity with his time. After I left, Tim sent a message to Jack, which Jack forwarded to me.

All the adventures I'd been having caught up to me and I went back to the house to take a nap. I know there are a million things I wanted to see and experience but I was on vacation and taking a nap in the middle of the day, in the sun, always feels like a luxury to me.

After a refreshing nap, I got up and went back to my taco place around the corner. I got the tacos to go and posted up in my room to stuff my face and wait. I had signed up to take the Jeopardy contestant test and I slept through it the day before.

I took the test. I think I did ok? Not too sure how it went but I gave it a shot, just like I will every year until I make it onto the show.

Then I watched Louis C.K.'s show Louie until I fell asleep. I, now, feel like I wasted half of that day, but my feet were tired from walking and I was ready to be home with familiar sites and faces.

Day 4 in DC

I woke up super excited to tour the Pentagon that day. The weather report said we were due for some rain, and as I left the house that morning, it was drizzly. Seattleite that I am, I did not deem the drizzle to be worth the hassle of an umbrella or raincoat. I set off for the metro and arrived at the Pentagon station way too early. The security guards had a binder full of names of people who had appointments or tours. Seeing that I was early, he told me I could go visit the Pentagon's 9/11 memorial because if he let me through security, I'd just be waiting in a waiting room.

The Pentagon's 9/11 memorial

So I set off for the memorial because I wasn't interested in sitting around. Getting to the memorial turned out to be quite a hike because it was nearly on the opposite side of the building and the Pentagon is a big-ass building. On my walk, the rain started to pick up. I thought about finding a Starbucks to hang out in until it was time for my tour, but the Pentagon is surrounded by parking lots and I could tell it would be quite the hike to a Starbucks.

I made it to the memorial but it didn't have any markers or plaques. It was artsy and quiet and somber, but I didn't understand the installation. There was a phone number you could call and listen to a guided audio tour but I didn't want to walk around listening and draining my cell battery.

I hiked back to the visitor's entrance. The security guard from earlier remembered me, so he quickly got me through the metal detector and ID check, which I appreciated. Once inside the Pentagon, there was a gift shop and a little area for tourists to wait until they were rounded up for their tour. While I waited, I browsed the gift shop's offerings, and watched teenagers take selfies at a mock Pentagon podium. Just next to the gift shop were little kiosks with information about each branch of the military. I took a quick look at most of them, but skipped the Air Force because at least for now, I can only associate the Air Force with The Worst Thing to Ever Happen To Me (Tom).

Once it was tour time, some army soldiers and one navy, all in ceremonial dress uniforms, herded us into a big room and had us turn our cell phones and cameras off and put them away. Then we were split into two tour groups and given bright yellow tags that said we were visitors and could not go anywhere without an escort.

The tour itself was fine, we walked and walked and walked but the tour went so quickly and the guides were reciting facts rapid fire the whole time. a lot of the material was centered around the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon and the rebuilding process. Most of what we saw were hallways and corridors. We visited the chapel and walked through an area that looks basically like a mall. The are restaurants, florists, gyms, and stores of all kind, inside the Pentagon to make life a little easier for the employees. Pretty cool. All too soon the tour was over.

In front of the Newseum they display that day's front
page of several newspapers

I spent the afternoon getting lost in the rain, real, legit, umbrella-worthy rain. I found the Newseum and wandered all through. I'd been there before a few years back and LOVED it. The Newseum is the best because your ticket is good for two days in a row, which is ideal because you cannot see it all in one day.

It was a bit of a bummer though. They have an exhibit on Pulitzer Prize winning photos, all of which are stunning, most of which have a terrible backstory that basically ends with, " and then they all died."
I tried to walk through the 9/11 exhibit but it was too sad. And I was past by a gaggle of teenage girls all saying it was "like that was sooooo sad you guys!" with their terrible vocal fry.

An old timey printing press.

I was done with sad stuff for the day so I left the Newseum and found a bar. Where I had dinner and drinks alone and watched soccer. Which is also kind of sad.

Day 3 in DC

I'm having the hardest time recapping my trip, that's why posts have been slow in coming for the last few weeks. I didn't have a transcendental "Eat, Pray, Love" experience. I saw some cool shit. The End. Also, this day was jam packed with activity.

On the morning of Day 3, I got up and walked to the Capitol. It was one metro stop away from me, so I figured I could walk. And I figured, "Its a big ass building, I'll be able to find it. " I was wrong and had to ask for directions twice.

Finally found the damn place and cleared security. (Just a metal detector, you don't even take off your shoes). I was way early even after getting lost because the paper confirming my reservation said it would take an hour to clear security.
Definitely not.

The sticker I had to wear
(If lost, please return to Seattle, WA)

At 10AM, everyone else taking the tour at that time (lots and lots of teenagers) and I, were herded into a giant auditorium, bigger than a movie theater. Once we were all seated, we were shown a short movie about the origins of congress. Then we were divided up into 5 groups, assigned a tour guide and given a headset. Maybe I don't get out enough, but I thought the headsets were pretty damn cool. We could hear our guide as if he was standing right next to him, while tens of other tours would pass us, criss-crossing everywhere, the noise level was not bad because no tour guide had to raise their voice to be heard.

The guide took us upstairs and downstairs and all around until I was completely lost. We saw so many beautiful, huge murals and statues. But like most good things, it was over way too fast. Anyway, the tour was great and I highly recommend it. I won't recap it all because partly I don't remember everything, partly because you probably don't care, and partly because you should just go see it yourself.

The tour did not take us through the chambers where the Senate and House actually meet and have sessions. But! If you went to your state rep's office, you could get a pass to sit in the gallery of both chambers.  Getting the passes was just a simple matter of asking for them, but finding the person to ask was like a scavenger hunt. First, I had to find the appointments desk in the Capitol and ask a grouchy staffer to look up the building and room number for my state representative. Then I had to find the damn building. Which shouldn't have been so hard but my map reading skills were seriously challenged on this trip. I found the building and had to go through metal detectors again. Cool, whatever. Then I just needed to find the room.

Congressional Swag

Y'all. I rode the damn elevator up and down before a sweet woman took pity on me and explained that the ground floor was not the same as the first floor. WTF? Whatever, crazy East Coast people.

So I found the door for my rep's office. Do I knock? Is Congressman Jim McDermott just sitting behind this door, at his desk doing stuff? I paced the hallway trying to decide. I got brave and opened the door, luckily this was the right choice. The door opened into the reception area for a suite of offices, for Congressman McDermott and his staff. The chipper receptionist handed me passes for the Senate and House gallery and off I went.

I expertly retraced my steps back to the Capitol, back through security, followed the signs to the House Gallery which lead me to a room like coat check. But instead of my coat, the people working there wanted my phone, my headphones, my camera, and any keys with a remote.
Handed over all my electronics and continued following signs to the gallery which led me to an elevator, then down a long series of hallways, then to another metal detector, and finally to the House Gallery.

Of course these motherfuckers weren't in session. I sat for a while anyway, trying to absorb the scale of the room, and all the history that had played out here, all the intricate details of the decor. Then, because I'm a noisy person, I overheard the security officers saying that the House would be in session later that afternoon. Sweet! I'll kill a couple hours and then come back and see my government in action.

I made my way down to the cafeteria and had a lunch of mediocre sushi. I still had way too much time to kill so I decided to go the the Library of Congress. If you didn't know, and I didn't, the Capitol and the Library of Congress are connected by a tunnel. The aspiring spy side of me wished it were a secret tunnel, but still, fun.


Yoooooo, the Library of Congress is crazy gorgeous. Looks at this shit. Stop and look at it. Right now.

They have a Gutenberg Bible.
Like, what?!?!!!

Even the floor is amazing

Finally, the House was going to be back in session. Back to the Capitol, back through security, back to the electronics coat check, back up the elevator, through the other metal detector, and into the gallery. I was early but I wanted to make sure I got a good seat. 

The bailiff did the whole "oyez, oyez, oyez" thing and we all had to rise while the "speaker" entered. I say "speaker" because it was not the actually Speaker of the House, John Boehner. Apparently, Boehner is allowed to assign his authority to someone else, and had done so. There were about 5 reps in the room. None from my state, and none that I recognized, not that I know a ton of State Representatives. They all made little bullshit speeches about the tax code, gay marriage, an Easter dinner for the homeless in their state. None of this was proposing anything, no bills introduced, just stupid statements read into the record. I was super disappointed that I waited around for this. And annoyed at the whole process. 

I bounced out of the gallery and heard that the Senate was also in session. "Alright, let's see what these fuckers are up to." But the line for the Senate gallery was long and I was so done with the legislative branch for the day. 

I walked across the street and checked out the Supreme Court. They didn't have a whole lot that you could tour. I wandered aimlessly, made a purchase in the gift shop, and stopped by the cafeteria for a bottle of water. 

They did have a cool oval staircase, but besides that, I was unimpressed. I wanted to buy a Ruth Bader Ginsburg action figure in the gift shop, but sadly, such things do not exist.  I would have liked to see the court in session, but my Airbnb hosts told me that you had to get in line at 6AM for the chance at a seat. There was no way in hell I was going to get up that early and drag my ass across town to only maybe hear some legal nonsense, of which 80% would probably go over my head. 

I was all done having adventures and it was hot and humid out. On my walk home I stopped off at the corner store and bought a pint of gelato, went home and ate it in bed while watching Netflix with the cats. Then went out and had tacos for dinner. Hey, I totally earned them, I walked a lottttt all day. 

Day 2 in DC

I got up and took the metro to see some of the Cherry Blossom Festivities. As I got closer to the action, I walked past one of the billions of Capital Bike Share stations. There were a group of 20-somethings who saw me trying to make up my mind and sold me on the bikes. So I rented one and off I went.

Such a good idea! I could get around much faster, and the cool breeze felt amazing in the sticky heat. I zipped all around the National Mall, taking awesome pictures of the cherry blossoms and the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.








After that, I zipped on over and took some pictures outside of the White House. And caught a few photos of someone's motorcade leaving.



The flowers and cherry blossoms and everything just made the scene that much more special. I had a bit of time to kill before meeting a friend for lunch. I meant to head to a museum, but realized I didn't have enough time, so I ditched the bike and had a leisurely stroll. I encountered a gigantic police horse. I don't know if you get a sense of the scale in this picture but this was a big ass horse. I used to ride, but this horse was reallyyyyyy tall.











I have no idea where this park was and I'll probably never be able to find it again, but it was beautiful. I stopped to take a few pictures, updated FaceBook and then just sat and enjoyed.

After a bit of soaking in the sights, I caught the metro and headed south. When I was pregnant with my kiddo, I joined an online group of other expectant moms. Eventually the crowd thinned out and about 90 of us are left. I've been in near constant contact with these ladies for about 4 years. One of them, April, lives just outside DC so we met up for a long, boozy, girl-talk filled lunch. It was just what I needed.

For dinner that night, I went to a bar not far from my temporary home. I sat at the bar and had a shitty sandwich and a drink. A guy, Mike, sat next to me and tried to chat me up. I was polite and happy for a bit of conversation but really didn't want to give him the idea that I was interested.

Down at the end of the bar was a group of 5 friends, mostly dudes. One of them had his phone connected to the speakers in the bar and was controlling the music. They all took turns picking songs and then asked me to pick one too. Before I knew it, I was having a dance-off with one of the guys, and accepting free drinks from them left and right. They were downing shots and I ended up having 3 rounds of shots with them. I was a much quicker drinker and I kept winning and they kept challenging me. Mike, got in on this too and started buying me drinks, telling me he worked at the bar next door and that I should come by and see him tomorrow. No thanks bud.

The girls from the group of friends vouched for one guy, Chadwick (I shit you not, that was his name, I saw his ID. So fucking WASP-y) so I accepted his offer to walk me home. Got home without incident and thanked CHadwick for his company. Then climbed into bed because I was Drunk. So very Drunk.

Day 1 in DC

As part of my attempt to become a fully functioning adult, I'm in Washington, D.C. this week. By myself.

I got to SeaTac airport a bit too early. I sat at the gate and charged my phone and played with my iPad. But I still had at least an hour to kill so I decided to find the bar.

Mission accomplished. Sitting at the bar, I ordered a drink and a pizza. The bartender was chatting with all of us sitting at the bar and through the course of the conversation, it was revealed that the man 3 seats to my left was on his way to Las Vegas to get married. The woman next to me paid for his meal and drinks. It was a faith-in-humanity restoring moment.

When I finally boarded my plane, I decided to "Time Travel."  Time Travel by my definition, is when you board an airplane having consumed at least once alcoholic beverage, and then pop an ambien as your plane taxies to the runway. I fell asleep shortly after takeoff and woke up once to have a glass of water. I basically fell asleep in Seattle and woke up on the other side of the country. If you're traveling without children, I highly recommend Time Travel.

My flight landed at about 9 pm on Friday night. I got a metro card and made my way to my Airbnb near the Eastern Market. I struggled with the lock on the front door, but finally got myself in and settled. The homeowners' cats were quick to introduce themselves and check me out.

Later in the night my hosts, Scott and Yen, came home and we chatted for a bit. I was tired from traveling all day so I took a shower, watched some Netflix and went to sleep.

The next morning I woke up and explored the Eastern Market. There was an indoor part that reminded me of Pike Place Market in Seattle, and an outside portion similar to a flea market. I had no time constraints so I wandered at my own pace, looking at everything. I didn't buy anything because the stuff that interested me was A) overpriced, B) too big to fit in my suitcase, or C) more cash than I had on me. I made a tactical error in not using an ATM before I left home. I thought there would be branches of my bank in DC. I was wrong. I hate ATM fees so for the rest of the week I made due with the case on hand at the time. Maybe $60?

I followed the smell of fresh donuts to a little tent and bought a bag of donuts, covered them in powdered sugar and called it breakfast. I knew I wanted to go to the National Portrait Gallery as I hadn't had time to visit the last time I was in DC. I stuffed my face with donuts and got rather lost trying to find the Metro station.

I found the metro, got off at the right stop, but my lack of a map meant that I took the long way to the National Portrait Gallery. I made a full loop around the Verizon Center where a crowd was gathered to enter and watch a hockey game. I almost wanted to get a cheap seat in the nosebleeds but decide that a hockey game by myself seemed kind of lonely.

So I finally found the Portrait Gallery and walked until I'd seen most of it and my feet were tired. I took the metro back to my neighborhood and found a Taco place for dinner. Eating alone was lonely so I kept busy texting with friends, mostly Kate. Besides dinner though, it was a good first day. I was still a bit nervous being alone, but it will get easier gradually.

The Travel Bug

Its been years since I've gone on vacation. I've been on trips sure, but going to visit family is NOT a vacation. My parents invited me on a cruise of the Baltic Sea with them and hundreds of other older couples. Pass. My mom made mention of going to Hawaii with her, my dad, and my son. Which could be fun, but she says a lot of things and who knows if they will really come to fruition.

Throughout the fall, I had several thoughts of places I wanted to visit and always figured, "Oh I'll go with my boyfriend once I have a serious one." That didn't happen and its not on the horizon. I'm going on a trip by myself. I've taken flights by myself, sure, but had family or friends waiting at the airport to pick me up. This is going to be an adventure of my own.

I kicked around some ideas about where to go. I really want to go to Europe, but think I'll need to work up to that. So I started figuring out Stateside places I'd like to visit. Vegas alone sounded depressing. New Orleans and Boston were possibilities. Maybe New York? One of my degrees is in history, so I focused on cities with a lot of history. Going through the South and visiting plantations and civil war battlefields sounded fun, but a road trip that would be more fun with a partner. Ditto for a road trip through New England.

I settled on Washington D.C. I've been there before but didn't get to see enough. I'm confident I can navigate the metro and I know there will be more than enough for me to do, no chance to be bored or lonely. I did some research and figure a plane ticket will be about $400. Hotels looked to be the pricey part, but then I started perusing airbnb. I think I can spend a week in DC for less than $2,000.

The more I mull the idea over, the more excited I get. I can linger at a museum for as long as I want. I don't have to visit any site I'm not interested in. I figured out how to get signed up for a tour of The Capitol and The White House and The Pentagon. I'm excited for the adventures I'm going to have!