It's Good to be in D.C.
What a good day! Me and Sarah decided a random, not too planned-ahead road trip was in order the first opportunity we were both able to go over break. And after initially considering Chesapeake Bay, based on a book I once read and my recent taste for mussels - we decided on Washington D.C.! We originally hoped for a two-day trip :( but a bunch of things got in the way on Tuesday, so we ended up leaving pretty late and getting to DC at like 8.
The trip down was interesting, got to talk with my baby tons :D and explore different radio stations. And all through Pennsylvania, that Damned rock chased us!
By which, I mean to reference the fact that whenever I pass through PA I laugh at the fact that there's tons of signs that say "FALLING ROCK" (pictured), shouldn't it be falling rocks? Is there this one Rock that's falling they're warning us about? This funny thing was first noticed by me and Alex on our trip to Intercourse, PA back in... 07 I think? Anyway, moving on --
Finally got to DC, a creepy guy at a gas station led us to a cheap hotel (trustworthy source, I know - but he seemed like he'd know) and on the way we stopped at IKEA for the first time in my life!!! That place was AWESOME! I can't wait to decorate my first house so modern-ly. And I had to buy something, so I got a wok -- which actually turned out to be like my only souvenir on the whole trip, yay saving money!
The next morning we tried to leave early, FAIL. Thank you morning commuters to DC! Traffic was packed, and when we got out of it, the parking lots for the metrorail were packed. I finally got to the furthest one, and we got on. The D.C. Metro is so cool! Glad I got trained in how to use it when I went down to D.C. for inauguration. But the first thing we did was walk from the metro to the Washington Monument!!! Which we got to go up at like, 9:30am (to keep track of the day.) After going to D.C. twice, this is the first time I got to go up the Washington Monument!!! :D It was cool, beautiful views, and the elevator had foggy windows that could electronically turn clear so you could see the inside of the monument walls. The stairs are shut down for safety purposes, not security, and I considered one day working with a fund raising organization to get that kind of thing remodeled. [See Next Post]
Lets see, then I think we went to the Lincoln Memorial, the FDR Memorial, and the Jefferson Memorials. (we ziggzagged alot) Then off to lunch inside the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center. (Worst Chinese food I've ever had. Ever.) Next, we stopped at the National Archives - a source Revered by my Historical Methods teacher and class. (That was the class you learned how to research something in, I wrote a paper on Andrew Johnson.) And they were really awkward there. OH! And can I just say note to self, NEVER AGAIN wear a metal belt to DC!? NO METAL ANDREW! Must find a belt with no metal on it, cause I got really sick and tired of taking it off to get through security. But anyway, went in the national archives, and they awkwardly directed me how to look up my great-great-grandfather (a topic I happened to come up with off the top of my head, cause I just wanted to browse but they wanted me to have a REALLY specific subject.) I ended up searching for his military service record - he served in the Philipine Insurection of 1899. She said it'd get pulled later, but to get a researcher card. Okay, sounds simple. The crazy old people that worked there, that may have had mental handicaps of various kinds and if that's true I apologize, were vastly incompetent at their incredibly simple jobs. I bet they were all Library-of-Congress rejects! They screwed up my card several ways (one guy tried to tell the lady that made mine the picture was wrong, she kinda just kept going...) and they entered our drivers license numbers wrong because we are from Ohio - and they thought the huge number that means nothing was the license number. (Note to self, find out meaning of number) Anyway, we decided to come back later- but that was a huge waste of time.
And we were off to the Capitol Building! I figured, eh, we'll get the tour and see statuary hall and it'll be cool. Sarah encouraged me to ask how to get into the House of Representatives chamber itself, and I did - and it turned out to be fairly simple. We just went over to Dennis Kucinich's office and got tickets! (Which would've been incredibly simple, if we had not had to go back again later to get another because Sarah dropped hers. LoL!) We decided to try a New York congress person, because we didn't want to have to say to our rep that she lost the ticket. THAT FAILED!!!
Lol, the Dennis aid didn't really ask us for any proof of anything and just handed us the tickets with almost no words said. (Another awkward character, he had a certain Ray Romano characterism about him.) When we tried to the NY assistant, she asked our home address and we were like "Doyyyy......uuuuhhhm...."
Anyway, long story short: WE GOT TO GO INSIDE THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Gallery! *U* it was soooo cool. I got to see Nancy Pelosi vote on something, and Minority Leader John Beohner spoke for a while at the stand thing. Didn't see any of the other reps I knew unfortunately. Well, we wanted to get alot done before 5:00, so we were off to the National Air and Space Museum briefly (I couldn't find the Enterprise, but I've seen it...) then back to the National Archives before they closed.
I got to actually look at my great-great-grandfather Eugene's service record! That was really cool, I made copies of a few pages to bring back. Maybe this year at Christmas I'll talk to my family about him. Well, after that we went over to the National Christmas tree (and Far Less impressive national menorah) and then off to the WHITE HOUSE!!! :D It was sooooo coooooool.
To Be Continued
Quote of the Day: X
Song of the Day: Tik Tok Parody by Midnight Beast feat. Stefan Abingdon. Hahahaha, this song is stuck in my head way more than the original ironically. One of my favorite parts is "Now let's copy Poker Face, woah, oh-oh-oh, ohh." because the first time I heard the original I thought "Is this a Lady Gaga reference?!" And then the end of the parody references Lady Gaga some more, lol. In place of the "but we kick'm to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger." -- note who they use in this LOL.
The trip down was interesting, got to talk with my baby tons :D and explore different radio stations. And all through Pennsylvania, that Damned rock chased us!
By which, I mean to reference the fact that whenever I pass through PA I laugh at the fact that there's tons of signs that say "FALLING ROCK" (pictured), shouldn't it be falling rocks? Is there this one Rock that's falling they're warning us about? This funny thing was first noticed by me and Alex on our trip to Intercourse, PA back in... 07 I think? Anyway, moving on --Finally got to DC, a creepy guy at a gas station led us to a cheap hotel (trustworthy source, I know - but he seemed like he'd know) and on the way we stopped at IKEA for the first time in my life!!! That place was AWESOME! I can't wait to decorate my first house so modern-ly. And I had to buy something, so I got a wok -- which actually turned out to be like my only souvenir on the whole trip, yay saving money!
The next morning we tried to leave early, FAIL. Thank you morning commuters to DC! Traffic was packed, and when we got out of it, the parking lots for the metrorail were packed. I finally got to the furthest one, and we got on. The D.C. Metro is so cool! Glad I got trained in how to use it when I went down to D.C. for inauguration. But the first thing we did was walk from the metro to the Washington Monument!!! Which we got to go up at like, 9:30am (to keep track of the day.) After going to D.C. twice, this is the first time I got to go up the Washington Monument!!! :D It was cool, beautiful views, and the elevator had foggy windows that could electronically turn clear so you could see the inside of the monument walls. The stairs are shut down for safety purposes, not security, and I considered one day working with a fund raising organization to get that kind of thing remodeled. [See Next Post]
Lets see, then I think we went to the Lincoln Memorial, the FDR Memorial, and the Jefferson Memorials. (we ziggzagged alot) Then off to lunch inside the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center. (Worst Chinese food I've ever had. Ever.) Next, we stopped at the National Archives - a source Revered by my Historical Methods teacher and class. (That was the class you learned how to research something in, I wrote a paper on Andrew Johnson.) And they were really awkward there. OH! And can I just say note to self, NEVER AGAIN wear a metal belt to DC!? NO METAL ANDREW! Must find a belt with no metal on it, cause I got really sick and tired of taking it off to get through security. But anyway, went in the national archives, and they awkwardly directed me how to look up my great-great-grandfather (a topic I happened to come up with off the top of my head, cause I just wanted to browse but they wanted me to have a REALLY specific subject.) I ended up searching for his military service record - he served in the Philipine Insurection of 1899. She said it'd get pulled later, but to get a researcher card. Okay, sounds simple. The crazy old people that worked there, that may have had mental handicaps of various kinds and if that's true I apologize, were vastly incompetent at their incredibly simple jobs. I bet they were all Library-of-Congress rejects! They screwed up my card several ways (one guy tried to tell the lady that made mine the picture was wrong, she kinda just kept going...) and they entered our drivers license numbers wrong because we are from Ohio - and they thought the huge number that means nothing was the license number. (Note to self, find out meaning of number) Anyway, we decided to come back later- but that was a huge waste of time.
And we were off to the Capitol Building! I figured, eh, we'll get the tour and see statuary hall and it'll be cool. Sarah encouraged me to ask how to get into the House of Representatives chamber itself, and I did - and it turned out to be fairly simple. We just went over to Dennis Kucinich's office and got tickets! (Which would've been incredibly simple, if we had not had to go back again later to get another because Sarah dropped hers. LoL!) We decided to try a New York congress person, because we didn't want to have to say to our rep that she lost the ticket. THAT FAILED!!!
Lol, the Dennis aid didn't really ask us for any proof of anything and just handed us the tickets with almost no words said. (Another awkward character, he had a certain Ray Romano characterism about him.) When we tried to the NY assistant, she asked our home address and we were like "Doyyyy......uuuuhhhm...."
Anyway, long story short: WE GOT TO GO INSIDE THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Gallery! *U* it was soooo cool. I got to see Nancy Pelosi vote on something, and Minority Leader John Beohner spoke for a while at the stand thing. Didn't see any of the other reps I knew unfortunately. Well, we wanted to get alot done before 5:00, so we were off to the National Air and Space Museum briefly (I couldn't find the Enterprise, but I've seen it...) then back to the National Archives before they closed.
I got to actually look at my great-great-grandfather Eugene's service record! That was really cool, I made copies of a few pages to bring back. Maybe this year at Christmas I'll talk to my family about him. Well, after that we went over to the National Christmas tree (and Far Less impressive national menorah) and then off to the WHITE HOUSE!!! :D It was sooooo coooooool.
To Be Continued
Quote of the Day: X
Song of the Day: Tik Tok Parody by Midnight Beast feat. Stefan Abingdon. Hahahaha, this song is stuck in my head way more than the original ironically. One of my favorite parts is "Now let's copy Poker Face, woah, oh-oh-oh, ohh." because the first time I heard the original I thought "Is this a Lady Gaga reference?!" And then the end of the parody references Lady Gaga some more, lol. In place of the "but we kick'm to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger." -- note who they use in this LOL.
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