Hey Everybody! Since Sarah wrote about a wonderful trip she took with her Mom and Sister I thought I would write about one of the COOLEST trips I have probably ever been on to Washington D.C. and Quantico, Virginia. My mom had spent the summer of my Sophomore year of college in Quantico, Virginia, experiencing what could only be described as her equivalent of my study abroad experience. My mom was going to be gone practically the entire summer – and whether or not anyone but me will admit it – my father, sister, and myself are very dependent on her so this was going to be a HUGE adjustment. (I had to do everyone’s laundry! -_- ) My mom was gone for a few months, I remember her calling the house and telling us stories about her roommate, Tracy, her friends, the classes, and all of the crazy things that happened. Seriously, while she was in the Academy there was a hurricane and an earthquake! In September it was time for her graduation, so my dad, sister and I all flew to meet her in Virginia. We stayed at a small hotel (I can’t remember what it was called but it was close to the Academy). My sister packed the weirdest items of clothing and it has become and ongoing joke that she is not allowed to pack for trips because she never knows what to pack. The next morning we woke up VERY early so that we could make it to the graduation ceremony.
The ceremony was very long, my sister and I were a bit bored but one of the fellow graduate’s 3-year old son sat by my sister and I and he was so cute we were watching him most of the ceremony. Afterwords, we went out to celebrate with my Uncle who also flew down to celebrate my mom’s graduation. We went to eat at a strange raw food type place I recall, I think I had a salad or wrap of some sort. We drove to Washington D.C. and checked into the Hyatt hotel closest to the Capitol building. That night we went on a double decker bus tour of the city, we saw so much! We had to be up very early for a private tour of the Capitol building.
The next morning we went on the tour of the capitol building and we had the chance to see pretty much the ENTIRE thing! I do not feel comfortable sharing too much about the tour on a public forum but it was my family and a majority of the academy and their families. It was a very long tour but it was so informative and interesting. Afterwards we walked around, we saw the Washington monument and grabbed dinner at the Hyatt. This is where we were eating when we heard yelling… turns out Tracy and her family were also staying at the Hyatt. I have mentioned Tracy in a previous post (NY) – she is so much fun. Her family and her asked us if we wanted to accompany them to an irish pub nearby. We all went but since we had just eaten dinner we just hung out with them. On the way back to our hotel we noticed that the street was blocked off. We were curious as to what the police did not want us to enter… oh wait. OUR HOTEL. Turns out someone sketchy was in the hotel and they had the entire street on lockdown. AND we all got locked inside a bar. The bar just so happened to be a billy goat’s tavern. Everyone was drinking, singing, having fun….. completely ignoring the fact that the entire street was on lock down and out the window you could see like an armed swat team with huge guns walking up and down the block. I remember ordering a drink and basically crying that I was going to die. Eventually they captured the man and we were able to go back to our hotel. I don’t think I slept very well that night.
The next morning (Sunday) my family and I awoke early, once again, to go on a tour of the White House (!!!!). It was so cool, but we were not allowed in all of the rooms. We spoke to the secret service and security about the president (who my dad had met a few times in the past). Once we exited the White House I remember a man with a megaphone yelling “when i say Jesus, you say Christ! Jesus…..” It was bizarre. After the White House we changed our clothes and probably ate at the Hyatt again. We then walked around Washington D.C. and decided to visit the Smithsonian museums. Our flight was pretty late that night and my mom was driving back the following morning so we were a bit pressed for time but I wanted to see as much as I possibly could! We first visited the Natural History Museum which had things like dinosaurs and butterflies – mine and my sisters two favorite things. We then went to the American History Museum, where I believe they had a bunch of dresses that belonged to the President’s wives over the years. Lastly, we saw the Air and Space Museum, which we viewed in a hurry because it was closing soon. After seeing all of these museums and all of the walking around AND the tour of the White House we were exhausted! I am not sure what we then did but we more than likely retired to the hotel for a nap before catching our flight back home to Chicago.
Our trip to the Nation’s capital was not my dad’s favorite trip (He like trips where he gets to relax, and this one was mostly just running around and seeing things in a short period of time.) The funny thing is trips where I get to cram a bunch of site seeing and things I want to do into a short period are the kinds I enjoy. I love being able to see as much as I possibly can when I visit a place, and I absolutely loved seeing and learning so much about this fabulous city. Even the lockdown scare the second night couldn’t put me off from this wonderful city.
Runaway Blond 