When we finally got to our rooms I had already made the executive decision that we were switching hotels. I was not about to pay the rude front desk people more of my money to be treated poorly. So while Kelli passed the hell out on the bed I started calling hotels in the surrounding area. I finally settled on The Courtyard Marriott Crystal City in Arlington,VA. Once the plans for Saturday night had been made I called my friend Jason to let him know that we had arrived and that we needed to sleep. He told us to 'sleep well' and then I told him I would call as soon as we were up and ready so that we could all meet up. I also called this guy named James and pretty much relayed the same story to him. After making my phone calls I took off my glasses, set my alarm, and fell asleep. When I woke up our room was freezing and I immediately went to the bathroom to take a long, hot, shower. I got out of the shower and Kelli and I both got ready to go. I called Jason and told him we were ready to meet up and that we were going to China Town. He told me that there wasn't much to do in China Town but being the dumb tourist that I was I decided we would be fine. Well, one taxi ride later, we were in China Town. After walking two blocks we were done with China Town and what did we have to show for it? Nothing!!! That's because, just like Jason said, there isn't much to do in Chinatown unless you want to eat and we weren't hungry. So, luckily Jason finally caught up to us at the Verizon center and we came up with a "plan".
Jason had said that there was a National Portrait Museum just up the street that we could go to so we left The Verizon Center and walked up the street. We toured the museum and saw tons of cool paintings, portraits, and some very random sculptures. Overall it was a good time. I got a chance to chat with Jason about what we both do for our jobs, about Quito, Ecuador (we both served in the same mission just a few years apart) and just about life in general. There was one painting of this girl and guy and it looked like they were lying down and the guy had his hand over the girls mouth and here eyes were wide with fear. I leaned over to Jason and told him that "I don't like that painting...it freaks me out" I told him that maybe it should be named "Friday night" because maybe that was just a normal night at that couples house. Who am I to judge, right? lol It was funny, but maybe you had to be there. :)
When we were finished at the museum I had the honor of deciding what we were going to do next. Side note: If you don't know, I'm horrible at decision making sometimes. Especially if I am put on the spot I tend to freeze and say "Why do I have to decide?" So, they made me decide and I chose the White House. Even though I'm not a fan of the current residents of the White House I figured I should at least go and take some pictures. So, we began the hike to The White House. We walked, talked, and laughed our way to The White House where, upon arrival, we began taking pictures and soaking in the sights. Because I mean from the White House you can see the Washington Monument across the park and it's just so beautiful. While we were at the White House I received a call from James wondering where we were at and where we wanted to meet up with him. So I explained to Jason that we needed to go meet up with this kid at Pennsylvania ave and 12th street, if I'm remembering correctly. While we were walking to meet him I realized that I was perfectly content just hanging out with Jason and my sister but that it was too late to blow James off. So, we met up with him and it was kind of strange. He has a very different personality. Anyway...I introduced Kelli and myself to James and then we all headed towards the Washington Monument, The Lincoln Memorial, and the national mall area. While we were walking it was my sister and James up in front and Jason and I in the back. I leaned over to Jason and told him that James better not try anything with my little sister or else he'll be in a world of hurt. We both laughed at the silliness of the comment, and the situation.
So, we saw the sights, and eventually, as we were walking towards the World War II memorial Jason leans over and said something about the "group of Japanese tourists" and I started looking around, somewhat bewildered, because I didn't see any Japanese tourists. The only "tourists" that he could have been talking about were what looked like a bunch of Photography students with their tripods and cameras. He then started laughing and said 'ok, maybe, they are just a photography class working on low lighting conditions' I have never laughed soo hard!! We joked about that for the next half an hour. Whilst we were resting at the World War II memorial I decided that we should go eat because Kelli and I had not eaten since 'The Brewhouse' in Newark. After what seemed like an eternity of trying to decide what the F we wanted to eat we all decided to eat at 'Cheff Geoff's' some hoyty toytylol So, we slipped Jason some money and took care of our new friend/tour guide. Dinner was good, but mostly because there was water, air conditioning, and we got to sit down and relax. All good things in my book. During dinner I came to the conclusion that I was done with James and didn't want to meet up with him at the rally the following morning. Once dinner was over and the check had been paid we all gathered outside the front door. James bid us adieu and headed toward the Lincoln Memorial to camp out to get a good spot for the rally. Jason, Kelli, and I all headed towards the metro. Jason made sure that we purchased the correct tickets and that we got to the right train. I hugged him goodbye and thanked him for hanging with us. I told him that we would be in touch because we would be in his neck of the woods the next day in Arlington,VA. He even offered to come and pick us up in his car and take us to the hotel room.
I was kind of sad to say goodbye but I knew that we would see him the next day. Kelli and I got on the metro and then we got off at our stop and we were lost. Straight up couldn't figure out how the hell to get to our hotel so we hailed a cab. A few blocks later we were home and went to sleep.
to be continued...
Jason had said that there was a National Portrait Museum just up the street that we could go to so we left The Verizon Center and walked up the street. We toured the museum and saw tons of cool paintings, portraits, and some very random sculptures. Overall it was a good time. I got a chance to chat with Jason about what we both do for our jobs, about Quito, Ecuador (we both served in the same mission just a few years apart) and just about life in general. There was one painting of this girl and guy and it looked like they were lying down and the guy had his hand over the girls mouth and here eyes were wide with fear. I leaned over to Jason and told him that "I don't like that painting...it freaks me out" I told him that maybe it should be named "Friday night" because maybe that was just a normal night at that couples house. Who am I to judge, right? lol It was funny, but maybe you had to be there. :)
When we were finished at the museum I had the honor of deciding what we were going to do next. Side note: If you don't know, I'm horrible at decision making sometimes. Especially if I am put on the spot I tend to freeze and say "Why do I have to decide?" So, they made me decide and I chose the White House. Even though I'm not a fan of the current residents of the White House I figured I should at least go and take some pictures. So, we began the hike to The White House. We walked, talked, and laughed our way to The White House where, upon arrival, we began taking pictures and soaking in the sights. Because I mean from the White House you can see the Washington Monument across the park and it's just so beautiful. While we were at the White House I received a call from James wondering where we were at and where we wanted to meet up with him. So I explained to Jason that we needed to go meet up with this kid at Pennsylvania ave and 12th street, if I'm remembering correctly. While we were walking to meet him I realized that I was perfectly content just hanging out with Jason and my sister but that it was too late to blow James off. So, we met up with him and it was kind of strange. He has a very different personality. Anyway...I introduced Kelli and myself to James and then we all headed towards the Washington Monument, The Lincoln Memorial, and the national mall area. While we were walking it was my sister and James up in front and Jason and I in the back. I leaned over to Jason and told him that James better not try anything with my little sister or else he'll be in a world of hurt. We both laughed at the silliness of the comment, and the situation.
So, we saw the sights, and eventually, as we were walking towards the World War II memorial Jason leans over and said something about the "group of Japanese tourists" and I started looking around, somewhat bewildered, because I didn't see any Japanese tourists. The only "tourists" that he could have been talking about were what looked like a bunch of Photography students with their tripods and cameras. He then started laughing and said 'ok, maybe, they are just a photography class working on low lighting conditions' I have never laughed soo hard!! We joked about that for the next half an hour. Whilst we were resting at the World War II memorial I decided that we should go eat because Kelli and I had not eaten since 'The Brewhouse' in Newark. After what seemed like an eternity of trying to decide what the F we wanted to eat we all decided to eat at 'Cheff Geoff's' some hoyty toytylol So, we slipped Jason some money and took care of our new friend/tour guide. Dinner was good, but mostly because there was water, air conditioning, and we got to sit down and relax. All good things in my book. During dinner I came to the conclusion that I was done with James and didn't want to meet up with him at the rally the following morning. Once dinner was over and the check had been paid we all gathered outside the front door. James bid us adieu and headed toward the Lincoln Memorial to camp out to get a good spot for the rally. Jason, Kelli, and I all headed towards the metro. Jason made sure that we purchased the correct tickets and that we got to the right train. I hugged him goodbye and thanked him for hanging with us. I told him that we would be in touch because we would be in his neck of the woods the next day in Arlington,VA. He even offered to come and pick us up in his car and take us to the hotel room.
I was kind of sad to say goodbye but I knew that we would see him the next day. Kelli and I got on the metro and then we got off at our stop and we were lost. Straight up couldn't figure out how the hell to get to our hotel so we hailed a cab. A few blocks later we were home and went to sleep.
to be continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment