Washington D.C., Part 2.

Day 3:

Thanks to my friend Emily, who told me about Bike and Roll (a bike tour company in DC), Day 3 was filled with seeing many of the monuments along the National Mall. And, let me just say, biking was the way to do it. The tour was three hours and it really wasn't strenuous at all since there are tons of breaks for picture taking. The guides were knowledgeable and outgoing. I highly recommend them. Also, I found a $5 coupon for them on yelp, which made it even better! In case you don't want to spend the money or in case you'll not be traveling to DC anytime soon, I'll give you the play by play.

We started out at the first Smithsonian building, The Castle.

It took some time getting used to the bike I rode. It was more reactionary than mine, but we soon became fast friends.

We rode along to the Natural History Museum.

Micah has this look of shock, I'm not sure if it's because he was finally coming to grasp that we were really in DC or if he was just excited about natural history.

Here's the group in front the Smithsonian Modern Art Building.

The World War II Japanese Memorial.

The back of the Capital.

The front of the Capital.

The Korean War Memorial.

I wish we had gotten the chance to go back here and see it close up, because it looked really interesting. Because of space limitations, the designer built a wall to reflect images of the soldiers to make it seem as though there are more of them.

The Washington Monument.

(It's so impressive when you're standing right underneath it.)

The Reflecting Pool.

The Lincoln Memorial.

The White House.

(The fountain is green because it was St. Patrick's Day.)

The End. (I guess Micah's waving goodbye?)

After the bike tour, food was once again on our mind and upon yet another recommendation (this time from Melissa), we went to Kramerbooks and Afterwords. It's located off of Dupont Circle, which is definitely an area I would like to spend more time exploring. Although the escalators coming up from the metro were intimidating (by which I mean terrifying). Here's the view.

For lunch (not that you really care), I got this crabcake pasta dish, which was awesome. I pretty much ate as much crab as humanly possible in a 7 day time period. It was grand. And, to finish off, we got the Goober Pie (which Melissa said was a must).

Hmm, hmm, goober pie!

Washington D.C., Part 1.

Since the Wedding pictures are currently stuck on my camera (the cord to connect to upload them is nowhere to be found), I will begin our journey at the beginning. I suppose chronological order is nothing to snub at, so here it is. Spring Break 2010!

Day 1:

After arriving late to the Baltimore airport, missing the earlier bus that would take us to the metro, and hauling our 4 bags to our bed - breakfast (not to be mistaken with bed & breakfast), the first and really only task of the remainder of our evening was to get food. Based on my sister's recommendation and overwhelmingly positive reviews on yelp, Micah and I found our way to Dukem Ethiopian Restaurant. And, well, it did not disappoint. I'm not a pro when it comes to Ethiopian or Eritrean food, but the mixture of spices were delectable and the spongy pancake-like bread was superb.

Micah got an Ethiopian beer.

And, I got a glass of honey wine, which I obviously was much more excited about.

The restaurant had also won the approval of many a review companies, proudly displaying their "best of" awards on the mantelpiece.

After our meal, we decided to hit up a nearby wine bar, and let's just say the wine was fine, but the dessert needed some more love and attention. Thankfully, we had a waiter that informed us out-of-towners that we should "see the sites" while in DC. Seriously, we would have been lost without that tidbit of insider information.

Day 2:

So, based on the insight of a DC local, the next morning Micah and I fought the time change and made our way downtown to see the sites. Let me just point out right here that DC has an amazing metro system. It was as if I had died and gone to public transportation heaven. It was efficient and timely, oh, the praises I could sing. Micah timed it and I think it took somewhere around 15 minutes from the time we left our guesthouse to the time we arrived downtown. Absolutely, incredible! Once downtown, we were on a hunt for food again.

We walked around, asked a few people, but it was not until ingenious DC local #2 that we happened upon Lincoln's Waffle Shop (I say ingenious, because he was unsure whether they served breakfast, really? It's got waffle in the title). I feel the need to apologize to Eddie's Cafe, since I felt a twinge of pain as though I was cheating on my first breakfast love. It wasn't quite as good, but a greasy spoon nonetheless and we were about the only tourists in the place which always makes a restaurant seem more authentic.

We sat at the bar looking out at the street, which gave us this view of Ford's Theatre, where President Lincoln was shot.

We took a better picture of the view once outside.

We inquired about going on a tour inside, but because of price and time, limited ourselves to posing under the sign.

After which, we walked over to the National Mall, passing by the Old Post Office Pavilion on our way.

I've been to DC a few times before, but the mall area is always impressive.

There's the capital at one end.

And the Washington Monument at the other.

Like I said, it's an impressive sight.

Isn't this one of those obligatory pictures, like when you go to London and photograph yourself in a red telephone booth?

Since there's something like 13 Smithsonian museums and we knew we would at the most only make it to one or two, we decided upon the National Museum of American History. Although, slightly disappointing, it had a few great exhibits and there was a spattering of interesting artifacts to look through.

We started with the President's exhibit, which was informative, interesting, and even interactive! I've decided from here on out presidents should pose like I did in the last picture.

After that, we saw some red shoes

A green puppet

A huge dollhouse

Michelle Obama's Inagural Gown

Then, Micah kissed a buffalo

And I basked in the awe of Julia Child's kitchen

The day was not close to being done when we left, so we went to Georgetown to window shop. After much walking, we attempted three times at going to a happy hour, but for some irrational reason, many DC restaurants only serve happy hour at the bar, which we were only told after we sat down to order. Umm, no, no I do not want to pay $6 for a glass of sangria when someone 5 feet from me is drinking one for $3. Give me a break. We ended up at a thai restaurant and got a few appetizers and then grabbed some hummus and pita from trader joe's before crashing back at the guesthouse.

Soon to follow, the rest of our touristy adventures and the wedding (as soon as I can figure out how to get the pictures off my camera).

coming soon...

MANY posts on Spring Break 2010!

there once was a bakery.

Once upon a time there was a little bakery in Silver Plume, CO.

It was the perfect little bakery, nestled in the quaintest of mountain towns.

The town boasted of 175 people.

The bakery was worn, loved.

There was a unique feeling that filled the place, as though I was standing in a piece of history. A place that had provided an outlet for community gatherings, a place that united past and current generations.

The aroma was heavenly and so were all the baked goods we purchased.

(me, sandra, kortney, and micah)

And then there was the town church, adorable.

I may have been delusional at the time, but after leaving I declared if I couldn't live in a city, hands down I would pick a quaint, less-travelled town over the suburbs. Would you?

a series of unfortunate events.

(no, not the book)

1. I decide to use the chef knife to cut an onion, which is odd because I am normally wary of gigantic knives that can kill people.

2. After chopping the onion, I set said knife down on the counter by the cutting board.

3. Micah asks to help by cutting the red pepper for dinner.

4. Micah picks up said knife.

5. Knife gets caught on edge of cutting board.

6. Micah accidentally drops the knife.

7. Knife bounces up with incredible strength.

8. I am still standing next to the kitchen counter.

9. Knife slices open my right index finger.

10. Knife drops to the floor (thankfully causing no further problems).

11. My finger is bleeding everywhere.

12. I put finger under water and put pressure on it.

13. Micah and Connor (who was over for dinner) race to grab paper towels and emergency kit to further contain the bloody mess.

14. I keep finger elevated to stop bleeding

15. I bleed through at least 6 sheets of paper towels until bleeding finally subdues.

16. Finger is bandaged and wrapped in gauze.

17. Finger is throbbing in pain.

18. Micah apologizes for the 2,013th time, because he feels terrible for slicing my finger open.

19. I take lots of advil to dull the pain

20. My finger looks like this.

This is my meager attempt at an ok sign...cause really, I'm ok.