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).