When I found out the Cambridge college trip would involve flying through Dulles, I checked whether my BFF Stephanie would be home that weekend, and asked Louie if I could have an extra day in DC. Steph was available, Louie was willing, and I got to spend 24 hours in DC. Stephanie picked me up at the airport after I sent the rest of the college trip crew through security, and we headed off to National Harbour, an area that I had never visited but that has been well-developed in recent years with shops, restaurants, hotels, and the Capital Wheel ferris wheel. We enjoyed a late lunch and then got in line for the wheel with our Groupon in hand. The line wasn't very long, and we got a capsule to ourselves as we quickly rose up above the harbour. The monuments were far enough away that we couldn't see much other than the National Monument, but the views were lovely nonetheless, especially as the sun started setting.
After our ride, we walked around the harbour for a while, enjoying the setting sun, then did a little shopping. We came out of one store, and the sky was nearly dark but off to our left I could see hints of pink behind the buildings. I hurried down to the water's edge to find the sky on fire in an incredible sunset!
From there we decided to drive downtown to see the monuments by night. Stephanie and I have both lived in the DC area and both love taking photos of the sights, no matter how many times we visit. We walked around quite a few of the monuments that night, seeing as much as possible in our few hours together.
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| Lincoln Memorial |
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| Capital and Washington Monument from Lincoln |
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| The Vietnam War Memorial & Washington Monument |
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| World War 2 Memorial |
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| With my favorite state |
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| Stephanie with her favorite state |
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| With my adopted state |
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| Lincoln from WW2 Memorial |
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The haunting Korean War memorial
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| Jefferson Memorial |
Stephanie travels a great deal with her job and earns a lot of free hotel stays, so she got us a free room at a nice hotel in Georgetown, where we ordered room service and enjoyed catching up that night. One thing I really wanted to do while I was in town was visit our home church, Parkwood Baptist, so the next morning we got dressed and headed down memory lane. So many things about the church were different - it has undergone some renovation since I was there last - but so many other things were exactly the same, including several family friends who were there that morning.
After lunch, we decided to head downtown again for a short while. The Marine Corps Marathon took place that morning and a lot of roads were still shut down, so we took the Metro to the Smithsonian stop, and walked around the Washington Monument and WW2 Memorial in the daylight before we had to go to the airport for my flight home.
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The first of several pics with the Washington Monument
sticking out of Steph's head like a unicorn. :) |
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| Ah, that's better! |
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| Oh say, can you see... |
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| It was a beautiful autumn day in our nation's capital. |
It was a quick, whirlwind visit, but I enjoy any time I get to spend with Stephanie, and we both love exploring cities, even ones we've visited many times before, so it was the perfect way to spend 24 hours. I am already looking forward to the next time we get together. Wonder where we'll go next?
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