Bruce was lucky enough to get to go to a conference this year (the VA is really cutting back because of budget issues), so we figured we better take advantage of free hotel stays and food stipends while we could. Quincy and I tagged along with Bruce to Washington D.C. and Alice and Myra stayed home with Bruce's mom Mary Etta, who graciously offered to take care of them for the week. We tried to fly, but getting plane tickets on the same flight turned out to be quite a challenge, so we ended up driving the 8 hours.
Quincy enjoyed the freedom of rolling around without two girls fighting for his attention...
...and taking luxurious baths in the sink.
The first day, we went to the Holocaust Museum and toured the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Though I was glad we went to the museum, it's still giving me nightmares and I get sick to my stomach thinking about some of the events that took place. What a horrible time in history!
At the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing we discovered how tall Bruce is in $100 dollar bills, just in case anyone wondered.
The next day we walked around and saw some of the monuments. That evening I did a Ranger-led run around some lesser known monuments. Bruce and Quincy hung out at the Washington monument and started worrying when the scheduled hour long run turned into almost two hours. Though the Ranger was deceivingly un-runner like, with gray hair and a slight paunch, he set quite the pace. I think he also got a little carried away and we ran more like 5 miles than the stated 3-4. I was so busy catching my breath when we made stops that I didn't get much from his little history lessons, but it was fun to meet new people and get to see some things Bruce and I probably wouldn't have visited on our own.
One disappointment was the reflecting pool, which is currently under construction (our tax dollars hard at work).
While Bruce was at his conference, Quincy and I did a lot of walking around, exploring the Dupont Circle area where our hotel was located. One day we also took the train up to Baltimore to visit our friend Liz for the day. I'm not great at remembering to take pictures, so we don't actually have a picture of her, but we still love her!
When we were trying to decide what to name Quincy, we ran into a statue in Cincinnati of Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, Cincinnati's namesake. I'd been pushing the name Quincy on Bruce, and this kind of helped us decide. Cincinnatus was a Roman hero, a, "citizen soldier who was twice called to lead his country in war and, after each victory, declined offers of power and position to return to his home and plough." George Washington is known as the "Cincinnatus of the West."
On our last day in the city, Bruce and I were walking around looking at the embassies and ran into this building which houses The Society of the Cincinnati, founded in 1783. It was already closed, which was a bummer since it was our last day, but it was fun to find it nonetheless.
My favorite part of any trip, of course, is the food. We got into a routine of getting carryout and eating in the hotel room at night, since at the end of the day Quincy was cranky and sitting in a restaurant was pretty much out of the question. We were aiming for variety and I think we did pretty good--we got Vietnamese, BBQ, Korean, Italian, Greek, and Chinese. There was so much variety and all within walking distance--I was in heaven! I have to admit, because of this fact alone, it's really tempting to move to a big city. But it's kind of like me and cable--not a good mix. Whenever I have access to cable I can't get enough of it and stay up all night watching TV. If you put me in a big city with tons of good restaurants, I'd eat myself silly! So, thank you Northern Kentucky for having mostly sucky restaurants--my waistline thanks you too!
I was really impressed with the Metro too, after the first couple of times using it, that is. The very first time we used it my ticket got jammed and we had to go find someone to open up the machine for us. The second time, the gate only partially opened. Bruce told me to squeeze through and when I did, I got a little lecture from one of the attendants about jumping the gates. But after that, everything worked great. Except going up and down the super long escalators, which called for white knuckled death grips on the railing. Oh, and Quincy hated it when trains went by--made him scream every time. But other than that, it was great--very convenient.
Church was interesting too. The speaker was a little old black lady who told a story about passing a man on the street one day and saying good morning to him. He didn't respond so she turned back around and stopped him and asked him why he didn't say good morning back. He told her it was because he was headed to the other side of town to shoot somebody, and pulled out the gun to prove it to her. Well, she ended up convincing him to give her the gun and go back home, which he did. Then the little old lady went back to the point in the story where she convinced the man to give her the gun and this time she walked him home and his wife was outside, pacing back and forth, worried about her husband. Then, she again went back to the point in the story where she gets the gun, and again she brings him home, but this time she goes in and eats breakfast with the man. Quincy was ready to breastfeed at that point, so I went out and didn't get to hear how many more ways the story ended!
Bruce and I really just had great time spending some time alone (well, semi-alone) and being able to complete a conversation without being interrupted multiple times. I think we're going to try to make going on a trip minus the kids a yearly tradition--maybe not for a whole week, but at least a weekend!
