Just the big stuff in DC :)

Washington D.C. is a great place.  I recommend it to anyone who like taking tours of places and loves history, art, or just museums.  I flew into the wrong airport first of all, if you ever go, fly in to Regan not into Dulles.  Turns out "Dulles-DC airport" is actually in virginia and it takes about an hour to get into down town.  That's fine on the way in, but on the way out it is terrible!  I didn't sleep at all last night because I was so worried about missing my flight.  I went to the metro station a little before 7 and found that they don't open until 7:15... I fell asleep on the subway and almost missed my exit at Rosslyn.  Then when I got out of the subway the bus to the airport had already left 10 minutes previous... I thought that was dumb... they should coordinate their transit systems.  Boston's transit system is 100 times better than DC.  But you gotta give DC points for looks.  On my way out I ended up splitting a cab with a lady from Chicago and we had to pay $25 each compared to $6 each on the bus.  Lesson learned... fly into Regan in DC.

So I got into Dulles and met 2 backpackers.  One of them gave me $1 so I would have exact change to ride the bus into DC to catch the Metro.  I followed them to their hostel but when I got there I found that it was full... which is crazy because they have 300 beds there!  They gave me a list of nearby hostels and I ended up getting the last bed at a place called "DC Lofty"  $30 a night in an old creaky house... and I loved it!  I met people form Russia, Ukraine, China, Germany, Hungary, Alaska, Spain.  That is one really cool thing about hostels, if you're outgoing... or even willing to fake like you're outgoing you can meet a lot of really great people with great stories.

I got lost alot in DC.  For some reason I just couldn't get the hang of it.  I felt dumb because the streets go in order from 1-17 and up and ABCDEFG  the alphabet in order.... but occasionally there is a random M which I learned stands for Metro... but it got me really turned around.  So I went down to chinatown to get something to eat and I got lost.  Took me so long that by the time I was done I was so tired I just ended up going home and going to bed.  I had some sushi that was better than good but not great.  Some of the rolls were very good and they looked really good too but just get a "B" on taste.

I went home and went to bed because for some reason I just was too tired.  I hung out with a few people before bed but I knew that I would have a really busy day on Friday since I was missing out on 1/2 a day in DC.

The next day (Friday) I decided I wanted to see all the  "big stuff"  I went to the art museum as well.... but I didn't really like it and I got lost in there :)  But I made sure to see The Capitol Building, The Washington Monument, The White House, The Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, and the Pentagon.  I did it in that order and saw a couple other memorials along the way.  Overall it was a great day in DC.. about 12.5 miles of walking and I was spent by the time I got home.  A couple highlights for me was reading the Gettysburg address and meeting a vet at the Korean War Memorial. (He had so many medals on his jacket and hat, I wish I would have taken a better picture!)

The Capital

Library of Congress