The Hermitage 3.0 (Beta)

Ever wonder what you can do with 5 days, 1 carry-on, a good pair of walking shoes, and a bunch of good friends in DC? I didn’t. But it turns out you can do a whole freaking lot.

Huge props to tcain, ctribout, maustero, jscott, wyu, dlee, tguo, and puzamere for all the good times!

Things I did in D.C.
(Things you should do too in Red)

1. Congressional Visit Day
2. Talk to a Representative
3. Talk to a Senator
4. Talk to a staffer
5. Sit in on a committee meeting
6. Fall asleep Rest my eyes in a committee meeting
7. Watch the House debate whether Puerto Rico should have a vote to have a vote on statehood
8. Listen to the beginning of the Senate FinReg debate
9. Walk through 50 bazillion metal detectors
10. Blow $40 on the Metro
11. Snap 500 photos (including metering test shots)
12. Walk many many miles
13. Develop a light farmer’s tan
14. Wander through the Presidential Portrait Gallery in the National Portrait Gallery
15. Shop Alexandria
16. Sleep…not enough.
17. Smell like a girl after borrowing Cherry Blossom, Peach, and White Jasmine lotion
18. Eat at both of Alexandria’s dueling ice cream shoppes (I highly recommend the orange chocolate chocolate chip at The
    Scoop)
19. Eat at Eamonn’s A Dublin Chipper
20. Listen to period-dress tour guides
21. Visit the US Supreme Court Building
22. See the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights in the National Archives
23. Eat at Ray’s The Classics (well made, but not particularly flavorful)
24. Eat at Ray’s Hellburger (amazing)
25. Eat at Bob’s Noodle (good, but if this is the best Chinese food DC has to offer….*shakes head*)
26. Climb the Old Post Office Tower (great view)
27. Eat 6 flavors of Fro-Zen-Yo
28. Eat frozen yogurt…somewhere…
29. Eat mango-pineapple gelati at Carmen’s
30. Grab a bite at Ben’s Chili Bowl (half-smokes are amazing and amazingly bad for you.)
31. Eat at Market Lunch (good and cheap, but arrive before 9:30 since the wait isn’t worth it)
32. Gawk at Newseum (Pricey at $20, but an awesome museum)
33. Rest at the WWII Memorial
34. Ponder at the Vietnam War Memorial
35. Shutterbug at the Korean War Memorial
36. Reflect at Arlington National Cemetery
37. Read of the lives of female soldiers at the Women’s Memorial
    
38. Watch the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
39. Take a conference call while sitting outside Arlington National Cemetery
40. Take literature from “Impeach Obama” protestors
41. Read Politico, The Hill, and Roll Call
42. Sprint through the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum
43. Ride a couple hundred yards worth of escalator
44. Get drinks and browse at Kramerbooks
45. Analyze research data

And…for sitting through all of that, here’s my apropos pic of the trip.

The Constitution
Newseum, Washington, DC.
Nikon d40, 35mm, f/1.8, 1/25 sec, ISO800
Lightroom corrected

This entry was posted on Monday, May 10th, 2010 at 8:39 pm and is filed under fun, travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.