Hungry, Hungry Heneseys: Hardin goes to Washington

I'd like to apologize for anyone who is just reading this blog for the food and recipes. This summer we went on two amazing vacations, and I want to share them with everyone. Our first trip, covered in this post, was a reunion trip to Washington, DC. We met up with all our friends from grad school and had a great time. Our second trip, which I will cover in another post within the week (I promise!) was to Atlanta for Ryan's cousin's wedding. So please enjoy our pictures and descriptions of Hardin hall's visit to the capital! Also, I find it ironic I am posting this today because Barry O himself is visiting Buffalo today.

****DISCLAIMER**** Washington in July is hot and humid. Like so hot that not even all the baby powder in the world will keep you dry. I was sticky and wet by 9am. So if we look absolutely awful in these pictures, this is what our excuse it. Or we're just ugly. You pick.

We flew in on Thursday July 4th and were able to figure out public transportation from the Baltimore ariport all the way to Georgetown. Since I am all about saving money, this was by far cheaper than flying in to Dulles or Reagan (thank you Southwest). We took a bus to a subway station, then the subway to our hotel. Of course doing this while carrying luggage was an instant recipe for pit stains and sticky thighs, but we made it!

We stayed at a hotel that is on the National Register of Historic Hotels, called the Hotel Lombardy. Below is a picture of our lovely view of Georgetown. We also got a king bed and OH. MY. GOD. I had so much space to sleep it was amazing. If you are married to a person who sleeps in the middle of the bed no matter how big it is, I highly recommend a king bed.

Our hotel was also next to the Washington home of James Madison, pictured below.

We unpacked our stuff a little and then headed to the zoo, mainly to see the Pandas. Since the zoo is part of the Smithsonian, there is no charge to go, but there are an absolute ton of people there. It was also very hot, so most of the animals were inside or not moving. Ryan loves pandas and really wanted to see them, and it was pretty disappointing since those lazy bums were snoozing inside. So we settled for a picture of Ryan with a panda statue.

The lions were pretty active, mainly because they were munching on a big old dead leg with a bone. I actually got a pretty cool video of the male lion roaring on the top of the exhibit, but for some reason I can't post a video.

Here I am with my pal sexy Rexy.

After walking around the zoo my feet were thoroughly destroyed, so I was really looking forward to the next three days of walking. I ended the trip with 4 blisters per foot, and a split toenail (it got run over once by a baby stroller, another time by a bicyclist, and stepped on by someone the size of Chris Christie pre-surgery.)

On our walk back to our hotel, we passed the Mexican embassy. Check it out. I could not make this up, I promise.

We then met up with everyone from Clemson and went to the history museum. I am not posting anyone's picture here because I did not ask permission, and I'm sure they would not mind, but the first rule of blogging is to always ask. Here is our view on the walk to the museum.

We saw a couple of cool exhibits there, but some of the lines were pretty crazy. I was hoping to see Clark Gable's (AKA Rhett Butler) WW2 uniform, but there were just too many people. There were some pretty strict regulations on pictures in here, so I don't have a ton. Check out this gem of me at the Presidential exhibit though. Again, please keep in mind I had just come in from 95 degree temperatures with 100% humidity.

We stopped and got dinner before watching fireworks on the mall. I think it's something every American should experience, but I really don't think you need to experience it more than once. We were not sure exactly where the fireworks would be, over the capitol or over the Washington Monument. So we took a seat where we could see both. It was over the Washington monument, FYI. John Williams was conducting an orchestra at the capitol, which we did not hear, but I was not too upset about that.

The crowds were unreal. We saw some dude get his by a car. And getting back to our hotel was impossible. The line to even get IN the subway station was over 3 blocks. So we walked back to the hotel. It was probably about 2.5 miles, but we made it. I had never been so glad to take off my shoes.

Here is my only good picture of the fireworks. By this time of night, my cell phone was dead and my little point and shoot camera does not take great pictures.

From what I hear from locals, the best place to watch these fireworks is across the Potomac. Good advice for someone who plans on going or if we ever decide to go again.

Friday we did a bunch of cool things. We started the day off with a shameless selfie,

then I struck a Miss American pose while waiting in line to get into the National Archives.

Then we waited in line for an hour to see the Constitution. Obviously I do not have a picture of that. Security threatened incarceration and the like if I were even to touch my camera. National Treasure made it look sooo easy to just stroll on in, take a peek at the document, write down a few letters, and get the next clue to finding America's hidden riches. Hollywood lies.

We then headed over to the Library of Congress, a building with so much beautiful architecture. I tried to show a little of it in this creative shot. I was actually hoping there would be more actual books we could access, but apparently you need advance privileges. There was an interesting exhibit on the Civil War, as well as Thomas Jefferson's actual library on display, so it was completely worth going to.

A girl who loves books in a massive building of books.

Next we headed to Ford's theatre. Last time John Wilkes Booth was there, he killed it! See what I just did there?

Here's the private box where Lincoln was shot. The tour was pretty simple but actually seeing where Booth was and how he did it was pretty neat.

Saturday we started our day at a relatively new attraction to the area, Lincoln's summer cottage. I highly recommend this to anyone who is visiting the area and likes history. It was a bit of a hike from the closest subway station, but it was really interesting. Lincoln apparently spent a great deal of his time here during the summers he was in office. He also wrote the Emancipation Proclamation in this house. It was very "Lincoln," small, simple, nothing gaudy or over the top. But you could actually walk in the house and on the grounds, so you literally walked where Lincoln walked. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and informative, and you could totally tell how passionate she is about Lincoln's life.

Here we are on a bench outside his cottage.

On our way back we stopped for lunch at Ben's Chili Bowl, famous for staying open during the race riots. Since I don't like chili, and rarely eat a meal our of a bowl, I opted for their hot dog. It was a really neat place that probably has changed very little from 1958. Famous people who have eaten there include Bill Cosby and Barry O. Do I recommend this place? Sure why not. Do I recommend hanging out in the area after dark? No.

Here is an obligatory picture of the subway station we spent so much time in. If i could bottle the scent of garbage and sweat, blow that subway breeze at you, and make everything you touch sticky I would, because that's essentially what the subway is like.

After we went to another newer exhibit in DC, the Newseum. Basically, and entire museum filled of news. They had some really neat exhibits, including the JFK family pictures, serial killers in history, and Presidential dogs. This alone made it a definite we were going to spend the 18$ each ticket to go to this museum. The JFK pictures were amazing, further adding to my intrigue of this epic family. The serial killer exhibit had a ton of pretty cool stuff, items such as the shoe bombers shoes, and the ACTUAL unabomber's cabin in the woods. Now they didn't tell you if was the real cabin until you had already looked inside, touched it, and all that fun stuff. So now I have unabomber germs. Sweet.

Here is a picture of the Presidential dog exhibit. Although Millie was pretty cute, I can't condone the breeding of dogs, especially in such a public place. So here's a picture of Truman's puppy.

Another neat thing about the museum was the 6th story patio deck, where you could go out on and get a great view of the entire city. For anyone who knows me, I am absolutely petrified of heights. I mean pee my pants scared. I can't go over bridges or even go on the second story of a mall. I was really scared but managed to pose for one picture up there before running back inside, tail between legs.

A great view of the Capitol.

The newseum also had the cell door that Martin Luther King was in when he was arrested. I refrained from going up for a picture with it because I know how many people touch that per day, and I doubt it's cleaned often.

Sunday Ryan and I spent the day in Alexandria, VA, a short subway ride from our hotel. We did some shopping and had lunch before our flight left. There is also a really pretty area by the river there that we managed to take some really fancy pictures. One of them is so good it might make it on our Christmas Card!