D.C. Vacation, part 1: Going Somewhat Native

I've been back from my Washington D.C. trip for a couple of weeks -- enough time to have settled into regular life once again and reflect on how much fun I had!

The idea was to visit my brother Aaron and his girlfriend Shonni and just tag along with whatever they were doing for the Labor Day weekend.

I flew into the Baltimore Airport on Saturday afternoon (and, yes, I had "Good Morning Baltimore" from Hairspray in my head for, like, two hours). Aaron and Shonni picked me up, and we decided to get some dinner. I told them that I wanted to tell everyone, everywhere we went, that it was my birthday, just to see what kind of free stuff I could get. It turned out, we only did that one time, but it was this first restaurant! I was in the mood for some Indian food, so Shonni found a place called Haandi. While looking for the restaurant, we walked past a burger place, where four young men were sitting down to this:

This hamburger was something like 20 lbs, and $80. Gross, right? We have no idea how they actually planned to eat it. I'm sure it was cold before they even started eating.

Anyway, the Indian food was excellent, and Shonni told the hostess it was my birthday, which resulted in a free rice pudding-type dessert. Awesome, right? After that, we dropped off my stuff. Shonni generously invited me to stay with her, where I would have a bed, as opposed to Aaron's place where I would have a bed because Aaron would insist on sleeping on the couch. We picked up Shonni's adorable chihuaua, Baxter, and made our way to a park near the Reagan Airport where the planes fly right over you...

...Unfortunately, it was pretty late in the evening when we got to the park, and the planes coming in were coming from the other way, so we just ended up hanging out and playing with Baxter in the dark before stopping at the grocery store. Still, we managed to stay up way too late, and enjoy each other's company!

The next day was Sunday, and Shonni and I managed to drag ourselves out of bed and make ourselves presentable in time for Aaron to pick us up at, like, 8:30am for church. We went to the Singles Ward near Mount Vernon, and I met a bunch of people whose names I no longer remember. But they were nice, and I enjoyed the classes and testimony meeting.

Aaron and Shonni made breakfast-for-dinner for our late afternoon lunch/dinner... they were nice enough to let me help. Seriously, those apple and butterscotch pancakes and the omelet were yummy. I followed up lunch with a three hour nap. (I didn't intend to sleep that long. My excuse is that I was jet-lagged and I got up at 5am MST... on my vacation!)

I had hoped there would be something going on that weekend that you can only do in Washington D.C. such as when Aaron and Shonni saw the fireworks at the Capital Building. So, imagine my delight when they sent me a Facebook invitation a week before the trip inviting me to a free National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) concert on the lawn outside the Capital Building! Yaaaaaaaaay! Sunday evening, we found a parking spot nearby, which happened to be by the Library of Congress. (This is only interesting because we'd be saying earlier we weren't sure where it was. Turns out there are multiple buildings.)

Above: me in front of the Library of Congress building across the street
Below: a James Madison quote on the wall outside the Library of Congress entrance

Below: Aaron and I with the Capital Building in the background

We passed through security, picked up some free water bottles (there were crates-full available), and found Aaron's friends without too much difficulty. With an hour to go before the concert was to start, rain started to drizzle. Did I mention we hadn't brought an umbrella? Shonni and I held our blanket over our heads, but the rain became more and more insistent, and then started to pour! A lot of the others in the group decided to go to someone's house and play games. I was hesitant to assert my desire to stay and try to wait out the rain, but I really wanted to see the concert! Aaron, Shonni, and I stood under a tree with many other concert-goers for about another 20 minutes. We had just decided to leave when the rain abruptly stopped!

Above: Shonni and I unsuccessfully attempt to stay dry
Below: Aaron, Shonni and I on the lawn in front of the Capital Building

We ended up staying and really enjoyed the concert. They played the overture to Gypsy, a medley from South Pacific, the theme songs from E.T. and Star Wars: A New Hope, "The Liberty Bell March", and a tribute to Abraham Lincoln. During the Lincoln tribute, the rain started to sprinkle again. When the song ended, the orchestra leader, Emile de Cou, asked if we wanted to take an intermission. The entire crowd shouted "NO!" but they took an intermission anyway. As soon as the lights came up in the crowd, the rain started to dump again. At that point, we decided to call it a night and go. I loved the concert, though. I was so glad we stayed for the first part!

I wasn't quite ready to go to bed when we arrived home, so I watched the first half of The Holiday on DVD... fitting, no? I think the pairing of Jack Black and Kate Winslet is genius.

To be continued...