DC was tons of fun, we still have plenty to go explore there. We got to spend some time with my sister Mary, and see a little of my Aunt Grace's family that lives close by. This trip we hit up the Spy Museum, the Holocaust Museum, Eastern Market and some good eats in between. The Spy Museum was pretty sweet, there's tons of cool things there. My favorites were the vents you got to crawl through, the stories, and the secret soda can storage place. (It looks exactly like a soda can, and even has the weight of one!)
 |
| There were even little vents that you could look out and see the people you were walking over |
The Holocaust is pretty sobering and massive. I didn't really cry until I saw 2 pictures. One picture was of a little girl probably only 3 years old in a fluffy white coat. She was holding hands with an older brother no older than 6. Both were smiling, naturally like a perfect captured moment. This picture was in a hallway that extended up 2 floors and down one while you walked on an aisle between. All the walls were covered with real photographs of a town that went from hundreds of vibrant lives to survivors of barely a few. They don't tell you which photographs are of those that survived. The other photograph was from a secret church hiding Jewish boys under the pretense of studying another religion. There were fifteen photographs, all young boys hair slicked back somber faces slightly tilted to one side looking past the camera. Except one boy that was grinning widely ear to ear looking straight at the camera. He reminded me of my brother Michael.
In between events we ate at some great places, one of our favorites was Good Stuff Eatery. Mary knew some backstory or something, we didn't really care-but the food was AMAZING. Like go spend your entire paycheck and eat yourself sick amazing. I had a "michelle-melt" free range turkey burger. Don't remember exactly what was on it, but it had a garden herb mayo, and was delish. Sam got something with bacon, cheese, and beef and we all enjoyed thyme and sea salt covered sweet potato fries. There were about 10 different sauces for the fries, mango mayonnaise anyone? YUM. O-and a custard milkshake, a custard toasted marshmallow milkshake with in fact a toasted marshmallow right there on top. We also hit up a fantastic chinese restaurant famous for their noodles. There was about 9" of space between one faux marble finish table and the next, the waitresses had to turn to their side to make it through. Everyone could see the sushi chef preparing his items in the shop window, right next to morose lobsters in their tank with orange clips.
My favorite place that we went though was Eastern Market. This is just the most awesome market. From produce (of course free samples of peaches, tomatoes, apples, berries, concord grapes, meats and cheeses-the good ones) to fresh bakery items (baguettes, breads, cakes, pies, etc.) to a mishmash of goods, purses, sunglasses, all kinds of awesome earrings. There was also estate jewelry and even a vendor that sold special tables that were made from any type of wood you wanted. Our favorite was a Peruvian lady that made her own soaps. She would tell you about what was in them, their healing properties and all with what sounded like a Jamaican accent. Some even had slices of loofah in them!
 |
| It took all of my self control not to spend like a hundred dollars on all of this fantastic produce |
 |
| Some crazy looking tomatoes |
 |
| They all kinds of jams, honeys, and other canned goods |
 |
| These were some of the best peaches I've had in...a long time |
 |
| The market also had flowers and fresh herbs in containers, and pre-arranged boquet garni |
 |
| Delish Dumplings that came with cool wooden dish and fork The chef did a cooking demonstration and gave out the recipes |
 |
We also went to see the botanical gardens which were gorgeous, they even had an entire orchid room. They were in a huge greenhouse probably 3-4 floors tall with a stream running through the center and different climate rooms branching off. They even had an interesting medicine room where they featured medicine discovered from plants.
 |
| We also got a chance to go the the DC temple which was glorious. One of my favorite parts of the trip. |
All in all we had a fantastic time. I learned all about the Metro, and how awesome it is. Mary showed us a great place to park for free, and helped show us around. We loved it, and have so many other places to explore there. As for the September 11th scare, we didn't see any real evidence. Except road barricades (the kind that pop up from the road) and a Hazmat truck outside the Agriculture building. And as we were driving down the highway there was a large truck stopped on top of a overpass and police cars surrounding the truck with their lights on. But no big-nothing happened that we could see.
As far as a job, I GOT ONE! Yay :) I was called in for interviews for two positions. One went awful, one great. I got an email rejection and a call for a second interview while in DC. Apparently there is a lot of politics in the PSU positions and the interview that I thought I had no chance in, and went horribly ended up giving me an offer. Thank you Dean's Office experience! So now I'm working full time, and Sam is delving into research and school. I'm learning lots and getting used to the office environment. I work for a department that is almost all girls, even the dean and associate dean I work for.
All in all life is much busier, but fantastic.
