Resolution 11 - Visit Washington DC - Complete!

So as I detailed in my last blog, Washington DC is the main tourist destination I always wanted to see in the country and I was determined to make it out there this year and by sheer luck my dad was happening to be passing through there to visit his brother and I was able to meet up with them there and catch a ride back with him. Everything went down as planned. I was dreading my dad and Uncle got the airports mixed up and I would have been waiting hours for them, but they were ready and waiting for me right when I got my luggage. It was pretty late when we met up, so we caught dinner at a Korean buffet and passed out to a movie at my uncle's on the first night. The Korean buffet was great, never ate at a Korean restaurant before and did not know half of what I ate, but it was mighty tasty.

Second day, after breakfast my uncle dropped my dad and I off at the DC Metro and we went to the main DC area. It was surprisingly to find our way around, and a couple friendly locals noticed us perusing maps and helped point us in the right direction. That day we scoped out nearly the entire Smithsonian American History Museum. Absolutely loved it and took it all in. As I mentioned before, I am a huge history nut and just soaked in all the information in war wing, the presidential wing and nearly everywhere else in there. We also checked out the Holocaust Museum, which I loved for an entire other set of reasons. Obviously it is a much somber tone in there, but I highly recommend checking out that museum there because that tragedy deserves to be remembered so it never comes close to happening again. I know that goes without saying, but that is literally the theme of the place "Never Again." Without argument, a great message.

That is all we had time to do on the first day by the time the museums closed. I just could not bring myself to brisk through the museums. I had to eat up and get refreshed on as much knowledge as possible. I wanted to go on a moonlight tour of the memorials I saw advertised, but I forgot you had to book that reservation a day ahead of time. So I did not get a chance to tour the memorials which I highly regret, but at least I have more of DC to check out for my eventual return there. That night I was delighted to see my uncle had a treadmill and steam sauna at his place I was able to take advantage of to keep up on my running while finally getting around to watching Men of Honor. Never took a steam shower before, and it was quite the experience.

Third day after some decadent pancakes, we spent most of that day in DC checking out the Newseum and Smithsonian Air and Space museum. The Newseum is a museum dedicated to the history of journalism, which is right up my alley, so I made sure this place was on my to do list. They had an amazing display in front which had the front page from a random newspaper from each state and I was delighted to see the front page of our local newspaper, the Grand Forks Herald get the nod to represent North Dakota. As I anticipated, I loved the Newseum and ate up how they had the history of the printing press, tv and web journalism presented. My dad the crossword fanatic, loved they had the first ever printed crossword on display and got a couple of photos and plans on blowing them up so he can complete it. We saw a 4D movie there which was a 3D movie, but the extra dimension was moving seats and air that blew at you at certain points.

We did not have that much time in the Air and Space museum. Only a couple hours because we checked out nearly all of the Air and Space museum. Loved what I saw, which included a wing dedicated to the Wright brothers, and wings on WWI & II aviation. Last night it in DC my dad, uncle and I ate out a fantastic Mexican restaurant, and we got some early zzzzs before we headed out on our long drive home.

Had an amazing time in DC overall. Three days is not nearly enough. In that time I only managed to see a modicum of what DC had to offer, but I made the most out of what I did saw and do not regret it a bit. Like I stated above, I still have plenty more to see to easily justify a return to DC. It was also great to catch up with my Uncle Jim whom I have not seen in several years.

That was also a great theme on the way back, I was able to catch up with a ton of my dad's side of the family that I have been horrible at keeping up with this past decade. We also saw my Uncle Roger and Aunt Norma in upper Michigan and spent Easter weekend there. Had a great time visiting them and my cousins Josh and Jennifer I have not seen in many years. My aunt is a huge book nut and I had a great time picking her brain about my growing interest in reading in these past years. I swore to them to do my best not to lose touch again. Also returned to the Milwaukee area on our route back and visited my cousins Carrie and Charlie. They have a huge ranch out there in the outskirts, and I took advantage of the nearby running trail and got annihilated on running on my first trail that featured numerous hills.

I got back in town last night, and combining my Milwaukee to DC and back home treks, I was on the road for 10 days straight. Easily my longest and most ambitious vacation yet. I enjoyed every minute of it, and still have a few days left to unwind and get settled back in before returning to work.