Finally, A Trip Post!

So my mom and I were in Maryland for roughly 8 days. Sunday was the first of those! It was pretty boring, but RELAXING. Until we tried to drop my sister off at Georgetown in the middle of Washington DC. Then Sunday was hellish. All ended well though, and despite getting turned around MANY times, we ended up back at my Aunt and Uncle's house. We ate at the Congressional Country Club for dinner (I had amazing fried calamari and delicious prime rib), and basically called it a day. They literally live around the corner from the club, so it was a crying shame that the outdoor pool was closed for the summer.

Monday was one of two shopping days. We went to Target (Rockville MD) and my mom and I were both impressed that it had a 5 story parking garage and 2 store levels (including a cart escalator!). We also went to a Bed Bath and Beyond that was certainly beyond--it had an entire section of stuff you'd typically get at CVS (shampoo, hair dye, lotion, body wash, etc). The moral of the story is that the Maryland/DC area is totally different from Ohio. Chico's was also a stop on our outing. What fun that store is--they have 4 sizes, 0-3. I'm a 0! Heh. Unless I want sleeves that are long enough, then I need a different store. I got a really cool necklace and earring combo that I'm trying to find reasons to wear ALL THE TIME! As Kindred Spirits was another stop. I didn't get anything, but they had a lot of neat jewelry and little gifts. Whole Foods was the last stop on our outing, and it was awesome. It's certainly bigger than the Whole Foods that's up the street from me, and it made me a teeny bit jealous. My new aim is to find a bigger Whole Foods in Columbus (as there is only one other, I need to go visit it).

Tuesday we went to the National Zoo! We started the day off watching a baby elephant get his spa treatment. Then we saw the pandas!! I wasn't able to get very good shots of them, because the baby refused to turn around and face us. Very cute though! Other highlights included meerkats! baby goats! orangutans!

Tuesday was my favorite dinner day--Bethesda Crab House! What an experience! I was a little leery of it since it's not crab legs, it's whole crabs with all their...stuff...still inside. In the end it was AWESOME. I honestly cannot wait to go back. It was delicious and fun. What more can you ask from a meal?! We also went to Gifford's for ice cream, and I finally found the replacement ice cream to one from a local shop. Peppermint ice cream, yum!

Wednesday was day 2 of shopping. My mom made the mistake of mentioning that I needed something to wear to a wedding I'm going to in September, so that was the main shopping goal. The first shop we went to was Lucy--I bought a really cute knit racerback dress in magenta. We had Japanese for lunch and I experienced my favorite sweet potato cooking method--tempura! Delish! Then we popped over to the mall (specifically Nordstrom's and Macy's) where I got a basic little black dress for any occasion and a black "bubble" dress for fun occasions. I also got jewelry to wear with the LBD for the wedding, so the last thing I need to find is a shrug or little jacket. It was an exhausting day though--8 hours of shopping. Not my cup of tea, but once in a blue moon is okay.

Thursday we recovered. So tired! I also worked on reading The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. My aunt suggested I read it, so I did while I was there. It was a great book and had a very interesting premise.

Friday, mom and I went to DC. We mastered the Metro! We started off at Madame Tussaud's, which was a blast. It left me wanting to go to one of the bigger Madame Tussaud's though! After that, we just wandered around and ate lunch at the Ronald Reagan Trade Center (or some name like that, heh). Then we went on the DC By Foot walking tour, which was great and I highly recommend it! We went at a relatively easy pace and our tour guide found plenty of shade for us. We walked right up to the Washington Monument (but not inside), learned some trivia about the Captiol, learned about Jefferson Memorial (too far away to walk to!), walked through the WWII memorial (my favorite), walked past the Vietnam wall and smaller monument, and ended on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Very informative, and certainly better than trying to do it on our own. My mom and I also walked over to the Korean War memorial, and revisited the WWII memorial. Then we walked up to see the White House, where we saw his helicopter take off. We managed to fit a lot in without feeling overwhelmed. I'm definitely making plans to go back, so I can do more stuff!

Saturday we went to Mount Vernon (after retrieving my sister from Georgetown), which was very pretty. What a great location for Washington's house--right on the Potomac River. I'm also always a dork for homes from the past, so that was very cool. Washington's tomb was cool too, I want to go back to see that again (too many people right in front of it!).

Sunday was our last tourist day. Fittingly for a Sunday, we went to the National Cathedral. Absolutely gorgeous architecture! Gorgeous stained glass! There's an observation gallery on the 7th floor and you can see the whole area surrounding--all the way to Washington, where the Washington monument looks like a tiny speck! We went on the tour and learned a TON of information about the different chapels and the cathedral itself. I want to go back after learning how to take better stained glass pictures in the dark. That night we had Thai for dinner, and it was great! My first Thai experience, and it was definitely a good one.

And Monday was our travel home day. It was a great, relaxing, fun trip. I loved hanging out with my 11-year-old female cousin all week (my 13-year-old male cousin spent the week brushing up on his golf skills to be able to make the high school golf team). I can't wait to go back!!

I'll put up another entry with pictures. It was enough just to type this out!! Thanks for reading!