dc trip:: the day that killed my feet

we spent weeks cruise shopping to celebrate graduation, but at the last minute we ended up taking a trip to dc instead. the price of the cruise i wanted jumped, then it got sold out. we decided it'd be better to just postpone it anyway so we could go with friends. we decided on dc on tuesday and left on saturday. pretty short notice, and i was dumb enough to look into touring the white house! ha!

here's as streamlined a version of our trip as i can manage (while still keeping the journal aspect so i can remember funny little things that happened). it's so hard not to post every picture!

the drive up was pretty uneventful (yes we drove instead of flying! lots of people said we were nuts for doing such a long drive for such a short trip, but it wasn't that bad and price-wise it was definitely worth it). after stopping to get food and gas a million times (no joke, brett was feeling like a hobbit) we made it to manassas where our hotel was around 8:30 that night just in time to grab a bite at cafe rio (what?! a cafe rio not out west?!) and run into dick's at closing time to get brett a hat.

brett was in charge of travel/accommodations for the trip and i was in charge of what we saw/did. the first day was monuments/outdoorsy sights day so after church in va we made our way to the city. brett drove the entire trip and i navigated. anytime we missed a turn or the directions didn't work out brett would declare that we were going to "freestyle." most of the time his freestyling stressed me out, but we did get to see areas we wouldn't normally have seen otherwise -- for example the first sight we saw was the iwo jima memorial as we drove past in search for arlington national cemetery. i had no idea that statue was so big!

going to arlington national cemetery first was the perfect start on a sunday. i was so surprised at how reverent/quiet the crowds were. it was nice to take some time to think about all the people who sacrifice their lives for our country.

we saw jfk's eternal flame, the changing of the guard at the unknown soldier's tomb, and this is the mast of the u.s.s. maine that went down off the coast of cuba.

we ditched our car for free and walked to the mall. a running joke of the trip was the fact that it's called a mall, but it's not actually a shopping mall -- i was confusing brett for a while by calling it that. 

jumping picture fail. the poor washington monument was closed because of the earth quake.

apparently we walked right past the white house without realizing it when we walked in from our car. that executive office building was too cool and distracted us? i was sad that this was as close as we could get to the back. they were having some event there that night. there were two security guards yelling at anyone who got too close. we could still see the snipers on the roof though.

WWII memorial. we took pictures of our favorite states.

the korean war memorial makes brett feel kinda crazy. i really like those trees. the flat trimmed bottoms made it feel like there was a roof above you.

our next stop was supposed to be the jefferson memorial and we walked a good ten minutes along the potomac (another aha moment for brett. "that's the potomac?") before we realized we weren't supposed to be walking along the river. this lead to us crossing the road at a place that had no side walk so we had to run in the road to try and get off it before a car came. we looked like idiot tourists running and laughing down the road. it was actually pretty fun.

fdr with fdr! once we got back on track we walked through the fdr memorial next which had lots of great bronze and stone work, fountains, and quotes. dc is covered in powerful quotes in large etched writing (that make them even more powerful).

it was a much calmer walk along the tidal basin to go see jefferson. there were little geese families, ducks, and people fishing.

i can't imagine being able to make such a large sculpture. these memorials are all so grand and awe inspiring. i also can't imagine living in dc and having them all become commonplace. i was jealous of all the runners i saw who get to look at such amazing scenery as they run like it's no big deal.

 brett actually asked to have his picture taken here. pretty unheard of. we had our noses in our maps and phones most of the time so he wanted me to make sure i captured that.

on the way back to the mall we saw the man himself, mlk.

and right about here is where my feet died. (well really it was the running in the street that was the last straw, but i started hobbling here.) i had to walk in the grass to help cushion my feet since my sperry's have zero padding.

brett wanted to document this too since he told me not to wear them. i was a victim of fashion over logic. i didn't even pack tennis shoes. doh!

we made it to the reflecting pool but sadly it's still under construction and out of commission. boo. construction is so ugly and it was everywhere.

the lincoln memorial. definitely my favorite monument.

one of two pictures we got a stranger to take for us. i was too scared to let anyone hold my real camera so we just kept using our phones for pictures of us together.

vietnam memorial. the number of names on the wall is so overwhelming.

on the way back to the car we stopped by the front of the white house.

our experience here was complete by witnessing a large school group take a group shot and a big group of activists chant their demands to obama.

after this we headed back to manassas to see if we could pick up some tennis shoes for me real quick at that dick's, but unfortunately we weren't lucky enough to make it before closing this time. we ate at chili's (really quite sad since there were so many awesome restaurants in the city) then headed back to the hotel to pass out and soak my poor little puppy dog toes. (it was killing brett that i kept calling my pitiful feet that. he told me i wasn't allowed to complain about my feet when i decided to wear those shoes, but i just couldn't help it, they've never felt that bad before!)

we walked ten miles that day and i definitely learned my lesson. comfort > fashion.
(i learned another lesson the next day: not packing tennis shoes at all means you are forced to buy sweet new kicks. really worked out for me in the end and it was definitely worth it since i love my new shoes. it might have been my master plan all along.... )