Great American Road Trip Day 5

We jetted on into D.C. from Williamsburg this morning.

We're staying at the Westin in Arlington. It's really nice and very handily located - right next to a mall, the Metrorail stop and Starbucks.



Toto, we are not in Ar-kansas anymore.

We ventured down to the Metrorail System and spent about 20 minutes deciphering the fares. All-Day Pass or not? I voted for the simplicity of the All-Day Pass but Wes insisted that we could try to go the cheap route by paying individual fares for each stop. Wes decided we needed to call in a local expert to arbitrate for us and he was gracious enough to come over and help us. He recommended the All-Day Pass...hmmm, who else thought that was the best option?

Straight off the metro, Wes picked a fight on the street with an environmental wingnut. Actally, I think Flat Glenn started it.

We buzzed by the Visitors' Center and picked up some brochures(Mom!), and also passed by the EPA.



Flat Glenn was seriously bummed out by the EPA.

So our first stop was the International Spy Museum. I could tell you about it but then I'd have to kill you.

After we left the Spy Museum we thought it would be good to go ahead and find the White House since it looked so close on our handy-dandy map. Not.

We walked for eternity a while and I kept looking at Dixie's GPS and telling Wes that we were going the wrong way. He insisted that he knew where we were going so who am I to argue, right? So I kept one eye on the GPS and one eye on Wes. And we walked some more. And some more until we came upon the Washington Monument. That's on our must-see list too so that was cool. And conveniently, there was a street sign that pointed the way to the White House...in the exact opposite direction we'd been going. Hmmm...who said we were going the wrong way?



I thought we were going to have to tranquilize Wes until he climbed up the hill to the Washington Monument and "got his bearings."



Here's Wes and Flat Glenn with the Capitol in the background...also known as The House of Weasels.

We finally found the White House.




And then began the long trek over to the Lincoln Memorial. On the way, we found ourselves in the middle of a REAL, LIVE PROTEST!



It was very exciting. Unfortunately they were shouting in Spanish (Portugese?) so we had no idea what we were protesting. Wes found another local to ask. Apparently there is a problem with the President of Honduras. I'm not sure if they were for or against him. I'm looking into it so I'll know who to root for next time.

Caitlin's legs were about to. fall. off. so we stopped at the World War II Memorial to put our feet in the water.





The Memorial made me a little weepy. It was beautiful.

Finally, the Lincoln Memorial.



Caitlin bought some postcards because she is so into that right now. I think we've mailed them to everyone she knows, even the dogs. Maybe you'll get one too.

On the way home, I kept telling Wes we needed to catch the Orange Line to Vienna to get back to Arlington. He kept looking at maps and second-guessing every decision. He was trying to convince me to get on the Blue Line to Whatever when he finally asked another local who said, "Oh, no. This is the Blue Line. You need the Orange Line." Hmmm...

For the record, Wes, I was RIGHT about EVERYTHING today. Ye of little faith!

We ate dinner at Ted's Montana Grill. That's Ted, as in Ted Turner. (Big Lib--gasp!)

I ate a bison burger and I liked it.

The "tablecloth" was made of recycled paper. So were the menus. And the straws. Yes, people, I drank through an "earth-friendly" PAPER straw. Kinda stiff and tastes funny. Also, it stays room temperature instead of getting cold like your drink. It was like drinking lukewarm tea. Whatev. We had a great time making fun of everything.

Flat Glenn refused to get out of my purse.

I tried to take pictures but unfortunately they are using those great, new, "earth-friendly" CFL light bulbs so it was too dark.

Bison, it's what's for dinner.