DC trip highlights

I had such a fantastic time during my 9 days in Washington DC! I spent 6 days with Carlos and 3 with my friends from college – it was a 6-year college reunion of sorts. Here are some of the highlights during my trip:

• The Metro; I loved using the metro to criss-cross the city and buying a 7-day unlimited short-trip pass was definitely the way to go.

• Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History; the NMNH is definitely my favorite museum on the mall and I got to see lots of cool exhibits and many cool collections of plants and animals behind the scenes.

• Smithsonian American History Museum; not as cool as some of the other museums, but it was fun to see Julia Child’s kitchen and Kermit the Frog!

• Good food; DC has lots of nice restaurants that actually weren’t super-expensive – especially given the quality of the food served. My favorite food item of the trip: toasted marshmallow milkshake.

• Washington Monument; Carlos and I got to go up to the top of the monument and see the views of DC on a pretty (though windy) day.

• Smithsonian Air and Space Museum; the highlights of my visit were seeing the Apollo exhibits (especially all of their gear and gadgetry) and one of Amelia Earhart’s planes.

• National Archives; seeing the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights was amazing (though they are a little faded).

• Arlington National Cemetery; seeing the fields of white tombstones and the Kennedy graves was a somber experience.

• Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian; I especially liked all of the animal-themed art and artifacts.

• Capitol Tour; I really enjoyed this short but sweet tour and seeing all of the art and architecture in the rotunda was amazing.

• Hanging out with the UCSB gang; after not seeing everyone together for at least 6 years, it felt like old times as we caught up in DC (though the weather was slightly uncooperative!).

And there you have it – I had a really fun and (slightly) productive time in DC! I will post entries with pictures soon.