And Now the Conclusion...

And on to Phase Three...

 

Hallejulia! We woke up to no emails from VIrgin America on Wednesday, but rather a determined "we must make up for lost time" mentality. But what day would be complete without a call to Virgin to see if Carly and I could change our flights to Thursday night and send out some work emails? Eventually, we were headed towards the Newseum since our tickets were still good. We picked up right where we left off and spent a few hours in there. Towards the end we were going a little crazy, not only because we were hungry but also because there was so much information it was overwhelming. But still a must-see if you can get it.

 

We then went across the street and went to the National Gallery. Something that was at the top of both Sarah and Carly's lists. So we went to the East Wing and saw the Lictenstein exhibit and the Modern Art exhibits, bought some posters, and then before we knew it, the museum closed. So we headed back to our hotel.

 

The next day it was finally Thursday. The day we were headed home. So after we packed our bags, we dropped them in the lobby so we could galavant all day. We started off with renting bikes again and rode to the National Gallery. But before we got our art on, we made a pitstop at the White House. We had a very special message to deliver to President Obama from my dad.

We then spent a majority of the day in the West Wing (actually most of the day) and before we knew it, it was time to FINALLY head back to Dulles Airport. We weren't convinced we were heading home until we cleared DC airspace.

All in all, it was a great trip (focusing on Phase 1 & 3, of course), and it makes for a great story. Who would have thought that three California kids (four including Tom over in New York) would be stuck in the middle of a Hurricane? Maybe I'll think twice the next time I decide to go visit Michael. Just kidding, Michael. Just kidding!

The Birth of Pain and Panic

And now onto Phase 2. A very delayed Phase 2...

It really started with Carly’s email first thing Sunday morning from our dear friends at Virgin America telling her that her flight Monday night was cancelled. Let’s get a tally going, this is flight numero uno. So staying calm, cool, and collected, Carly spent the next three hours on hold with Virgin where she jumped on a flight with Sarah and me scheduled to leave on Tuesday afternoon. Well, Carly snagged an extra day! And at this point, we thought they're just being extra cautious. But when Sarah and I went to the local supermarket/7-11 to stock up on waters and snacks, the patron told us we should get out ASAP. We both looked at him, said thanks for nothing, sir, and went back to our home away from home.   

 

So, with that in the back of our minds, we then moseyed back to the Eastern Market where we stocked up on all of the cool treasures we passed on the day before. I picked up some art, Carly and Sarah got some jewlery, and we snacked on apple slices. We were pretty much the last people there, since people were starting to retreat for the storm, but this didn't phase us. We stopped at a french restaurant for lunch and when we saw that they were still advertising that they were open on Thanksgiving - we joked that we would have some place to go if we were still stuck. Hahaha, we were so funny. So we then walked over to the Newseum where we were instantly overwhelmed and out of the seven stories (no pun intended) we only got to half of the first before it closed. But no worries, our tickets were good both that day and the next. When I asked the lady at the desk if they were going to be opened the next day (the supposed "worst day" of the storm), she told me, "Unless the government is shut down, we're open" Hahahahahaha I thought, these people have senses of humor.

 

Seeing as it was past 5:00, we looked for a historic bar where we could get a drink and found the Intercontinental Hotel. Well, this had history wrapped all up in it. This bar, the Round Robin, was in the hotel where Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, "I have a Dream" where President Taft would sit in the lobby and politicians would come up to him, trying to get him to support their bills, and as a result, the term lobbying came into existance. Michael met up with us at this point and was able to soak up all the history. 

We then went to dinner at the Old Ebitts Grille where we feasted on porkchops, lobster and jumalaya. As we were laughing and pouring glass number two or three, almost as if we were in a movie, our waiter told us that they were closing the metro tomorrow, and then we were slapped back to reality. Not too long after we heard that the government was shut down for the next day. That meant all the museums were closed. Michael was jumping around like a little kid cause his classes were cancelled. We on the other hand were not as gleeful.

 

Thus began the longest day...

 

When we woke up that morning, all three of us received an email saying that our flight was cancelled. So we called our friends over at Virgin and got on a flight for later Tuesday night that would take us to SFO, and Sarah would get on a flight Wednesday morning to LA. Ok fine, we can live with that. That took up most of our morning so we hopped on over next door to FoBoGro and picked up more supplies (Champagne, wine, and sandwiches) and then played cards, watched West Wing, found we had a cancelled flight (again), and stared at each other. This was around the time when Carly nicknamed Sarah and I, Pain and Panic and herself Hades. We had two meals down at the hotel restaurant but at least we got a change of scene. When we were downstairs talking to the hotel to extend our stay, we asked them striaght out - is everyone just overreacting? The bell hop (knowing we were suckers) said, "Oh no. This is for real. I mean look outside, the wind is literally pushing the car backwards up the street!" Carly and I whipped around, shrieked in horror and thought ok, maybe the Mayans were right. Turns out that the car was just reversing. Did i mention it was a very long day?

 

We spent the entire day waiting in anticipation for the "worst" of the storm to hit. But they pushed it back to Monday night. Apparently all three of us slept throught it. So in true us fashion, we called our "friends" over at Virgin and got on flights Thursday night (for Sarah) and Friday morning (for me and Carly). Desperate for fresh air, we tracked down the only open movie theater in town (over in China Town) and called Michael so we could meet up. We went to lunch around the corner, and the temp had officially dropped 30 degrees and our little California bodies couldn't handle it. So, on the way we stopped at Macy's (for warmth as well as shopping) and then met up with Michael and his friend for Argo.

 

Quick side note on this movie - AWESOME. Even though I had read an article about it in Entertainment Weekly, I was completely enthralled and didn't look at my watch at all for the entire two hours (a total victory in my book). And i was on the edge of my seat the entire time. HIghly recommend it.

 

Ok back to DC...we then went to dinner and had some delicious pizza and were happy to be amongst the living. Michael thought it was so funny that we now would be in DC the same time as his mother (set to arrive Thursday night). We didn't find it funny at all.

DC - Phase One - All Sunshine and Rose Petals

On Thursday afternoon, Carly and I boarded the Virgin America flight bound for Dulles. This was game 2 of the World Series and luckily the plane was satellite TV enabled so we were able to watch. This was awesome because most of the plane was also watching it and cheered - have i mentioned I'm a sucker for comradery? And not to mention the flight itself was super smooth so it made it go by extremely fast (and in 4 hours and 40 minutes). So when we landed, let's just say we were all about Virgin America.

The next day we decided to walk to the Capitol since we were having lunch with Michael on his break. We were staying in Foggy Bottom, and if you've ever been to DC, or looked at a map, Foggy Bottom is on the west side of the city and the Capitol is way over on the east side. Our hotel was only a few blocks from the Mall so we started walking East. Michael kept asking where we were and I kept telling him, Michael, we're close, we see the Washington Monument, and the Capitol is right after it. we'll see you soon. He kept telling me no, we still had a ways to go, and i thought, my goodness Michael, don't you live here? Well, an hour and a half later, we made it. And as it turned out, he did know what he was talking about. and we were wrong. Side note, when looking at a map, also take a peak at the distance key on the map. Apparently we accidently walked five miles. Whoops. And believe me - our dogs were barking.

Once we finally caught up to Michael, he took us on the super secret Senator subway that goes to the Capitol from all the congressional buildings (we took the one from the Russell Building since that's where he works) and on a tour of the Capitol. But since we were a little late, it was a super fast tour and then we bid adieu until later. Carly and I then walked over to the Supreme Court building, learned a little and stopped to watch a movie on the history, which almost put us to sleep so we decided to call Uncle and go back to the Foggy Bottom (via Metro) nap before Sarah got there. It was then that we first heard about a storm that was brewing.

Michael had told us about this flea market that is over by the Capitol so on Saturday morning, we went to the Eastern Market where we did our duty to go shopping, buy some cool prints, and saw a lot of cute crafts. We stopped in to this restaurant next door with $5 Mimosas where we had some brunch (best chocolate chip pancakes, ever), later we went to the Library of Congress where we saw Thomas Jeffereson's personal library, and eventually made our way to the Smithsonian American History Museum (the Star Spangled Banner - well worth it). 

All day we had seen people riding bikes from "Capitol Bikeshare" and we kept saying, oh that would be cool. And low and behold we actually went through with it. This service let you pick up a bike from a kiosk and then return it to any kiosk in the city (and they were all over the place!). We  made our way though the National Mall and then through the Tidal Basin over to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. It was the perfect timing too since it was evening time and people were fleeing the city due to the storm so we didn't need to dodge people. I highly recommend doing this, it's the best way to see the monuments. 

And to round out the night we expanded our horizons and went to U Street and stuffed our faces with Ethiopian food. This was delicious. I have no idea what we ordered but holy toledo, it was good. 

So we got our fill of sights and filled our tummies...a perfect way to end Phase One.