Weekend Away

We just got back from an awesome weekend in DC.  The weekend ended a little strangely with some work issues, but the rest of the weekend was simply amazing.  I mean spending time with the love of your life, seeing some of your best friends and family, *and* doing fun stuff in DC all make for a fun time!

I documented Saturday in pictures on my iPhone (love love love it!!!) and am super happy that I have something fun to share on my blog!

 

The Hubster *loves* churros.  Unfortunately, I have this weird aversion to cinnamon so I won't eat them.  But being the fun wife that I am, I bought one for Paul when he so graciously stopped at a rest stop about an hour into the trip.  (Hey...sometime's a girl just has to go!)

Our first glimpse of the Capitol!

Once we got into town, we headed straight to our hotel to drop our bags off and hit the town walking!  We figured that we should hit up the Air and Space Museum because (1) it's 2 blocks from the hotel and (2) I've never been to this one!

I love the Smithsonian museums because they always have awesome exhibits and they are free.  It's so nice to be able to see parts of history without paying upwards of $40 a person.

Funny story:  When we got to the entrance, you have to put your purse through the x-ray machine and walk through the metal detector.  Paul went first and I put my bag into the machine and started to walk through.  The guy that was working there and directing people through looked at me and said something that I just didn't really understand.  Since the procedure was pretty standard (put purse into x-ray bin, walk through metal detector, get purse from bin), I just didn't really pay attention.  Well it turns out that the worker though I was Chinese and started to give me directions in Chinese.  So that's why I had no idea what he was saying to me.  It wasn't that I wasn't fully paying attention, it's because I don't speak Chinese!  I laughed it off when Paul told me what happened, but he got upset that the man assumed I would speak a language other than English.  Oh well.  Much worse has happened before...I think I'll make that a blog post sometime soon.

 This Bell airplane was actually designed and built by Paul's grandfather. I think it's so cool that it's in the Smithsonian.  And this is not a replica at all.  This is actually the first plane that broke the sound barrier at Mach 1.  Makes me proud to be part of the family.

 

Because I love penguins so much, I couldn't resist taking a picture of one sitting by a plane that lands in Antarctica.

 Another picture of Grandpa's plane.

 This is the original patent that was granted to Orville and Wilbur Wright for their "flying machine".  I just though it was so funny to see.

 This is a LEM.  The only reason that I can say that is because they talked about the LEM in Apollo 13.  hehe  The Hubster might have rolled his eyes when I started quoting the movie and asking why Tom Hanks's picture wasn't up on the wall.

 Saturn missiles.  (Not to be confused with the planet Saturn and its space missions)

After the museum, we headed to meet up with my brother-in-law Jon for dinner.  But he wanted to show us this really cool hotel before we went in for food.  So we met him at The W and he took us to the amazing rooftop, outside bar.

This is the view from the bar.  I know it's fuzzy, but that white building...oh yes, it's The White House.  I felt so snobby being able to call my mom and say, "yes, I'm having a mojito outside The White House."

We were actually so close that you could see the snipers sitting on the roof!

 The best happy hour companions a girl could wish for!

 Oh, so when I looked to my right, I would see The White House.  And to my left, The Washington Monument!

One of my favorite DC sights!

 Personally, I can't stand oysters or other sea life (clams, mussels, etc - they just feel so slimy in my mouth!), but the 2 guys finished this 2 dozen off with no problemo!

I hope this sight never gets old and that I always appreciate what an amazing and beautiful country I have.

 We lucked out this year because of the unseasonably hot and early spring, the Cherry Blossom's have bloomed early!  So we actually got to see them.  Granted we didn't really enjoy them as much as I would have liked, but it was still pretty beautiful.

After dinner, we headed over to our friends Matt and Kirsten's house for an Anniversary/St. Patrick's Day party.  They got married on St. Patrick's Day 5 years ago!  It's hard to believe that 5 years ago, we were in Phoenix sweating our butts off in the middle of the desert wedding!  It's also strange to think that 5 years ago, Paul got hives thinking about getting married, I still worked an absolutely insane amount of hours, and helping my now sister-in-law get ready for her wedding.  5 years later, Paul and I are happily married, my sister-in-law is praying every night for a baby, and we've survived it all! :)

 All of the yummy green food!!

 Fun!  Also the last picture I took before the phone died! :(

 These are the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin which are where everyone goes to see them.  I took this Sunday morning.

We ended the trip with a visit to see my cousin Pete and his brand new wife, Stef.  And bonus, my aunt and uncle were there visiting for the weekend!  We had so much fun visiting and I didn't get any pictures.  Their house is so cute and they are working so very hard to get it all the way they want it.

Unfortunately, the drive back home was a total nightmare.  We got stuck in 2 major traffic jams and the annoying New York traffic was just a disaster.  Throw in a work fire drill and we were completely stressed and frustrated.

We didn't get back home until about 10 where I scarfed down some take-out tacos and literally went right to bed.

Despite the madness, it was an awesome time with friends!