Today is Day 1 of my DC Trip with Stace. Let me preface by saying I was excited for a trip, but DC wasn't ever really on my radar for a trip I wanted to take soon (eventually, sure, but I hadn't heard good things about it and that it was pretty slummy) and so I was just more like "let's get this over with" beforehand. I made a comment to Larry about how my expectations are so low that maybe I'll be surprised and it'll actually be nice. Guess what happened? Exactly that! Haha
First off, I am SO very grateful for Andy and Rachel, because when we went to Wicked I mentioned to Rachel about having to park at the airport and paying for parking for a week wasn't my favorite part and she mentioned I could park in their (very large) driveway and use Trax (they have a station very close to their house) and they'd even give me a ride over to the station (even though I was at their house extremely early on a Saturday). It was a much cheaper option for me ($2.50 for a one way ticket is MUCH better than airport parking). And then, Andy not only drove me, but he waited with me. I mean, he called me bougie since I didn't ride Trax very much, but when you have kids then public transportation isn't going to be your first option. He did scare me by saying there might be an issue with the line because they were doing construction, but it turned out it was for a different line and mine was fine. The car I was in was mostly empty except for a lady that talked to herself the whole 45 minutes (and a homeless person sleeping that I didn't see until about 30 minutes into the ride).
 |
| A card Cara left in my bag as a surprise She's so sweet! |
I got to the airport and then had to wait for Stace because she had the confirmation for the flights. I started to get hungry and she took SO long to get there (a little after 8 and our flight was at 10) so I was getting a little anxious, and maybe a bit grumpy haha.
After getting our bags checked and getting through security, we went to find breakfast, which ended up being a hard search. I really wanted Panera, but would've taken anything that had a breakfast sandwich. Stace pointed out a Burger King and I made a very judgmental noise saying I'd NEVER eat there for breakfast. I ended up finally finding Panera and put in an order and then we both hit the bathroom while we waited for that.
Around 9:11, Stace looked at our ticket and saw that boarding started at 9:07 so she RUSHED b ack to the flight while I waited (even more anxiously) for my food. It literally felt like they started moving slower and filling orders that were in after mine at that point. I finally got my food and booked it as quickly as I could back to the gate. I was last in line to get on, but I made it. I never want to do that again and told Stace next time I won't be so uppity about Burger King breakfast haha.
The flight was SO bumpy. I normally don't get bothered by turbulence, I know it's something that just happens, but there were a few times I really wondered if we were going to make it there safely. And I downloaded a bunch of Snapped episodes on my phone, but they didn't save for some reason. So I finished my book and the Love is Blind season I had started before today, so that's something (Stace always just sleeps on planes). I also normally get the biscoff cookies and apple juice as the flight snack, but this time they had sunchips, so I got those instead.
After we landed and grabbed our bags (actually pretty easily) we found the Metro station we needed (also pretty easily). Luckily, there was a really nice man there that helped us get the Smart Cards. He asked how much we wanted on them and when I said $20 he was really hesitant, like that would definitely be too much, so I was nervous, but figured let's just start there and see where we end up closer to the end of the trip. The rail to the hotel was really smooth, so far it's so easy to figure things out.
When we got out of the Subway, and saw the city I was in immediate awe. The city is SO pretty, nothing like I pictured or expected. Our Hotel is so nice (I talked Stace into staying at an Embassy Suites) and the people are so nice so far. We found out our hotel does breakfast and a snack time. Our room is really nice, we have to separate sleeping areas, so I'm on the couch while Stace has the bed (she really doesn't like couches, I'm not as picky though).
We got here with so much time to spare, so we decided to go explore. We walked to a nearby CVS so Stace could get some sunglasses and I could get some snacks to have in my bag during the day. We went back to the hotel for the snack time, which was yummy, and then ended up in the National Mall area. The Monuments here..they are just so amazing! This is the first city we've been to that doesn't have constant honking too and no one seems scary. In fact, there are SO many families, which I didn't expect.
My one "must do" in this city, was seeing the Lincoln Memorial, so when we found that on the first day I was so excite. It is SO cool! They also had a poppy memorial going on with free pins for Memorial weekend.
I'm ending the day with 27K steps so my legs are very tired, but my shins are SUPER sore (which is new for me). We did some stretches when we got back and Stace got a kick out of my sore stretching noises haha. I also called Larry to talk to him and the kids. Now to shower, get ready for tomorrow, and go to bed.
P.S. our hotel has the LOUDEST toilet flusher in existence!!
No comments:
Post a Comment