Whistling Rails ~ From Sea to Shining Sea: Day One in D.C.

Saturday, March Seventh

Today we got a late start and left the hotel around 11:00am. We had both been exhausted from the previous night, and needed to relax and catch up on some sleep. After breakfast, we finished planning out what we wanted to do for the day, and headed to the coffee shop down the street. It was delicious.

As we sat and drank our coffee by the window, analyzing the incredible buildings across the street, I decided to take a picture out the window with our long lens. I was mistaken for a paparazzi by a man crossing the street, who stared for a great length of time, most likely wondering if his face was going to end up on Facebook, America's Most Wanted, or maybe even my memorabilia album.

We took the remainder of our coffees with us, and walked toward the White House. The sun was shining, and it was a beautiful day for walking, though a bit chilly at times. Along the way, we saw many grand buildings with incredible details and inscriptions on them. The perfectly white snow in some areas made the buildings and trees look even more spectacular.

While we were standing outside the fence of the White House, we overheard a man tell his wife how she should take the picture of him.

"Just get my head in it, not the fence behind me."

What did he want her to do... maybe photoshop his head above the fence that was obviously much taller than him? Sounds like a classy shot for sure!

From the White House, we walked toward the Washington Monument. We stopped at a vendor cart along the way, and my Mom purchased a cute, warm headband.

We saw another vendor cart after purchasing the headband that had completely exploded. I don't know what caused it, but I feel bad for the people who lost all of their merchandise. The remnants of sweatshirts and hats were dangling from the charred pieces of former shelves.

After looking it up on the news, I found that that is why there were so many more police around- because the explosion could have been a threat and the White House was on lockdown. It even delayed the President and his family's trip to Alabama.

While Walking toward the Monument, a man selling bus tour tickets informed us that the walk to the Monument and other areas would pretty much be out of the question for us. Come on, man, we're not that wimpy! We did indeed walk to the Monument, which didn't take nearly as long as he said it would, and we stopped at a food cart for a slightly plastic-like pretzel along the way.

Near the food cart were several saucy and inquisitive squirrels, along with adorably plump birds.

One of the squirrels came up to us, begging for a bite to eat, but we informed him that feeding squirrels isn't to be done, and instead offered to take his picture. He accepted, and I must say that it's a fantastic portrait. He also came up to sniff my furry boots, wondering if they might be his close relatives. Don't worry, they aren't!

The Washington Monument stood out tall and proud, especially amongst the piles of soft, white snow that surrounded it.

We decided to walk until we found a good place to eat after seeing the Monument. Realizing how late it was and how cold we were, we popped into the American History Museum to see if they had any food. They had delicious choices, and I got a huge slice of cheese pizza! We obviously stayed in the Museum since we were already in there for free. I'm so glad we did! I think my favorite exhibits were the Star Spangled Banner exhibit (with the actual flag of 30 by 34 feet that was raised at Fort McHenry after a victory) and the Price of Freedom exhibits.