Washington DC Pt 2

Day 3

So today was the day to visit the widely known and touted Air and Space Museum, known to be the best one in the National Mall. Once again absolutely massive, so many high quality exhibits. Im not much for the space stuff so I meandered quickly enough through it. But I loved the war exhibits and the interactive exhibits and displays. Obviously all the big rocket ships were cool to see, as well as the Apollo 13 craft. I mean so much history, and so much modern stuff as well. Best thing was seeing in one of their exhibits the launch of an actual space rocket from countdown and control room, just awe inspiring how it goes up and every part of the process. Lunch was in the museum's McDonalds, yes they have a McDonalds as their food court. Bigger than most as well, its designed for big numbers for sure, and pour yourself sweet and sour sauce was good. BTW this museum is massive I did it in like 4hours I think but that was brisk walking through some exhibits, you can easily spend a day and feel like youve missed something. After this I decided to walk to the Capitol Building. In front the big fountain was frozen solid, heaps of people were half holding the side and walking on the side of the frozen mass of water. Walking around and up to the building, there was construction going on and the security at the bottom. Gave a great view of the whole national mall all the way to the Abe Lincoln memorial. .

After this I walked slowly around the city back to the hostel. Interestingly walked past the News Museum (one of the paid ones in DC) and they had a NZ paper out front along with along the other papers from around the world and states. Went back to the hostel watched some nfl or nba cant remember, then went to hang out with the same mate I met up with in Philly. Just chilled at their rented place for a bit, before they went to go eat pub food and I went back to 14th st. I had walked past this place, Barcelona heaps of times, looked good, prices were a bit on the exxy side but I thought a cheap day with free museums and maccas meant a good treat was in order. I balled out had 4 dishes costing total with tip and tax $40-50 cant remember. Yeah really good, started of with a salt pepper calamari, cajun peri kinda aioli, nice soft inside crispy outside, sauce was good too. Next was a monk fish, super simple salsa verde and olive oil, fresh fish taste complemented well. I then had the hangar steak with black truffle vinaigrette, meat was amazing quality, cooked perfectly and I actually enjoyed the vinaigrette, not overpowering to the meat flavour. Lastly I had the braised lamb, red wine reduction, squash puree, super tender meat, red wine complimenting it and the sweetness of the squash puree was amazing. Side note, loving any squash, pumpkin puree or mash now. And it was cool had some cool chats with some of the staff, they were so shocked me being alone and from Aus, but yeah got some restaurant suggestions for further along the trip.

Day 4

Last full day in DC so had to go visit the American History, cause it was recommended to me. First thing I see the food exhibit, I was sold. Great history on the evolution of food culture in the states and how it developed from what it was into what it is now. How mexicans and different cultures affected the food of each era. The invention of the TV and how that made people want ready made meals, in addition the microwave and how it revolutionized cooking. Other cool exhibits worth noting was the making of the american flag, and the original which you can see all torn and tattered, really no other country has such pride in their flag as theirs I believe. Overall really cool museum, also took a few hours at least. Lunch I just ate at their food court, no maccas this time, just overpriced cafeteria food, but I did get BBQ chicken, slaw and mac n cheese, so slightly better tasting. After this I went to the Holocaust museum, another I wasn't planning to go to but decided to from what people say. WOW i think this was my favourite museum because it was a journey of history and people. It wasn't just words on a wall it was more than that. Now I believe myself to be a little WW2 geek, but I still learnt stuff here. It is massive, this museum could have been a full day as well, it is absolutely amazing the details, interactive mediums, different sounds and sights. At the bottom of the journey theirs a shrine or place of respect. There is also a small exhibit for kids, about a little kids journey, which I thought was awesome too, a way for kids to learn but not be exposed to horrific imagery that the main exhibit had.

After this I went back to the hostel shortly, then left for Georgetown. It was earlyish I was meeting my mates later that night for the big championship game between OU and Oregon. So I decided to walk, wasn't that far tbh got to see more of the city, bit of a boring stretch for like 15mins to georgetown then Georgetown itself. I didn't expect the area to be such a buzz, so many shops, restaurants, and bars. I wanted to check the university out, so I got to walk through some of the neighbourhood houses too, very nice area. The uni was massive, when I saw the football stadium I was amazed (only to be further amazed later in my trip). As I walked I actually got lost, some how managed to get into a building walked down some stairs through some common rooms. Just ridiculous, even had its own graveyard. I ended up walking past a small hole in the wall wings shop, no rush so I ordered some and ate outside. Got buttery parmesan and standard buffalo mild, really good, the sauce was soooo delicious, and they give u buttermilk ranch as well which is great to dip into. The area was that busy, it was a really cold night perfect to watch the game at your home. But we met up at a bar he got recommended. It was really dead, but they got food we had a few drinks and watched the first half. Second half we went in search of a better place to watch the game, we found an OU home at another bar. The place was packed of people, cheap wings, cheap jugs of beer, great atmosphere. The game was thrilling and the place was buzzing after each TD. Was as good as it got for college sports and how so many people watch it and get into it. After that we got an uber to the city, not that expensive.

That was washington, the next day I had an early bus ride to Durham so not much doing that morning. I fully recommend going DC, it was such a great place to visit, I'm so glad I decided to go here, and give it longer as well.

Washington DC Pt 1

Sorry it's taking so long to get these up (if there is anyone even looking) Im just getting distracted all the time, but I shall endeavour to get more up. 

Washington DC

Day 1

From Baltimore I travelled to DC, arriving about midday. I walked from Union Station to the hostel, which was not far and gave me a chance to have my first looks at the city. I was really feeling the vibe of this city, really weird thing to say, but I thought the place seemed awesome to me. Once I dropped my stuff off at the hostel I decided to walk the North West of the City. I wanted to go Bens Chilli Bowl and that was all that I really had in mind. But that walk was amazing, the houses there are so cool, there are a bunch of big roundabouts with statues. When I got up to U street I found Bens and got myself the famous Half-Half smoke chilli dog. So good, the chilli not to coarse not to fine, the dog smokey cooked to have the perfect pop on impact of teeth. It was a great dog, which they served with potato chips. 

From here I walked down U street, where there were heaps of signs for a walking trail of the black history of the area. I followed this walk because it was cool to read all this history, that I didn’t even know about. The trail walks you down U and down around some of the other streets. It spanned from music to food, to the civil rights movement. I got lost somewhere near the end so I ended up going to a park at the top past U street. It looked over the city but the view was blocked by an apartment block which sucked. The park itself was cool, it was made in memory of a president and has a bottom level and top level. One thing I found out about the city or that area was there was a couple walks that took you around the neighbourhood. I couldn't really see anyone else doing it but I enjoyed them, and I'd highly recommend taking some time out to learn the history of the area. After this I walked down 14^th street, one of these hip, restaurant, bar and shopping streets. Its full of gastro pubs, cheap meals, antique shops, juice shops all sorts of things you’d associate with a hip and popular neighbourhood. I found a place called Pig, highly rated on Yelp, so I decided to try it. I ordered tapas style with some of their small plates, and since it was a restaurant called Pig I ordered all pig. First a pig’s head bacon, thick cut, great meat to fat ratio, and paired with a sweet and hot mustard sauce. I also ordered a pigs trotters deep fried, a with sweet chilli sauce, which was a lot more meaty than I expected. My last dish I ordered was pig’s tail served rib style. This was my first time trying pigs tail so it was good, more fatty than I anticipated but cause of the skin around the tail the fat didn’t melt as much as with the other two dishes. Overall an outstanding meal, very happy I choose it and got a chance to try these different body parts of the pig.  

Day 2 

So today I had another freetourbyfoot booked for the national mall, and a couple of the iconic DC monuments, at around 1pm. So I started out earlyish that morning, try fit the Museum of Natural History in before it. Just for those that don't know, certainly I didn't until I planned my trip, there are like a million museums here and they are all FREE. Yep free, and they are amazingly curated, and well worth seeing. Obviously I had been to the AMNH in NYC earlier, so this museum had some similarities, but there was still new stuff to see. I thought it had a really good marine animal exhibit, really giving the chance for people to see the impact of humans on the environment but also the chance to learn about the environment and animals as is. Lots of interactive features as you walk around and a load of information and exhibits to look at. I did like the fact that even though it is free there is so many staff there, either helping or doing hands on stuff for people to hold or get involved in. It was around lunchtime so I decided to go get some food, but there wasn't much around. It's mainly government buildings around the mall so not much choices. I settled for a hamburger from an interesting joint not too far from the mall. Standard with fries, slightly thinner patty than what I had been getting previously and somewhat more greasy 

So the tour was starting from the George Washington memorial, through the ww2 memorial, Vietnam memorial, and finishing at the famous Abe Lincoln memorial. The tour guide was good, it was her first tour but she handled herself well. Good information, stuff like the George Washington memorial has like two different colour bricks cause of the construction being delayed. We also got a chance to explore the war memorials ourselves which was nice because we weren't loud in those areas. And then the reflecting pool and Abe Lincoln memorial, just iconic and amazing. I think the whole tour was worth it, you get some cool facts and see a lot for a short time. 

After the tour I walked to the Thomas Jefferson memorial. It was a nice walk, bit outside the mall and so not as many people. But the lake was frozen but starting to defrost so at the edge you'd hear cracking and see the ice splitting. After reaching the Thomas Jefferson memorial I wanted to go to Jessie's seafood, which easnt too far. Jessie's was one of many shops in a outdoor seafood market. Some were purely selling raw seafood others cooked and raw, and Jessie's was cooking anything raw you brought over. What I wanted was a blue crab cooked in old bay spice, but seriously failed at this. Firstly I wasn't pushy enough so I couldn't get the attention of the guy over the other people. Secondly I gave up and came back and thought I'd got the other side to get someone's attention but failed again. Then I thought instead id try crawfish. Got a dozen old bay on top, Walked to the hill to have a seat and eat, but as I opened it I realised they were raw. I was debating on going back to get them cooked but gave up cause the place was so busy. I ended up walking holding these frozen crawfish all the way to the hostel debating whether I should cook them or not. In the end I chose not, I didn't want to ruin my first crawfish eating so I'd save the chance for another time. That evening I went back to 14th st and went to this place called Amsterdam falafel. Essentially it's like a do it your own  subway but with falafel. It was cheap, big sized, I filled mine with so much, and really good as well. I wish they had this in brisbane cause I would definitely eat this regularly.

That night I cruised back to the hostel, there was a playoff game happening so I thought Id try catch some of it. So happened I run into one of the people I stayed with in Philly. We watched the game and then decided to go out to a bar to watch to watch the next game. One of the other people that was watching also decided to join, so we went to a bar, after a quick stop at 5 guys for them to grab a burger and fries. The nightlife was pretty quiet, it was a very chill night, but we did go to a few bars and at all of them, in the warm inside it was very packed.