america: washington d.c.

Even though my flight from JFK to national left on time, we sat in the airplane for an hour on the tarmac in DC. Argh. Something about the gate not being open yet. Argh. When I did the math, I figured out I had been on airplanes for exactly twice as much time as I was supposed to be. Argh.
Anywho, everything moved along nicely after we were finally able to get into the airport. I took the metro to the home of my friend from uni, Sarah. My plane being late ended up being a good thing, as Sarah wasn't able to leave work on time.
We didn't do much that night, other than walk down the street to have dinner. As with everyone else I've seen and will see all summer, it was great to catch up with someone who has known me for ages.
The next morning I was awake early, but didn't do much of anything for a couple hours. I had every intention of going into the city early, but that didn't happen.

I was just a few minutes late meeting a friend, we met at the archives. We met in Germany (not a gapper) in late 2009, and have kept in random touch ever since. We walked around the city center, the area where all the tourists start out.
We watched people on one side of the White House (while you see a lot of expensive cameras around travelers, you also see people who don't really know how to use a camera) and people lined up outside museums.
We ended up stopping for a snack at a chain place called the shake shack. Not bad, not great.
After my friend left to go to a baseball game, I hopped on the metro to go to coffee bean. When is looked online I found a couple locations in DC, so of course I had to have my chai latte :)
For dinner my host and I went back to the same place we had visited the night before. I was thrilled, as there were plenty of items on the menu that sounded good to me.
The next morning I got up and took the metro back to coffee bean again. I take advantage of proximity when I can!
My first sight of the day was a place I'd never seen before, the national building museum. It's not the type of museum I would normally visit, except that I'd heard about a temporary exhibition they had. I'm not normally into the details of architecture and names of builders, styles, etc...

The exhibition I wanted to see was called 'the BEACH.' It was built by a company from either Boston or philly, I can't remember. This is one time when photos do a better job of explaining than words. The company had poured a whole LOT of white, anti-microbial balls into a contained area they had built. They'd added beach chairs and umbrellas to complete the atmosphere.
SO MUCH FUN! The line to buy tickets was just as long as the line to get in, but I thought it was worth it. You could wade into the balls, or follow a runway a little way out, and jump into the balls. Once you were off your feet, it was surprisingly difficult to get back to standing straight up. Fun to take photos, fun to play. I loved it, so did everyone else. I'm pretty sure the only complaints were about the long lines. After I walked out I asked a security guard, and he told me they could only allow a certain number of people in at a time. 

He also mentioned happy hour, which was happening on Wednesday nights, during which time adults could bring alcohol into the exhibit. Even though I can't drink I wish I could've seen that.
I skimmed through the rest of the museum mostly to find a better photo of the BEACH, as the normal content of the museum didn't really interest me.
I went outside and spent a few moments of quiet reflection in front of the law enforcement memorial, located just outside the national building museum.
Then I walked to the Lincoln memorial. This time when I looked out, there was water in the pool, so it looked way better than it had three years previously. There were plenty of tourists, but not quite as many as I expected. Maybe that was because it was hot and humid.

At that point I could tell I needed hydration. It took me a while to find one of those guys selling drinks out of coolers, but when I did I bought water and Gatorade. (Gotta replace electrolytes and salt.)
I walked past Ford's theatre (and the home across the street) on the way to finding postcards. There were lines outside both. Why have I never visited either? Next time I will get there.
For dinner that night my host drove us north, across the state border into Maryland. We ate at a Mexican restaurant; pretty good food with huge portions.
The next morning I was given a ride to BWI, the airport a little north of DC. There is no traffic at 0400.
I really wish I'd had more time in DC, to catch up with more people, and see more of the city. AND, I need to do a better job of planning and thinking ahead with the time I do have.