DC

Watch out Louisville, you've got some competition!

Doesn't seem like these posts are getting any shorter... yet. Maybe they will when I don't have the comfort of a home in which to write the post, and when I start spending a day or less in each city. Got a lot to see in the next three weeks.

Mini-burgers and mini-copper mug

I had the best time during my four days in DC. The city gels with me. This was my fourth or fifth time in the city, but my first time visiting with an eye for "can I live here?" and much less as a tourist, though I still did a few touristy things. I drove down with Moob and stayed with his girlfriend, Danielle. Saturday was spent having an extended brunch at one of Danielle's friend's, where I declared with certainty that bean tacos are better than avocado tacos, and I got many more recommendations for my travels to NC, SC, and GA from natives. In the evening, the group went to a local Dave & Buster's type of joint to watch some Final Four and play Skee-Ball. Then we endured a looooong walk home, stubbornly refusing to taxi. I really appreciated that because I got to see a bunch of neighborhoods in the twilight.

Portrait orientation: sometimes necessary

Sunday morning was spent in the proximity of Danielle's neighborhood, eventually making our way to the National Mall. We lingered in front of the White House for a while, enchanted by a hypnotic ringleader for a Pakistani protest. We squandered an opportunity to get into the new African American museum, not knowing we had to procure in advance the free timed-entry tickets (at night I tried to get a ticket for a later day of my visit, to no avail).

On Monday and Tuesday I was off on my own, meeting with some friends which included three ex-coworkers from days far gone (feels longer than three weeks out of work!), exploring more neighborhoods, and doing some amount of tourist activities. I was finally on this trip able to make it inside the Supreme Court Building. I also found high points of diversion with the National Building Museum and the Newseum. See below.

Three people in dresses, and Brendan

DC Pros

• Interesting architecture
• Suburban feel when away from dead-center downtown
• Tons to do
• Extremely clean - short of Indy's cleanliness but so many more people live in the city

DC Cons

• No parking
• Everybody loves Werther's Originals

But remember, 

L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.

24/7 protest in front of the White House

Equally important synecdoche for the U.S. government as the White House

...also equally important, and (stomp on your right foot) don't forget it!

I can feel the political blog post coming soon. Just might take me a whole day to write up and I don't know when I'll find that time.

The Supreme Court Building was a satisfying little visit. I had been in the Capitol Building previously and maybe next time I can arrange a tour of the White House. The SCB had tons of history lining the visitors area: neat tidbits, sculptures, and paintings, mostly depicting past and present SC judges. I partook in the free half-hour tour just because the timing was coincidentally perfect: I walked by the end of the line waiting for the tour right as it launched so I just tagged along.

Can you spot what's missing?

The Warren Court: 9 Angry Men

Some of the tallest pillars in the world

National Building Museum

I didn't know this museum existed until I walked near it. Figuring I could continue my education of places like Fallingwater (see my Pittsburgh post), I entered with intrigue. With nine exhibits on rotation (photography prohibited within), two of which I think were for kids, two really piqued my interest: House & Home and Timber City. The former featured models of legendary homes of America - yes, including Fallingwater, but also places like Monticello. Additionally the exhibition showed off classic staples of American homes, like grandfather clocks and push mowers, and the progression of different construction methods in America, like adobe and balloon framing.

Timber City touted the positives of building with wood, and made a very strong case for using the material today for buildings you wouldn't imagine. Lumber construction hit a major setback after the great Boston and Chicago fires in the late 19th century, at which point most buildings began to use steel and concrete. City building codes have begun to be updated as recently as the last five years to allow for wood buildings again. Modern wood technology (almost oxymoronic) allows for buildings to be even safer, more sustainable, and more environmentally friendly than other materials like steel. All three of those aspects are likely counter-intuitive to most people.

Newseum

With multiple friends raving about the Newseum, I had to stop in, and it was 100% worth the cost of admission. Go, and allot yourself more than an afternoon I had to see all six floors. I guarantee you'll tear up at the 9/11 and Pulitzer photo exhibits. You could spend an hour pulling out the trays of all the iconic newspapers from the past 500 years. You'll internally debate the roll of media in politics, in civil rights, in entertainment, and in terrorism. There was so much to absorb. It's probably my second favorite museum now, behind the Met.

Front pages across the country and world after 9/11

A section of the Berlin Wall

National Harbor

Welcome to National Harbor

The National Harbor is a neat little community, in Maryland on the Potomac about twenty minutes south of DC, with an abundance of hotels and restaurants, some cutesy places but mostly short-chained like Redstone, Rosa Mexicano, and Cadillac Ranch. The whole area seems mostly geared toward families. The detour was nice, but I guess I was disappointed by the lack of harbour. If you're gonna describe your thing "national", I think that thing should be imposing - a national harbour should have at least more than two docks.

Small beach with large drowning man

Not much of a harbor

Thunder Beast

Root Beer Review: Thunder Beast

Alright, here we go. An actual local root beer. When I bought this at the coffee shop, the cashier told me about how this is his favorite root beer, very spicy. I told him "Perfect!" and explained in a pithy conversation that I was travelling America, looking for the best root beer.

4 stars. It's definitely spicy. Hard to pinpoint the exact flavor but there is a lot of cinnamon. Not a typical root beer flavor. Strong but brief aftertaste. If you like cinnamon, which I definitely do not, you could very well love this root beer.

I'm not too picky of an eater, but there are 4 'C' flavors which I do not want anywhere near my food: cinnamon, curry, caramel, and coffee. Moob also forced me to try a good coffee in DC. Two sips and passed it off. I'll never understand you coffee drinkers.

In Closing

Music on repeat:

My favorite band of the last ~3 years released a new single less than a week ago, in advance of their imminent second album, so I played that single for almost the entirety of the ride to Richmond.

Song: Bleachers - Don't Take the Money - backing vocals by Lorde, uncredited

Album: Bleachers - Terrible Thrills, Vol. 2 - a full album of covers by various female artists over Bleachers' only full released album, including Sara Bareilles, Charli XCX, Carly Rae Jepson, and MØ; I appreciate many of the covers more than the originals.

Next up: Richmond, staying with Butch and Courtney!

Foreseeable: Newport News, Hampton, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach

Lastly, good luck to my Jumbos! The men's fencing team is in Lansing, MI, this weekend for the College Fencing Clubs National Championship. I regret not being able to arrange my travels to be there coaching you!

Out with the caps, in with the hair bands.