NC Trip - Part I

We haven't been on a real trip since our 2009 Tour D'East Coast where we realized we liked DC enough to move here permanently.  Traveling is dangerous for us!  This year, we decided to explore our own backyard and visited North and South Carolina.  The goal?  To hit as many National Park Service sites as possible.

Our first stop was accidental.  Alison woke up from a nap, demanded a banana, and we stopped for gas, randomly, at the same exit as the Cold Harbor Battlefield Visitor Center.  It hadn't been on our list, but we visited and now I know slightly more about horrors of the Civil War.

 3-3-12 - It doesn't take us long to travel since we can always turn on warp speed.

North Carolina's Outer Banks was our real destination for the day.  It was raining, so we checked into our hotel and headed straight to the Wright Brothers Memorial instead of playing on the beach.

 3-3-12 - The world's first airborne humans went from me to Nathan on their first flight.  I've since lost track of how many flights my 1.5-year-old has taken.  It's over 20.

3-3-12 - Wright Brothers Memorial

We planned to spend our first four nights in hotels right on the beach.  Coincidentally, that's exactly how long it rained on this vacation.  We spent a lot of time enjoying this view:

3-3-12 - I do love the Carolina coast.  You can still see dolphins in the rain, by the way.

The next day, we left Kitty Hawk and drove to Fort Raleigh on Roanoke Island.  I enjoyed learning about the major failure of a colony the English had there and the short nature walk in the rain was amazing.

 3-4-12 - Fort Raleigh Nature Trail

Next, we went to the North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke.  Here's a secret travel tip: become a member of your local zoo.  Our Friends of the National Zoo id got us in for free and we saved $16.  Best. Donation. Ever.

3-4-12 - If Alison were running Oprah's Favorite Things list, aquariums would be on it.

In spite of the rain, we were having a pretty good time and looking forward to learning more about the Graveyard of the Atlantic.

The House

 View from the sunroom

We had an eventful Easter last weekend.  For the past few months we've been searching for a house.  The DC Metro Area is huge, so we cast our net wide and quickly realized that, given our tiny budget, the large yard we wanted, decent commute, and good schools, that translated to exactly one place in all of Northern Virginia: Springfield. 

We found a house almost immediately, were thrilled, then ended up walking away after we discovered the addition was unstable, the furnace test left our inspector slightly charred, and the laundry room came complete with asbestos tiles.

After that, the real estate market changed completely from the buyer's market we all knew and loved to a seller's market where every good house was getting multiple offers overnight.  We found another house, but lost out to another buyer.  Nathan and I were seriously considering giving up and moving to the mountains instead.

Until last Sunday...Nathan and I both fell in love with the world's most amazing house.  Over half a wooded acre at the end of a dead end right next to a creek (ok, storm drainage, but the birds don't know that), with amazing landscaping, a green house, sun room, and crazy-awesome kitchen.  Heaven.  The problem was, the true value of the house, though it was listed in our price range, was about $30K higher than we felt comfortable spending.  We've seen this a lot in this market: the sellers price the house low and let the competition escalate the price tens of thousands of dollars higher.  We were not going to get this property.

Except that we underestimated the human element of buying and selling a beloved piece of property.  When the seller found out Nathan was a Park Ranger, she waited for our offer.  Our agent, who I think has the mind control powers of a jedi, had us write her a letter about what we loved about the house and why we wanted it.  He also took a picture of us in front of it and sent that along.  The house got seven offers in total.  Three of them were higher than ours.  We got the house.

So, it turns out there are more benefits to being a Park Ranger than just spending your days outside.  We close on May 10.  During the inspection, I took very few pictures, but here's what I've got.  We are crazy lucky.

 Front Door

Kitchen

Greenhouse

Peek-a-boo!

New York City

No where to go but up!

I didn't like New York at first.  In fact, I swore that if I found an "I hate NY" T-Shirt I was going to buy two: one for myself and one for Alison.  I guess New York is a place that grows on you ever so slowly.  By the second day I found myself caught up on the bustle, sites, and excitement.  Now a week later I'm already plotting my next tour of the city.

 Nice try, sign.

New York really isn't so bad, but it did make me appreciate DC a lot.  In DC we have less people, cleaner, nicer metro stations, and the buildings are short enough that you get to see the sun occasionally.  In New York it's just people, trash, shopping, advertising, and buildings all day all the time.  I actually worry about its inhabitants and wonder if they are slightly less human than I am just because they see so little real nature.  However, I had a good first trip there with a great group of friends and am really happy I went. 

 Empire State Building dressed up for St. Patrick's Day...oh...and some trash...

I took the train from Alexandria to Penn Station, which takes four hours and 15 minutes if you don't pay for the slick three hour express train.  The last time I rode a train was on my way to Williston, ND to visit Nathan in Medora and I felt a twinge of sadness that I wasn't going to end up in one of my two favorites parks this time (Glacier or Theodore Roosevelt NP).  This train went through the grossest parts of Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New Jersey so by the time I got to New York I already felt that the world was becoming overcrowded.

This is the first person who greeted me outside Penn Station, so my trip to New York actually started on the right foot.

 Three stories high (yes, I measured!)

Sara, Marie, and Amanda had already gotten us all hop on hop off bus tour tickets, so we spent the afternoon avoiding the rain and seeing sights such as downtown Manhattan, Wall Street, Battery Park, Chinatown, the UN, and the last standing makeshift 9/11 Memorial.

 Last makeshift 9/11 memorial

 This statue stood in between the World Trade Towers.  In the background you can see the new building they are finishing at Ground Zero.

UN

We got off the bus at Rockefeller Center and I tried hard to achieve one of my goals for the trip: to see someone famous.  I never did achieve that goal.  We walked up 5th Avenue, stopped in a couple stores where I could have blown my life savings on a hat, and noticed the crowds hanging outside of the Big Apple's Apple store awaiting the new iPad.

 30 Rock

Apple in the Big Apple

After dinner we visited the Museum of Modern Art where the 5th floor has a load of Picassos, Monets, Miros, and at least one Dali.  I wish I would have spent more time on the 5th floor, but instead I spent too much time eating candy off the floor.

 Mmmm, floor candy (yes, we were allowed to take and eat this - they replenished it each morning)

Whoa, I didn't know this was here!

We accidentally picked St. Patrick's day to visit and on Saturday, the parade and crowd on 5th Avenue were huge.  We took another tour of uptown, then stopped to visit the Guggenheim before strolling through Central Park.  Central Park is the only place that felt real in New York.  You could lose your sense of reality quickly if you never left, but I'm sure you would quickly go bankrupt.

 Guggenheim

 Central Park

Saturday night was my favorite time in New York.  We had dinner at a South African restaurant called Braai, where I met Matt and Anil, two of my Corporate Service Corps teammates who I haven't seen since 2008.  Good times and I'm glad they made it out. 

 Tanzania Team 1

Sara, Marie, Amanda, & Me

The four of us girls got all dressed up to attend Wicked later that night.  It was an excellent, excellent show and now I want to go back just to see more of them.  Afterwards we visited Times Square, the most surreal, weird, wonderful, and terrible place in the world.  It was brighter than day at midnight, but I felt like I was walking through a dream.

Times Square at Night

The next day we took the Statten Island Ferry back and forth to see the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan skyline.  We glimpsed the 9/11 Memorial from a walkway, and I tried some New York Style pizza at a place near our hotel.

 Manhattan - Who builds a city this big on an island anyway?

Statue of Liberty

I'm glad I went.  I'm glad I got to see my travel mates.  But most of all, I'm glad I don't live in New York City!

Blossom Time

It's that time of year again!  Time for crowds, increased traffic, tourists, eighth graders, and the trees that in spite of all that, make living here well worth it: cherry blossoms.  I was able to see the tidal basin at peak bloom two days last week, right before a rainstorm came and knocked all the blossoms to the ground.  If you didn't make it to DC, here's your tidal basin tour.

MLK

Washington Monument

Resident Ducks

Jefferson

Blossoms!

FDR

Christmas at Mount Vernon

The weather in DC is weird, in a really, really great way.  It was 60 degrees in early December and the landscaping outside of National Geographic looks like this:

 These flowers survive all winter - FLOWERS!

I bought the annual pass for Mount Vernon, George Washington's Estate overlooking the Potomac, partially so I could easily take visitors there, but mostly so we could go look at the sheep whenever we wanted. 

It turns out that Christmas at Mount Vernon may very well be the best time of year to go.  Not only are they all decked out with trees representing each room in Washington's mansion, but they ship in a camel to commemorate the 1787 Christmas when Washington paid 16 shillings to have an exotic pet on hand for his guests to admire.  It's clear that much of what Washington did was simply for show.  I think he would have much rather been farming than entertaining, but those are the breaks when you're trying to form a brand new country and want the capital to be named after you.

Poor camel - 60 degrees is probably cold for you.

There was another surprise: THE actual turkey that President Obama pardoned this year for Thanksgiving.  He will live a long life with another pardoned turkey in a hut almost as big as our apartment.

 I also enjoyed seeing the 16-sided barn that Washington invented to process his wheat.

 16-Sided Barn

The view of the Potomac is amazing.

Alison watches the geese.

 This gingerbread Mount Vernon replica was created by the head White House Chef.  I stood for a long time wondering if anyone would really miss one of those chocolate sculpted trees.

Foo Fighters

It's been a long time since Nathan and I went out, left Alison, and didn't return until the wee hours of the morning, but the Foo Fighters were in town and we needed to go see them.

 11-11-11 - The only picture Nathan or I got of the Foo Fighters before our phones died.

They played at the Verizon Center, which is near DC's Chinatown neighborhood, a place with a lot going on for the plethora of rich (and poor), unattached 20-somethings this city turns out.

 Chinatown's Friendship Arch

Photo Credit: historicdc.net

We tried a new restaurant beforehand that proved to be a lot like Noodles & Company, but for chicken: Nando's Peri Peri.  I enjoyed the $8 heavy-on-the-fruit-flavor pitcher of Sangria.

The opening acts were Social Distortion (which is only on my radar because of this Guitar Hero song) and The Joy Formidable, which turned out to be an awesome band.  Nathan bought their entire CD on iTunes the next day and we've been enjoying it ever since.  Alison especially enjoys twirling to Whirring.

But, nobody goes to the concert for the opening acts.  The Foo Fighters, after 16 years, are simply amazing.  They're pros.  Could I run around screaming for three hours?  Heck no!  Dave Grohl talked a lot about his childhood in Alexandria and his pride at finally selling out the "big-*ss-f***ing arena in his home town".  I'd be proud too.

The set they played was great.  You can find the list here.  I don't think they missed anything.  I hope they come back because I'd go again.

Congress

An email came out to the whole society that began, "If you've ever wanted to walk the halls of Congress, here's your chance" and that's about as far as I read before I decided to volunteer.

The week before the world gained its 7 billionth person, National Geographic put together a special issue just for Congress: a compilation of the articles it has been running all year on the world reaching 7 billion people.

Since we're practically right down the street from the Senate and Congressional office buildings, I was given 15 magazines for 15 occupants of the Longworth Congressional Office Building.  I was excited to see what actually went on at Congress, but first I would have to get past security.

I don't have a staffer badge, and I didn't really have a good reason for being there.  I did, however, wear a suit and have generally found the notion that a smile and a clipboard can get you anywhere to be very true.  I also must generally look non-threatening since people tend to let me through security without a thorough check and strangers have left both purses and children with me before they even knew my name.  This worked to my advantage and I walked right in without any questions asked.

My 15 representatives included Gabrielle Giffords (who I did not meet) and Jim McDermott (who was the only representative I actually saw in the building).

There is a definite feeling in those halls, though.  These aren't just normal offices (although they look very normal).  Everyone's office has a nice nameplate displaying the representative and their state, plus most keep flags outside the door, making everything look very official and important.  Inside, everyone's office is different, but most are decorated in over-the-top admiration for the state who elected them. 

 Halls of Congress - I'm not really sure I was supposed to be taking pictures.

Found a Wisconsinite!  I was later told Paul Ryan "is not one of the good ones".

I can see why everyone wants to keep their jobs.  In addition to the fact that this seems like a nice place to work, there's definitely a general feeling in these buildings that exudes both power and an optimistic viewpoint that people here are really trying to make a difference.  Or maybe that's just me projecting my own vision on what Congress should be doing on the halls themselves.

My mom told Nathan that I'm the kind of person who would step foot inside the halls of Congress and decide to run.  She knows me pretty well.  I would never make it through a campaign, but I think I would do a pretty damn good job in office.