DC

Our first stop on our vacation, and the last to post, was Washington DC. I had never been to DC before, and was excited to be going at a time when there was a president in office that I actually respect! We had a great time . . . the theme of the trip applied here as with everywhere else: too much to see, too little time!

Our first night there, Chris and I ventured out to the outskirts to a little bar called Comet PingPong. A band Chris likes, Enon, was playing. We got some pizza, which was up there with the best pizzas I've had (and I'm a pizza fanatic). It was called something like, "the smokey" and had smoked bacon, smoked gouda, caramelized onions, and smoked mushrooms. Amazingly delicious!

We were trying to get the correct lighting in the very dark bar -- I don't think we ever succeeded.

Chris drank some Dale's Pale Ale (my dad's name is Dale). I tried a little sip (I wasn't drinking at this point of the trip, still hoping there was a bun in the oven). This beer was really good! Especially for a beer in a tin can.

Chris waiting for the metro to take us back to our stop

The next day we went to the National Zoo to see the pandas. Sorry for the super blurry pic, my camera doesn't have a very good zoom. Chris took some good panda pics, but I didn't feel like digging through his camera to get them. So here's my lame shot of a super cute critter.

After the zoo we headed over to the Adams Morgan area, which was a really cute, hip area of town with lots of shops and restaurants. We went there specifically for the Amsterdam Falafel shop. OMG, this place was GREAT! They pretty much just have falafels and fries, but the super fun part is that there is a huge toppings bar that you get to put whatever you want into your falafel pita. Plus, they have several different dipping sauces for your fries! My dad talked to the owners for a while, who were really cool people. They mentioned that they might be starting a franchise -- I would love to open one in St. Louis! I think it would go over really well, especially in a late night area like the Loop.

The next day Chris and I visited all of the famous monuments -- Vietnam Memorial.

World War II Memorial

WWII Memorial had neat plaques depicting the events from Pearl Harbor up to the US involvement in the war.

More WWII Memorial

Women's war Memorial

Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial

We kept trying to get to the gate by the White House, but every time we tried, the president (or someone) came outside, so security had to make everyone get away from the gate. So, this picture is about as close as we got.

Lincoln Memorial

Honest Chris and honest Abe

Thank goodness Chris was holding up the Washington Monument, who knows what would have happened if he hadn't!

They have black squirrels in DC! I don't know what color squirrels you have in your neck of the woods, but we just have grey squirrels in St. Louis.

We toured as many Smithsonians as we could, but failed miserably at making a dent. This is a skeleton of a prehistoric creature -- mammoth -- in the Natural History Museum.

Rockets at the Air and Space Museum

Spirit of St. Louis at the Air and Space Museum!

Dorothy's ruby slippers at the American History Museum

Chris imitates Colbert at the American History Museum.

DC was great, but we'll have to go back to get a better glimpse of the many many many free museums they have. It was an exhausting part of the trip because it was so overwhelming in sights to see.

Oh yeah, and there was this place we ate at for lunch -- twice-- called Chop't. It was such a great concept. Yet another franchise that I would like to open in St. Louis. I would eat there all the time. It was like a salad bar, but they chop all the ingredients up for you. They have like 27 dressings to choose from, tons of lettuce varieties, and toppings. Plus, they have all kinds of predesigned salads to choose from. And I thought their prices were reasonable for how HUGE the salads were, and filling! Unfortunately, they're only in DC and New York City, so if you live there, I recommend you go!