Random things on the way up north in somewhat chronological order
- Shirley's old dog and Sammy shared a similar fate, both passing away in the same year and both having being spoiled absolutely rotten by our parents
- Shirley's dad's exceptionally good cooking
- Library of Congress = fanciest building in town
- Endless fun can be had in the Capitol, esp in off-season
- If press hangs around the door of the Speaker of the House, and also hover the steps of the Capitol, chances are there is expected to be some big news, and not just run-off-the-mill press group
- Squirrel takeover!
- Bear and salmon carvings on Capitol Christmas Tree are very pretty
- Ex-Trump hotel looks super fancy omg
- Restaurants in DC are very fancy (also, yummy succotash!)
- Bill of Rights?
- Traffic traffic omg MD traffic
- No such thing as using an old phone model in the US :(
- Baltimore, MD =)))))))
- A sub in the bay
- A ship graveyard in the bay, not actually accessible
- Super opulent giant stone-walled buildings, downtown Baltimore
- Super run-down, Appalachian-like neighbourhood, 30 mins from Baltimore
- Everything is extreme in America
- Grain silos next to medical waste treatment plant??
- Unpaved dirt road that Shirley and I were too chicken to enter
- Correction centre (aka, President-to-Prison sort of road trip)
- Small towns are very cute!
- Goldeneyes!
- Every Canada (not Canadian?) geese, everywhere, all at once
- If one sees choppers hovering above the highway in a home state of a POTUS, chances are said POTUS is on the move
- Traffic traffic omg DE traffic
- Trump lawn signs
- Harris lawn signs
- Santa vomiting Christmas lights onto a neighbourhood
- Somehow penguin decorations = Christmas?
- Joe's favourite diner - good crab cakes, ginormous loaded milkshake
- Inability to find VA-made brewery goods (but Delaware apparent has a bunch) (further note to self: no sales tax in DE, including alcohol)
- (speaking of which, Putin beer is a thing made in the Ukraine that one can get in the US at specialty shops, which I sadly didn't get to witness in person)
- Delaware = low-key rich people state?? Lots of beautiful mansions on gigantic hillside estates with superb view of the valley/mountain/lowly subjects
- DuPont estate is super gorgeous during Christmas (the mansion, already absolutely magnificently decorated, is taken over by an army of well-decorated themed Christmas tress). Needs at least a day for the whole thing.
- Being in Australia I've had such a skewed view of Christmas omg =)))) It's a lot more well-deserved here.
- The pro-DuPont propaganda is strong not gonna lie, and reminiscent of the Sackler family.
- One can get pumpkin spice-flavoured ice cream a week before Christmas. Also, pecaaaaaaaannnn <33333
- First deer on the road in the US! She walked off unharmed, thankfully
- Liberty Tea is a real thing! Unironically, made up three types of mints and other herbal plant bits and not actual tea. Touche =)))
- Buying a bunch of tea in Baltimore is my kind of irony =)))
- Wolf Trap is also a real thing!
- A ginormous Mormon church, completely visible from a random MD highway, castle-slash-spaceship-like, emerging from the dark sky above the highway like a mirage. Effect most likely on purpose.
- A car accident on the highway. According to S this is very common occurrence?? Dude, America, are u ok??
- The line for Starbucks is easily the longest line in the entire airport, counting TSA / check-in / etc.
And a handful of bonus things from the other side of the continent, in sunny sunny LA:
- Getting used to a new car model takes more time than getting used to the left-right switch
- Remember: people go fast on highway
- Remember also: people crawl on highway just as often
- Post office staff is always very nice for some reason
- In-n-Out: overhyped? Burger was ok. Best part: free top-up of Cherry Coke <3, and free pickled jalapenos.
- Green chilly = not spicy
- I repeat: everything is bigger in America!