4th of July weekend
N's good friend Vi visited us from the Southwest for the long weekend! We enjoyed a wonderful time together.
Before his arrival on Thursday afternoon, hubby and I woke up at the crack of dawn and I was dropped off at the US Mint. I was to get tour tickets for the afternoon/early evening so the three of us could go to some place we haven't been to. And why so early? Well, it's summer and the nation's birthday/independence day! So, of course, the nation has temporarily moved to its capital and want to see everything they possibly can. After all, their hard earned money that goes towards taxes partly makes it to the funding of many of the activities and events here. So, one must make full use of all that. Which in turn means that one must fight the crowd to get the free tickets to see the places you want to see within a time frame. So, one must line up hours before the opening time for it!
The line for the US Mint went all around the block!! By the time it was my turn, it was 45 minutes, and the earliest tickets I could get was 5.30pm!!! (which was good anyway cause we wanted 6:15pm). One of the staff that were there to answer any questions shared that within a day they around 1800 people visit the US Mint! And the US Mint is not one of the top visited places in the capital!! As I walked towards the metro, I saw the line to the National Monument was nearly half a mile long, if not longer!!
Anyhow, we ended up not being able to make it to the tour because Delta canceled the second leg of Vi's flight and he had to catch the next one. We actually got there at 6:15pm but that was too late (there's a tour every fifteen minutes). sigh.
We then went to the park by the Potomac river which is adjacent to the Reagan airport and welcomed even more visitors into the nation! We had dinner at home. My butternut squash kofta was kick-ass! I am not boasting but just proud!
Friday started kind of early.... 8am! We went to the National Mall and watched the parade for nearly two hours! Wow the place was packed! We of course expected it but wow.... We enjoyed our packed lunch at the park there and had some ice cream under the hot sun. In the afternoon, we headed into the Natural History Museum, as Vi wanted to see the Hope Diamond. And so did a few hundred people! Then we entered the Mall park and enjoyed the folklife festival. We caught the tail end of it. Then the clouds came in and began to drizzle. We had planned to head home and just watch the fireworks later on from across the bridge.
We got pizza delivered and were considering if we wanted to really head out and fight the crowds again. I had lost interest. But the two wouldn't go without me. So we decided to skip it and instead decided to go catch a movie at Georgetown. We watched Wall-e! We in turn did catch the fireworks as we drove across the bridge! It was raining! :S People had parked their cars on the extreme right lanes of the bridge and were watching it! We stopped for a bit and carried on. The movie was really cute! I enjoyed it!e
Saturday was a beautiful day. We went to Vi's roommate/friend brother's home to drop a few items off before we went somewhere else for the day. When we arrived there we got a surprise! Vi's friend/roommate & Vi's brother both also came to DC as a surprise! So, we hung out with them for the whole day. We went boating at a lake in Fairfax County! We rowed ourselves around the beautiful lake! It was just amazing!!
The other highlight of the trip, was that I for the first time played on the Wii!! oh what fun it was! I got hooked and kept suggesting to my hubby that we should get one too! But then our TV is not all that great for it (I imagine). Ah well...i guess we will just drop by their place for the game! ;)
Dinner we had at Masala Wok. It was mine and hubby's first time there. I didn't like it much. At least my manchurian dish and hubby's szechuan sauce noodles was horrible. Vi was surprised as the one he went to in TX was so much better! oh well.. maybe it was just that one night thing.
We headed back to their place and continued playing! :)
This morning I woke up sore... no not from playing Wii but from the rowing I did like for barely 5 minutes!! We had so much fun! Took a bunch of pictures but it was on the visiting friend's camera. So, lets hope we can get some copies! What a fun day it turned out and the least planned day! Vi also gifted us both a beautiful piece from Swarowski!
Today was a relaxing day. We had brunch/lunch at Panera Bread and then headed to the airport to drop Vi off. Now the home is quiet. The other two friends who came for a surprise will be coming over for dinner tomorrow! More good and rich food! I need to reacquaint myself to the gym and the trail much more! sigh... but I am not complaining! ;)
Before his arrival on Thursday afternoon, hubby and I woke up at the crack of dawn and I was dropped off at the US Mint. I was to get tour tickets for the afternoon/early evening so the three of us could go to some place we haven't been to. And why so early? Well, it's summer and the nation's birthday/independence day! So, of course, the nation has temporarily moved to its capital and want to see everything they possibly can. After all, their hard earned money that goes towards taxes partly makes it to the funding of many of the activities and events here. So, one must make full use of all that. Which in turn means that one must fight the crowd to get the free tickets to see the places you want to see within a time frame. So, one must line up hours before the opening time for it!
The line for the US Mint went all around the block!! By the time it was my turn, it was 45 minutes, and the earliest tickets I could get was 5.30pm!!! (which was good anyway cause we wanted 6:15pm). One of the staff that were there to answer any questions shared that within a day they around 1800 people visit the US Mint! And the US Mint is not one of the top visited places in the capital!! As I walked towards the metro, I saw the line to the National Monument was nearly half a mile long, if not longer!!
Anyhow, we ended up not being able to make it to the tour because Delta canceled the second leg of Vi's flight and he had to catch the next one. We actually got there at 6:15pm but that was too late (there's a tour every fifteen minutes). sigh.
We then went to the park by the Potomac river which is adjacent to the Reagan airport and welcomed even more visitors into the nation! We had dinner at home. My butternut squash kofta was kick-ass! I am not boasting but just proud!
Friday started kind of early.... 8am! We went to the National Mall and watched the parade for nearly two hours! Wow the place was packed! We of course expected it but wow.... We enjoyed our packed lunch at the park there and had some ice cream under the hot sun. In the afternoon, we headed into the Natural History Museum, as Vi wanted to see the Hope Diamond. And so did a few hundred people! Then we entered the Mall park and enjoyed the folklife festival. We caught the tail end of it. Then the clouds came in and began to drizzle. We had planned to head home and just watch the fireworks later on from across the bridge.
We got pizza delivered and were considering if we wanted to really head out and fight the crowds again. I had lost interest. But the two wouldn't go without me. So we decided to skip it and instead decided to go catch a movie at Georgetown. We watched Wall-e! We in turn did catch the fireworks as we drove across the bridge! It was raining! :S People had parked their cars on the extreme right lanes of the bridge and were watching it! We stopped for a bit and carried on. The movie was really cute! I enjoyed it!e
Saturday was a beautiful day. We went to Vi's roommate/friend brother's home to drop a few items off before we went somewhere else for the day. When we arrived there we got a surprise! Vi's friend/roommate & Vi's brother both also came to DC as a surprise! So, we hung out with them for the whole day. We went boating at a lake in Fairfax County! We rowed ourselves around the beautiful lake! It was just amazing!!
The other highlight of the trip, was that I for the first time played on the Wii!! oh what fun it was! I got hooked and kept suggesting to my hubby that we should get one too! But then our TV is not all that great for it (I imagine). Ah well...i guess we will just drop by their place for the game! ;)
Dinner we had at Masala Wok. It was mine and hubby's first time there. I didn't like it much. At least my manchurian dish and hubby's szechuan sauce noodles was horrible. Vi was surprised as the one he went to in TX was so much better! oh well.. maybe it was just that one night thing.
We headed back to their place and continued playing! :)
This morning I woke up sore... no not from playing Wii but from the rowing I did like for barely 5 minutes!! We had so much fun! Took a bunch of pictures but it was on the visiting friend's camera. So, lets hope we can get some copies! What a fun day it turned out and the least planned day! Vi also gifted us both a beautiful piece from Swarowski!
Today was a relaxing day. We had brunch/lunch at Panera Bread and then headed to the airport to drop Vi off. Now the home is quiet. The other two friends who came for a surprise will be coming over for dinner tomorrow! More good and rich food! I need to reacquaint myself to the gym and the trail much more! sigh... but I am not complaining! ;)