Rachel Halabuk (a new friend) and I took a short, but fun trip to D.C. on the 16th. We stayed over the 15th at her brother's house in Alexandria, VA and then the next morning we set out on our adventure. It was my last chance to see D.C. before the flight home to Idaho. I'm actually in the Salt Lake City Airport right now waiting for my departure to Lewiston that is still another hour and a half away. Anyway we went to this cute little restaurant called the Firefly. That was our first stop of the day. We parked at Pentagon City Mall and rode the metro to New Hampshire Avenue. It was my first time on a metro. I enjoyed it :). City life intrigues me.
After breakfast we rode the metro back to where we parked and then drove to Mount Vernon, VA to see George Washington's estate. Can you say magnificent?! We got to tour the first two floors of his mansion. He designed the house. What you see now is an extended version of the original house he bought. He did some major adding on.
The view from the back of the house is incredible! Absolutely gorgeous. No wonder he loved that place.
It was fun touring all over. There was an orchard and a barn and slave quarters, the wharf, gardens, the kitchen, etc. It was a beautiful day as well so it was perfect. It took us about an hour and a half to tour the whole place.
The wharf...
The barn...
Our next stop was an Ethiopian restaurant on 18th St. in D.C. so we parked at the mall again and took the metro to Dupont Circle and walked the 11 blocks to the restaurant. It was a very memorable experience. It's Ethiopian culture to have your food on the same plate as the person(s) you're eating with. Not only that, but there are no utensils to you use the bread (it's more like a crepe and it's made of barley) to pick up the food. It was delicious and a lot of fun to try something new. We really enjoyed ourselves. Believe it or not those three stops took us all day.
However, the metro back to our car was interesting. Not only did we get caught in rush hour traffic, but one of the trains had some mechanical issues a few stations in front of us and backed everything up. I think the picture explains it all. It was literally like a can of sardines in there!
Well, that was the last of my East Coast adventures. I'll be home in three hours and that will be the start of the
holiday season with my family. I'll miss the city and Virginia dearly, but I have a new adventure waiting for me and
I'm looking forward to all the opportunities it will give me! First, lots of family, friends and food. Bring it on!
