Washington D.C. : Day One

The following will be a comprehensive detailing of Christian and my trip to Washington D.C. for the presidential inauguration.  If you don’t like to get bogged down in what seems like tedious meanderings, then skip to the pictures.

Friday January 16th 8:00 pm PST :

Christian and I arrived at Mccarran Airport via the Szczepanski taxi at approximately 6:10pm and was surprised to see only a few of our tour companions there.  We were pleased to learn that we didn’t have to wait for everyone else to arrive to clear security (that had been the original plan).  We then posted the fastest trip thru security on record for us.  Efficiency breeds relaxation in me when I travel so I couldn’t have been more pleased than to be sitting down at the gate at 635pm.  I checked my email while Christian read until about 730pm.  Neither one of us had had dinner yet so we figured now was the time.  What we found was an airport devoid of open restaurants.  Fast food, sit down, snack shops…they were all closed.  On a FRIDAY night, in Las Vegas.  Economy or just bad planning?  We found a Pizza Hut open at the far opposite end of terminal D.  The pizza was old and cold and nasty but it was something.  Christian was complaining about walking already but by the time we got back to our gate his mood had improved when he saw one of his teachers there.

Saturday January 17th 5:00am EST:

Arrived at JFK in New York City after a looooong flight with only occasional dozing.  The flight attendants were definitely from New York City as they were mostly unpleasant and constantly reminding us to keep the floors of rows free of bags and not to put our winter coats in the overhead compartments.  Geez.  How annoying.  Christian got some good rest after about 45 minutes of fidgeting around.  He woke up on the descent and had some difficulty with his ears (actually several of the kids did). I got a total of 15 minutes of sleep as I was completely mesmerized by the inflight map of the plane’s progress. (It’s the simple things that make me smile.)  After we deplaned, Christian has some Lucky Charms and it perked him up a little.  Most of the kids seem exhausted already .. long way to go before we call it a day…it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.

Saturday January 17th 1015am EST :

On the bus to Williamsburg.  The flight from NYC was good.  Dulles airport has this really cool yet outdated tram system with these makeshift buses and hydraulic lifts. Very cool. The luggage and bus load went, like most things so far, surprisingly well.  It is COLD outside.  2 degrees with 15 below wind chills.  I don’t miss this at ALL.  Blech.  As we drove, I noticed a flock of pigeons on a electrical wire with their heads buried in their feathers.  Our tour guide, Jeff, seems alright. I’m waiting for those historical nuggets that I crave.  Maybe later.

Oh crap.  I knew it was too good to be true.  We just pulled into Williamsburg and the bus just died.  It stalled, they restarted it, and now they can’t get it out of park.  Hmm, I guess we’ll grab some lunch and see where the day takes us.  Everybody headed over to subway, I didn’t feel like waiting 45 minutes to eat so I sought out a little mom and pop sub shop.  Had a great philly steak and cheese and some nice small town small talk.

Got back to the bus and it’s dead.  They have to call for a replacement but that will take hours.  We are going to walk to the entrance to Colonial Williamsburg Park, I hear it’s only about a mile and a half.  

Ugh. It’s so COLD.  The walk was beautiful though.  Got to see the campus of the College of William and Mary.  It’s got that Harvard and Yale type of look, although not as ivy-covered.  Very quaint.

Finally got to the park and it was totally worth the cold.  So much history and things to learn.  I always get disappointed that I can’t experience everything that these parks have to offer.  I could spend a week at each one.  Some other time I guess.  Our guide on the tour was named Asa, and he was fantastic.  Only about 25 years old but born and raised in this area and so knowledgable.  He immediately captured the kid’s attention and mine too as he related the stories behind expressions like “flipped your wig”, “put your best foot forward”, “saved by the bell” and others.  He had the kids all abuzz with ghost stories about the area.  Great experience with the smiths, the coopers and the ladies of the loom.  I absolutely eat this stuff up and we totally forgot about the cold for a while.

Our replacement bus arrived promptly at the end of our tour to take us to dinner.  A less than adequate meal of mostachiolli, salad, and garlic knots.  But at that point I didnt care.  It was food.  We got to our hotel where our first bus had been towed so we could pull all the baggage off of it.  Then a long shower and now sitting on the bed writing this.

All in all, a typically challenging and adventurous first day.  Exhausted, but invigorated.

To be continued…

 

Landed in D.C.

 

Thomas Jefferson's Church

 

Let's lock up all the kids like this!!

~ by mszczep on January 17, 2009.