We're in DC!

We're in DC! Well I haven't written for a few days. The last two days of the conference were a blur. We were at the hotel for over 13 hours on Tuesday. Then on Wed. we left right after the conference ended at 3:30 and headed to the airport. I had a shuttle booked from Dulles to Reagan airport, where I was to meet Shawn. The shuttle company got the info messed up and I spent half an hour or more waiting in line in a non-air conditioned portion of the airport with a cranky customer service rep. I called the company three times and got disconnected, told incorrect information, and just generally treated poorly. I ended up biting the bullet and paying over $50 for a cab ride to the airport. I am going to get my money back from the shuttle company if it is the last thing I do!

Anyway, I finally was able to connect with Shawn at Reagan and we took the second shuttle I had reserved (same company, but they had my reservation this time) to our DC hotel. It is REALLY nice. It is new (only been open for 4 months), hip and furnished in a sort of retro futuristic look. That is the only way I can really describe it. There is a rooftop pool, which is not fancy, but nice. The staff is extremely friendly, and we have been very happy with everything.Last night after we got settled in our room we went out to find a place to eat. Everything was busy and pretty pricey. We finally settled for what we thought was a quaint little cafe. It actually turned out to be a French restaurant! It wasn't cheap, but the food was good. Shawn had sea scallops in some kind of orange sauce and I had a salad.

Today we went on a White House tour. You have to write in advance to get tickets, which we did in May when we booked this trip. It was a very short self-guided tour, but interesting. I left my purse at the hotel because we couldn't bring anything with us, but I left my ID in my purse! I almost didn't get in, and I was told that if I couldn't prove my identity they could put me in jail for up to three days. Shawn thought he was kidding, but he wasn't. He said, "Not a nice way to spend your vacation". Luckily, all he needed was for me to verify my birthdate and last 4 digits of my SSN. It was pretty cool just to be inside the white house. It was the East Wing, so you don't go through the front that you see in pictures and on TV, but you tour the red room, the blue room, green room, etc. and there are portraits of the presidents in the halls. One thing I thought was interesting is that there were fresh flowers (roses mostly) in all of the rooms. I asked about this and was told the White House employs three florists and they replace fresh flowers in each room throughout the White House every three to four days. Interesting use of tax payer $$$!

We also rode the Metro (subway) to a big mall in Pentagon City so that I could get some comfortable shoes. The DC subway system is really easy and fun to use. On the way back to the hotel, we got off at the station at Arlington Cemetery and saw Kennedy's grave, the eternal flame, etc. Then later on we went on a tour "Monuments in Moonlight". We drove by the Washington Monument, Jefferson Monument, Capitol Building, Federal Reserve Building, Smithsonian, and more while the driver gave us lots of info and history of everything. We stopped at the Roosevelt Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial and Lincoln Monument. It was a great tour. The Washington Monument and Reflection Pool were so beautiful at night.

Tomorrow we are going to try to get a tour of the capital arranged. Then we are planning to go to various Smithsonian museums. We are really having a great time!