25 Aug 2016 - Wow, our first trip in 5 years. We managed to find the time and money to visit Nick's sister, Natalie in DC. We drove over to green Bay on Wednesday afternoon with Felix and Iris (7 and nearly 4, respectively). We ate dinner with Steve and Vicky, had a nice evening, and went to ed early-ish. Didn't get a lot of sleep before waking at 4:30 am to get ready. Steve to took Nick and me to the airport (the kids staying with Nana and Grandpa). We had a 6:30 flight from Green Bay to O'Hare. Pretty uneventful. Got to the next gate in time to board the next flight to Washington-Reagan. That went well, too. Got in around 11 local. Took the sweltering Metro to Natalie's. We visited and freshened up before heading down to ground level to go to a Thai/sushi restaurant for lunch. Mmm, sushi. Back up for some relaxation. Watched a Kimmy Schmidt episode and Major League. The ~4, we went out for the evening. We started out by going to Lou's City Bar (a Badger bar). Then we went to Meridian Pint for a going-away party for a friend of Natalie's. Stayed for a pint. Then we went for a pint at the Penn Social Big Ten Happy Hour (met Natalie's friend Brai). Bit too much beer, not enough food. Went for dinner at Legal Sea Food. All got the Chef's assortment - salmon, tuna, swordfish, shrimp, scallops & sides. So full, SO GOOD. Major food coma waiting for the Metro to take us back.
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| View of the Mall during descent |
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| Natalie, Nick, Cara at Meridian Bar |
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| Chinatown at night |
26 Aug - Slept in a bit, then we got ready. We had some breakfast, then took the Metro down to the Mall. It was already getting hot
{ended up being ~90°}, so we decided to do our walking early. We walked all the way down to the Lincoln Memorial, then back to the Natural History Museum. We saw a few exhibits there, then went back for lunch because our feet were sore. Had a delicious lunch and black velvets at Elephant & Castle. From there, we went to the Air & Space Museum. At Nick's request, we went through the whole museum. Got souvenirs for the kids. From there, we went to Legal Sea Foods for happy hour. Had raw oysters and clams for the first time (oysters > clams). Couple of tasty drinks. Then we walked to Fado for Guinness with Ribena. Yum. From there, back to Natalie's where we watched Wet Hot American Summer and Role Models.
27 Aug - Slept in a bit. Nick and I got ready and went to the International Spy Museum while Natalie worked out. That was a lot of fun going through the exhibits. We had some time to kill before brunch, so I took Nick over by Ford's Theater. Went to lunch/brunch with Natalie at Zengo.
So much food & drink! Too much, in fact. Had to walk off all the delicious small plates. Went down to the Treasury building. I got my picture with the Lafayette statue. We got another drink at the Old Ebbitt Grill. Whew. Headed back to Natalie's. Watched 30 Rock, Orange is the New Black.
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| Brunch at Zengo |
28 Aug - Nick and I got up at 5:30. We got ready and packed, then caught an Uber to the airport. We quickly (surprisingly) went through security. We each ate a couple of breakfast bars for, well, breakfast, then hunkered down to wait for our flight. Nothing extraordinary about the DC-O'Hare flight. Had a 3-hour layover. It was so noisy! Dealt with the noise, red, played two games of cribbage, got a bite for lunch. Another quick flight to Green Bay. Steve met us at the airport, then we got back to their house, picked up the kids, drove home, and returned to typical Sunday mode.
{transcribed 1/30/2020}
