Williamsburg & Washington DC Trip: Day Four

Wednesday had been another great success. Dave’s presentation to Mars Drinks was a “grand slam.” Several of the Mars representatives told Dave they were “inspired” following his presentation, and as a result, he was in very high spirits as we hit the road from Williamsburg to Washington, D.C. I realize that this post is about our fourth day, but I’d be negligent if I didn’t provide a few additional details about our arrival in D.C. First, our hotel couldn’t have been closer to the US Capitol Building and the museums. We were on 5th and C Street, two blocks from the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, and a short walk to the Capitol building itself. Giddy with our location, we made plans to head out for a celebratory dinner that night. I had mentioned that it would be great to find some Maryland crabs, so after conferring with the concierge, we were advised to go to Phillips, which was about seven or eight blocks away, on the Waterfront.

Phillips is this sprawling tourist draw, but it also seems to be popular with locals. It is a buffet-style place, but with such foods as Cajun crawfish, jambalaya, clams, mussels, Alaskan king crab legs, crab cakes, prime rib, you name it. Eliot was nuts with excitement about all the food and ate like a champ. He loaded his plate with all of the above, and I must say I was amazed that he (a) ate it all and (b) didn’t throw up. Both boys did manage to synchronize spills. First, Eliot. Two minutes later, Gavin. We had some concern we’d be shown the door after spill number two, but the wait staff looked the other way, brought a lot of towels, and were very gracious.

Bellies swollen, we hailed a cab and headed for the Lincoln Memorial. Dave engaged the Ethiopian driver with discussions of famous distance runners from Addis, and got him so excited that he turned left into a one way (wrong way) major intersection. After checking that we were all still in tact, the cabbie said prayers under his breath, reversed, and got us going the right way again. Whew.

Arriving at the Lincoln Memorial at around 9pm, I was amazed to see so many tourists still buzzing about. The Memorial itself is something to see—breathtaking, really. We soaked in the Lincoln-ness, and after we had our fill, walked the length of the Mall, along the Vietnam Memorial, by the Reflecting Pool, up to the Washington Monument. The boys chased each other, giggling and tumbling the whole way, and we marveled at just how much marble and white stone we had seen in D.C. so far. The Washington Monument was quite impressive to see—to say the least.

Dave and I each called our respective spouses while we strolled the remainder of the way. Feet and legs were tired, but wow—what a day!

Day Four: Seriously

After a mediocre breakfast experience at the Holiday Inn café, which met our expectations, we walked two short blocks to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum to kick-off our Thursday. I had vivid memories of this museum from when I was in fourth grade, on a talented and gifted group (irrelevant footnote: this group was called, “THRUST,” if you can believe that) field trip from Galax, Virginia. I was starry-eyed and impressed as a kid, and I remember the Grey Hound Bus ride back home, with a gyroscope I had bought. Amazing memories. For our kids, circa 2009, while I think the kids were interested, I think times are different today: there is so much more stimulation, so much interactivity and choice…the Air and Space Museum grew a bit tiring for the boys after an hour or so. That said, we enjoyed all the old aircraft, the Apollo exhibits, and touching the moonstones.

After some hot dogs from a street vendor, we played some football out on the Mall for a while, allowed the boys to tumble and giggle some more, then marched our way towards the Capitol for our 2:20pm tour. My brother, Ken, will appreciate this part: as luck would have it, all the conservative kooks came out of the woodwork that day for a protest. Fox News set up shop to bring live coverage of the 10,000 or so conservatives who were protesting the Health Reform legislation, and give their representatives a piece of their collective minds. We needed to meet a Congressman (Democrat, Wiener, from NY) to pick up our House tour passes, so again, as luck would have it, we spent 30 minutes standing in line with all the conservative patriots who assumed we were one of them. Ha.


The tour of the Capitol was really cool. The security was as you’d expect: extremely tight. Lots of large men with automatic rifles slung over their shoulders, and very little humor. We started the tour under the Capitol, then watched an excellent 13 minute film about the history of the Capitol Building. A fact: the Capitol was built about 200 years ago, then burned down in the War of 1812, and rebuilt following this. The dome of the Capitol was originally smaller, and metal, but was rebuilt—and completed—during Lincoln’s term. The dome itself is beautiful on the inside, ornately decorated with paintings, which all tell a narrative of American History. As another interesting tidbit: the dome is so tall that the entire Statue of Liberty could be fit within it. Picture that!
We wrapped-up our Capitol tour by sitting in the gallery of the House, where not too much was happening. There were some issues being debated, but most members were absent for this particular Bill, presumably off working on the Health Care Reform Bill that was to be voted on the following day.

We completed out day by having dinner with Tom and Karen Friedman’s house for dinner. Tom is an old friend of Dave’s—they go way back to time spent together in Africa. Today, Tom is an influential Washington insider—sort of a political consultant to the big league. He regularly is called to the White House for meetings, worked under the Clinton Administration as a campaign strategist/manager, and above all, is a really nice guy. After so many adventures, it was great to spend a little time in a home, with a home-cooked meal, with the familiarity with little kids under foot. Tom and Karen have three kids: Noah (4), Mattie (2) and Abigail (6 months). Between the intermittent phone calls from Nancy Pelosi's staff (I counted four calls!), we ate a delicious meal and got a lot of dirt on what it's like working in and around the White House. I must say, the Washington lifestyle is different, to be sure, so I enjoyed soaking in the culture for these couple of days.

Next up, the White House!