Our Country Tis of Thee

Ben and I went for a great romantic night away on Tuesday night in DC. After Uncle Andrew swore he'd sleep with the pups rather than having Grandpa Pete try and sneak them into the garage- we packed our bags and hit the road.

I hadn't spent much time in DC since my 6th grade trip with Ms. McCracken, and I think Ben's main memories are getting after it in Georgetown with friends, so we threw ourselves into all the culture the place had to offer- or at least what we could fit into about 24 hours. We saw the future home of the new Obama puppy- preparation for the inauguration was fully under way, the Jefferson Memorial, the Washington Monument (where we drove through an "authorized personnel" location looking for parking and I cowered down in the car seat hoping the FBI wouldn't pull us over), and finished up our monument tour visiting big man Abe where we gave our hello's and also sent a mental note of love to the furrier Abe down in North Carolina.





We also managed to squeeze in two museums, the first being the American Art Museum with the National Portrait Gallery that includes portraits of all the nations presidents (Bill Clinton's is terribly cheesy and we both started laughing a bit). I'm now dead set and determined to do something meaningful enough to land my portrait in the National Portrait Gallery. The American Art Museum also has a wing dedicated to all contemporary art with some really cool pieces including this whole wall of a neon map of the United States, filled in with all different sizes of tv's playing different clips representing that part of the nation like "The Wizard of Oz" in Kansas. Not something we need for the new house- but pretty captivating nonetheless.

We also hit up the new Spy Museum. A very cool spot and probably a blast for kids since you can simulate spy missions and choose your own identity. I was Angelina Francone from Italy, traveling to Beijing. 21 years old (I wish) and I worked at a travel agency. Excellent.


We also got a quick visit with Chuck- where we got in a couple games of pool. I actually won- but only due to error on both of their parts.



We also fit in a most excellent meal at Alain Ducasse' Adour - where we over-ate considering the Thursday meal awaiting us, and proceeded to pass out at about 9pm. Because we're hardcore.