Trip to Washington, DC

Last weekend, I took the train down to Washington, DC to visit my cousin and his family.  His parents, my aunt and uncle, were also in town so I got to see a lot of relatives.

Saturday was my second cousin's 11th birthday party.  We went bowling at Fort Scott and had some bowling alley pizza which was actually pretty good.  My second cousin invited a mess of his friends to join us.  While they were a little rowdy, they were actually pretty well behaved.  I bowled a 133 and then a 141.  My cousin, who's a light colonel in the Marines, overbowled for some pretty crappy scores.  It's nice to remind people that bowling is more about finesse.  My aunt bowled pretty well, too.

On Sunday, I took the metro over to Fed Ex Field to watch Washington lose badly to the Eagles.  The Eagles hadn't been playing well up until this game, but Wrecks Grossman found a way to give them some confidence.  The seats were awesome and I went with a college friend who lives in DC.  The weather was great, but I got a little sunburned.  The field is definitely a paean to greed since everything is sponsored.

On Monday, I finally got to walk around the Mall and visit the Air and Space Museum and the Museum of American History.  I had been to DC about five times before, but never got a chance to do touristy stuff.  The Washington Monument was closed for repairs due to the earthquake from earlier this year.  The Reflecting Pool was all torn up as well.  The memorials were pretty cool and I think the Korean one was my favorite.  The museums were awesome and were free as well.  There are plenty more for me to check out during my next visit.

On Tuesday, I went to Arlington Cemetery in the morning with my uncle.  His uncle is buried there.  He was a submarine captain of the USS Redfin.  The Cemetery was pretty moving and there is a... gravity to the place since it is enormous.  It took a while to walk around, but the weather was nice so it wasn't a big deal.  We saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

That afternoon, I took the train back to Albany.

I had a great trip.  It's always nice to visit family and I think every American should visit DC to get a sense of our history.  "Freedom is not free" and we should remember that saying as we go about our lives.  We're lucky to live in the US and we have to remain vigilant that this country doesn't turn to crap.

DC is a cool town and you don't need a car since the Metro is efficient.

Picture vomit can be found here.