Washington Bullets

So no chart or weight update, I figured I needed to give it a rest for awhile. Though I am back at it as of today, this last week was certainly an exercise in gluttony and excess activity. I figure we walked something like 25 miles or more in the last 5 days. Most of that was concentrated into a two day period as we strolled with purpose around the nation's capitol. In a one and a half day period we visited three out of four of the Smithsonian museums on the Washington Mall. I can't even start to explain what an incredible experience we had this past weekend. But I will certainly try...

• I can certainly understand why D.C. is a magnet for conspiracy theorists. There are so many odd pictures and sculptures in the architecture. I am not sure why a rhyton of a flying ram is on the Rayburn building but I am sure it has something to do with some sort of ancient Masonic intrigue, ha! It is, however, an ancient symbol from the Middle East or Greece. I suppose it was common to have winged mammals with cornucopias protruding from their asses in the ancient world. Below is an example of a rhyton.

• If you are going to stroll the mall, I highly suggest you let B.B. King accompany your journey as he did ours. "Let the Good Times Roll" was being played by the man himself on the capitol grounds. The previous night a gorgeous rendition of "America the Beautiful" ended our adventure for the day. It was awe inspiring.
• You can learn a lot in a museum and we certainly did. Saccharin is made from sweet coal tar. No wonder it has been labelled as a carcinogen. Yummy.
  

• Just happened to pick up a copy of Ideas & Discoveries Magazine at the Baltimore/Washington International Airport. There was a great article on unsafe food substances and how they conspire to, literally, kill us. It just further cemented anything I already felt about processed foods. It is one of the best magazines I have come across in a long time.
• Also received a copy of the Smithsonian Magazine now that I am a card carrying member.
• In our quest to get Christy as many crab cakes as possible, we wound up on the Delaware shore on Monday where our Daisy got to play in the Atlantic.
  
• The winner of the crab cake contest went to Plato's Diner in College Park. The lump cake was the size of my fist.
• On our crab cake quest we also ate at the Silver Diner in Laurel, MD. They take diner eating to a whole new level. Click through to see the menu.
• Christy also found her personal Mecca - the National Conservatory and Botanical Garden in the shadow of the Capitol building. The woman loves her plants and crab cakes. I need to learn botany and how to shake a container of Old Bay Seasoning quick.
• Daisy got to play with and compete against children from all over the United States and several countries during the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals. Watching the joy on her face and the way she interacts with others filled my heart with joy.
  
• The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History taught me that I am part Neanderthal. Well...that explains a lot.
• NASA sponsored Daisy's event and had a tent shaped like the earth. We got lots of cool swag which was fantastic.
• NASA sponsored Daisy's event. Almost everything in the massive dome tent was about global warming and eco stuff - not as fantastic. It was like being directed to the ice cream store for a free scoop and once you get there all the ice cream is broccoli flavored. I want to be inspired to reach for the stars not to reach to the ceiling to replace the energy wasting light bulb with a LED.
  
• It was Memorial Day weekend and there was a huge bike rally and I was able to capture this picture at the Vietnam Memorial. I will let the pic speak for itself.

• They had drained the large reflecting pool on the mall. Christy said the treasury had it done so it could recover all the change on the bottom.
• I thought the people in DC were incredibly nice. I will always remember how several people in a 7 Eleven tried to help Christy get the cup of coffee she wanted.
• I can highly recommend the Chicken Cheddar Sub at Potbelly's.
• We ate at the Old Post Office. The place had a higher level of security than most government buildings. I would not recommend eating there, like, ever. The only thing I can relate it to is a third world bazaar. Very strange place right on Pennsylvania Avenue.
• I hereby apologize to Christy and Daisy who both looked like zombies after each day on the mall. Christy's ankle was bleeding and kept a stiff upper lip while Daisy was worn out and let everyone know all about it. I am a juggernaut, I admit it. Everest would give me the mehs because what is it, like a few miles uphill or something?
• We had a gap of time where we couldn't be with Daisy for a couple of hours because of the competition. We filled it by exploring more vinyl than we had ever seen in one place at CDepot.
• Next to CDepot is a great place to buy hooker shoes if you are in the market.
• I gave Daisy a penny to carry through the Lincoln Memorial which she promptly dropped nearly a hundred times on our trip.
• I hate vuvuzelas after watching the closing ceremony of the World Finals. They are the horns of hell or judgment day - take your pick.
• Five Below is such a cool store. I wish we had one here.
• The University of Maryland has to be one of the most beautiful college campuses in the country.
• We slept very little most of the time and it was alright. We never had any time to develop jet lag.
• The Minneapolis Airport is a hot mess.
• My new favorite Smithsonian Museum has to be the American History Museum since they don't have the Enola Gay at the Air and Space anymore. They shipped it elsewhere. Sad. Sad. Sad.
• Where the hell did they put Fonzie's jacket?
  

Well I think that is most of it. All in all, I think it was one of the most interesting vacations of my life. I left out a lot of stuff but if I don't stop I'll never post this. My week was filled with tears of joy and pride along with smiles and my wanderlust was fed, if only for a short time. My daughter amazed me more than once. But I can't wait to see what adventure awaits Christy and I in the future. But I do know I can't imagine any future adventure without her. Right now I need to find a good recipe for crab cakes.