Arrival In Our Nation's Capital

I drove up to Washington, DC on January 3/4.  Our eventual arrival was about 3 am.  Not that anyone really cares but, the Subway just off of I-85 in Concord, NC is one of the nicest I've ever been in.  They have swiss and provolone cheeses, and here I thought pepper jack was the craziest one could get.  Also, if you're ever driving from Georgia to Washington, make sure you stop for gas in Durham, NC.  Because between there and Petersburg, VA makes I-16 through south Georgia look like a metropolis.  Lastly, make sure you switch to inside air when driving south of Richmond, VA because the pollution is so thick, you'll choke on the air.  The drive took about 11 hours total, and I was extremely grateful to see the Washington Monument towering in front of me as I drove through the last miles of Virginia.

The 4th was a day of sightseeing with my parents, who sacrificed their time to drive me up there/do sightseeing themselves.  I actually got to ride to the top of the Washington Monument.  Pictures will be posted to my Facebook a little later.  I also got to briefly visit the Museum of Natural History.  And by a brief visit, I mean about 3 hours.  I feel like I saw nothing compared to the vastness of the entire museum.  Our last stop of the evening was the WWII memorial, which was particularly significant, because yesterday would have been my Grandfather's birthday.  He served in the Navy, stationed in the Marshall Islands during the war, although he passed away while I was still very young.

Dinner was at an Italian restaurant named Bertucci's, located a block north of George Washington University.  For casual, good food, the area around GW is my recommendation.  If you're downtown, Pennsylvania Avenue just east of Capitol Hill has an incredible variety of restaurants.  From diners to Mexican, Chinese, delis, and coffeeshops.  The rest of my night is going to be an opening dinner with the other program participants and taking care of the last details of settling into my room.  I'm becoming far too efficient at moving in and out of places!

Again, pics will come soon, but the wifi is only so fast when all 19 interns are using it at once.