New Thing #84 - Celebrating 35, 'Merica & Friendship - Day 2

July 2, 2014

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!

Despite the fact that I slept like poo last night - I guess I was just too excited to sleep - I was up early and ready to bring on the day. The idea of turning 35 hasn't been nearly as easy to digest as 30 was, but being on vacation and celebrating with friends has a way of making me forget all that.

Mostly.

For this vacation, we didn't want to rush around and try to see everything D.C. has to offer in just four days. Yes, there were things Megan and I really wanted to see, but we planned on taking our time, and subsequently didn't usually leave the apartment until well after 10am each day. And I'm not even sorry. It meant more quality time just being goofy with each other, which also meant less time thinking about leaving on Sunday.

Anyways, I should mention that I have wonderful friends. Not just these two, but in general, I have some pretty good peeps in my life. So, in between texts, calls and Facebook messages, a girl could get used to all the love. Not to mention an all-star breakfast cooked especially for me by my friends. Eggs, bacon, potatoes, fruit, you name it. Thanks B, for making me feel special. :) And for remembering that a hungry Heather is not a pleasant Heather.

Rock star breakfast!

Menda (I've decided to combine their names for efficiency. Or should I go with Bregan?) told me that my actual birthday present would have to wait until later in the afternoon. Brenda was still technically working during part of our trip, and she had to take a certification exam that not only does she have to pass before she leaves the country, but also bumps up her salary. Needless to say, she was a bit nervous, and she didn't want to lose focus on the goal by entering into shenanigans with us. So, Megan and I would be heading downtown to check out the Capitol area, while Brenda went to her test. Birthday shenanigans will just have to wait.

Post-breakfast/pre-shenanigans selfie! I look like a giant compared to Brenda….

Oh, but, they did give me one birthday gift. I present to you, the Happy Birthday Heather song. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!



Trust me, you will have this song in your head for awhile. I know I still do. (And sadly no, they didn't create it, but they did find it, and that's counts.)

Itttt's your birthhhhh-day todayyyy………HEATHER! :)

Moving on.

Brenda lives in Arlington, only a few blocks from the metro station, so we opted to go that route for our transportation. We had two options of buying a plastic card and adding money to it throughout the week, or purchasing paper passes each time we needed to ride. We opted for the $2 cards so we could add money only when we needed to. The card was the right way to go, and the metro was incredibly easy to navigate. But, honestly, after figuring out Rome and London's public transportation, this was a piece of cake.

I was digging the architecture of the metro tunnels. I'm a nerd.

Take public transportation. Check! (This will make sense a little later.)

Megan and I headed straight to the Capitol while Brenda went to get in some last minute studying. We had a little bit of time to kill before our pre-arranged tour of the Capitol, so we walked by the Supreme Court building and Library of Congress, only to realize that walking around in the sun was stupid. It was still before noon, but the temperature was easily in the upper 90s, and the heat index was no doubt over 100. Welcome to my birthday.

Library of Congress, which we visited later.

Supreme Court Building…we never made it in here.

The Capitol!

I took eleventy million photos, as usual.

We didn't have much more time to kill, but we wanted to eat our snacks before we went into the Capitol since they don't allow any outside food to be brought in. We found a nice shady area which was about 3.4 degrees cooler than in the sun. Shortly after we sat down, a bike patrol cop pulled up next to us and started chatting. At first I thought maybe we weren't allowed to sit where we were, but it turns out, he was just bored, and wanted to make conversation.

Megan felt the need to tell everyone and their mother that it was my birthday, (but let's be honest, I secretly loved it), so she told our new officer friend, and he was more than happy to oblige with any birthday requests I had. When I asked if he could get me up in the Washington Monument, the answer was no, because he didn't work there. A few other suggestions, and his answers were again, no. Clearly, if it didn't involve the least possible security risk at the Capitol, he was no help. When I was stumped for another idea, he quickly came up with one for me.

"I could handcuff you."

Well, that escalated quickly.

And, because it's me, I immediately said sure, and proceeded to get handcuffed outside the United States Capitol by a security officer. It's great to be me sometimes.

Um, getting a bit handsy, sir. Notice his right hand… (His comment was, "Is this going to get you in trouble?" Um, no, but it sure as hell is going to get you in trouble.)

Making my parents proud, right here.

I probably shouldn't be posting this on the internet, but he assured me that if the cuffs are in the front, everything is okay. It's when you get cuffed in the back that you should be worried. Noted.

Lighting is terrible for us, but I figured I needed proof I was in front of the Capitol.

I felt like at this point, I should probably know the officer's name, since he was getting all up in my business. Officer Steve was his name, and he even offered to take numerous photos of the two of us in front of the Capitol. Either he was extremely bored, or he had a thing for pretty girls, but he was a good sport and we totally took advantage of his generosity.

Not bad, Officer Steve.

He kept moving us around to get different views.

We don't know what to do with our hands.

More Capitol shots.

I wasn't sure if Officer Steve was going to linger around us all morning, so we said our goodbyes and made our way down to the entrance and the security line. He even made a point to tell us to tell the two guards working down below that Officer Steve sent us, and watched while we did so. We were assured that the guys would find it funny.

They did not.

Something tells me they don't really like Officer Steve much.

We headed inside to get away from the awkward situation that came from our new friend, as well as the oppressive heat. Fortunately, the security line was short, and we had little delays getting in and to our check in point. Since we were early for our tour, we checked out the Exhibition Hall museum, showing numerous artifacts and fun facts about the House and Senate. (No pics allowed, sorry folks.)  I'll be honest, a lot of the things I learned in my high school government class are a thing of the past. But, they all came flooding back after watching a few videos on the differences between the two, and reveling in the fact that our forefathers created the governmental structure we still have today. Despite your political affiliations and thoughts, our democracy is still a powerful thing to behold.

Once our scheduled time hit, we watched a brief video and then broke off into smaller groups with an individual tour guide. We each received headphones allowing us to hear the guide, even if we couldn't see him, and we set off to view the building. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but what we got to see was incredibly disappointing. First off, the second floor ended up being temporarily closed shortly after our tour began, so we didn't get to see it. Congress wasn't in session, so we didn't get to see anything regarding that either, and there were so many tour groups crammed in to small spaces at the same time, it was a bit of a nightmare. I'm not sorry we went, but I can say that I'm glad the tour was free. It was over before it really began, and other than the museum and gift shop, I don't feel like I got to see all that much.

This guy was pretty sassy though. The tour guide, not Abe.

Plaster Model for the Statue of Freedom that was used to cast the bronze statue atop the Capitol Dome.

It looks majestic until you look into the eyes. They're silently pleading "help me".

I'm a sucker for signage and displays. I liked this one.

Emancipation Hall

There were numerous statues around Emancipation Hall, including Governors, Congressman and activists to name a few. I found this one particularly interesting to go inside the Capitol. It's Philo T. Farnsworth (awesome name) and he invented television. Seems fitting to have his statue in the Capitol, no?

Digging the architecture. My camera is not cut out for the lighting here though.

Big head.

This door is famous. I don't remember why.

Everyone wanted a picture of this. I guess I should take one.

Looking down into Emancipation Hall.

Our sassy guide offered us the chance to reserve another time slot later in the day, in hopes that the second floor would be open again, but we didn't feel like staying or worrying about making a trip back. We got to see the Capitol, and that was good enough for us. And now, on to the Library of Congress via a sweet air-conditioned underground tunnel from the Capitol.

Artwork in the tunnel. Love it.

Where are we going?

I think maybe the Library of Congress.

Yep, the Library of Congress.

Upon walking into the LoC, I was immediately taken back by the architecture and mosaics that adorned the walls. It was absolutely breathtaking, and we were only still in the foyer. I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

Ooooohhh. Ahhhhhh.

Ceiling!

Architecture? Nailed it.

Loved the floors.

See, told you.

We managed to sneak behind a tour group in session to see the actual library which requires membership to get into. And it was equally stunning. Megan was geeking out pretty hardcore, as she should be, being quite the studious lady. I was pretty disappointed though. I was expecting to see Nicholas Cage pop out of the middle and dart around looking important. He did not. But, damn, if I was him, I would wander around D.C. during important weekends, and go from place to place followed by a film crew to give the illusion that he's doing another movie. I mean, really, what else does Nic Cage have going for him anymore?

The Gutenberg Bible that everyone wanted to see.

Mosaic!

No Nic Cage. I might have to Photoshop him in sometime...

Breathtaking.

We quickly stopped in Jefferson's Library, a circular room with books encased in glass. Pretty cool stuff.

I like the reflection of the floor in the glass.

Panoramic books! I'm directly in the center, in case you were wondering.

Upon leaving the LoC, we ran into a guy who was walking the Appalachian Trail, and had stopped in D.C. for a quick visit. We exchanged pleasantries and photo ops, and he and Megan had a nice long chat about hiking. (Megan recently finished walking part of the Camino de Santiago in Spain.) I asked him if I could get a photo with him, but I felt like I needed to know his name first. He told me his trail name was "Keep Walker".

Um, cool story, bro.

LoC Pic!

Birthday Girl and Keep Walker.

Capitol from the LoC steps.

Damn, it was hot out. Seriously, just absolutely miserable. We stopped in the shade again to await Brenda's arrival. She had finished her test (and passed!) and was on her way to meet us for lunch. We managed to find a restaurant close by, and settled in for a light lunch. And there they gave me my birthday present/challenge. They had put together an absolutely adorable birthday bingo game for me to play that all centered around America/Independence Day themes. So cute! They had wanted to wait to give it to me until after Brenda could join us because she didn't want to miss out on any of the fun.

Birthday Bingo! Totes adorbs.

Sadly, "get handcuffed by a police officer" wasn't on the list. I did manage to eat something red (red apple in my salad) and kiss something white (the brie in my salad), but I felt like maybe we could do better. But, at least we had pictures to prove it in case nothing better came along.

After venturing back outside, we passed by the back side of the Capitol, and it really is a gorgeous building. They were also setting up the stage for the 4th of July concerts to be held on Friday. And two geniuses were holding a full out conversation with their mics on. I wonder if they realize that half of D.C. heard what they were talking about.

Oh, and Brenda managed to shank her foot pretty good on one of the metal security fences around. That was neat. :(

And more Capitol photos.

Freedom stage!

Birthday/Capitol selfie.

Since it was a billion degrees out, we found our way back to a metro station to head back to B's. On the way, we passed by a Fire Dept, and I was going to knock another thing off my list. I had to high-five 3 people in uniform.

Still shot high-fives are terrible and slightly inappropriate looking.

This one is no better. What the eff are we doing? High-Five #1: Check!

The two guys at the station were great sports and really sweet. They asked if we wanted our photo in front of the truck, and we jumped at the chance!

After a brief dip in the pool, we headed to Founding Farmers for dinner, as Brenda had nothing but good things to say about this place. She's taken each one of her visitors to eat here, and I was excited to be the next. While on the metro though, a woman commented that she liked my shirt, and after I thanked her, Megan told her it was my birthday. Another woman sitting a few seats away loudly proclaimed "Turn down for what?!"

For those of you who don't know, that is the name of a hip hop song whose lyrics are pretty much just that. He says "Turn down for what?" over and over. It's ridiculous and catchy, and since I'm not the hippest individual, I have no idea what it actually means. Urban Dictionary says it means that you're basically wasted but will continue to party all night and will stop for nothing.

I'm not really sure how that applies here...

Mandatory pool/foot selfie.

Pick a President's Nose: check! This guy was on the campus of George Washington University, and I couldn't quite reach. The girls gave it to me though.

We ate dinner across from the Mexican Embassy. Bueno!

Sadly, Founding Farmers was a bit off their game tonight. Our waitress was new, and incredibly slow. I can't necessarily fault her for newness, but damn, it shouldn't take 30+ minutes to get a draft beer. Scratch that, we actually received our first round of beer in about 15 minutes, but she had somehow decided that we needed the tiny baby beer shots, and we sent them back saying we'd like some adult beers, please. That must have been difficult to manage, because it took about 20 more minutes to get the big boy beers. Ah well, we had a skillet cornbread appetizer to keep us happy, and it was delicious!

Birthday cornbread. Yes, Menda put a candle in it! :)

There were so many things that looked good on the menu, it was hard to choose. I ended up with a ham and peas mac and cheese, and sadly it did me wrong. The noodles were overcooked, and the entire thing lacked some serious flavor. (Fortunately, Menda enjoyed both of their meals.) I couldn't be too disappointed though, because I had homemade beignets to look forward to. And they were on point. We had to order them when we ordered our dinner because they take a long time to make, and they were well worth it. Unfortunately, after cornbread and pasta, I couldn't fit too many beignets in. But, I certainly gave it my best shot.

Meh.

Yum! And this time our waitress brought the candle!

Despite the fact that my entree wasn't stellar, and the service could have been better, it was still a great birthday dinner with my pals! I wasn't quite ready for the festivities to be over, so we went to a bar to try to cross off a few more things from my bingo list. However, a random Wednesday night at Elephant & Castle didn't give us much to work with. There were very few people in the bar, so I just settled for drinking an American beer.

Drinking DC Brau, a local American beer. Check!

After a fantastic birthday, it was time to head home. We still had four more days of fun ahead of us.

Thanks to everyone who called, e-mailed, texted, Facebooked me or thought about me today. Love you all!