We had a bit of a late start Sunday, because Dan and his cousin, Riley, got a little drunk Saturday night. And by little, I mean a lot. So, they were not feeling so great. After we were finally able to leave, we got lunch (because we left around 1) at a deli called So's Your Mom. The place was really cool. It seemed like a family owned restaurant, and they only took cash. They sliced all the meat and cheese right there and made their own bread.
We ate our food and headed over to the National Mall in a car (YES!). I think they chose to get a ride, because they knew what was coming all day. Walking. Everywhere. Luckily, we already had tickets to the Washington Monument, because when we arrived there was a sign that said "SOLD OUT." So glad Riley's friend worked there! We got into the building and had to go through security, which is really funny considering we went through NO security to ride on a train to get to DC. The security guard told me to pull out the brass knuckles out of my purse. These were not real ones. They were a pair that were on my set of keys. My daughter couldn't even get her fingers through them. Honestly, I could have done more bodily harm by stabbing someone with my car key than swinging my newborn size brass knuckles at anyone. So, their solution was for me to go outside and hide them somewhere under a bench or beside a trashcan in the monument area! Wouldn't that seem very suspicious?! Going to hide a random object near a crowd full of people during Memorial Day weekend in Washington DC. Right. I wouldn't be surprised if some cop would have tackled me outside if I tried their solution. Waaaaaay more trouble that those things were worth. I just ended up throwing them away.
We got up to the top of the monument that is 500 feet. You could see everything up there. Lincoln Monument, Jefferson Monument, the White House, Smithsonian, the Capital, even the enormous Rolling Thunder motorcycle ride that was going on. You could also feel the building move, or either it was vertigo. Needless to say, we were not there very long, because the guys were not feeling to well. I had no problem with that, because I'm not very into heights.
Next up was the Museum of History. We walk in and see the counter and four chairs from the famous Greensboro, NC (my home town!) Sit-in from 1960. Right by there was an exhibit that was about America and all the wars it has ever been involved in. Dan and Riley stayed in the Civil War section, while I sped through to get to the 40s and 50s. I love all the WWII memorabilia. I took so many picture of the war posters. They had so many! They had a blown up article about women making their own lingerie, too. I really wish they had the whole thing!
I really wanted to see some Contemporary art, so we walked through this garden that had a few pieces. One was a yellow and red pop art house that I want to make for Maggie! It was adorable and reminded me of my favorite artist, Roy Lichtenstein. We arrived at the art museum at six and only had an hour, so we went straight to the contemporary exhibit. I searched for a Lichtenstein, but could not find one. I did, however, find a couple of Andy Warhol's and an awesome portrait of John Waters.
We had dinner at a place called Hill Country BBQ. It was definitely a hillbilly restaurant, haha, but that meant amazing food. We had brisket, pork ribs, beef ribs, BBQ chicken, collards, mac and cheese, cole slaw, baked beans, corn bread, and banana pudding. The corn bread came with this DELICIOUS cinnamon/honey butter. I wanted to ask for a full tub of the stuff and just eat it. I really need to try and recreate it.
So, after that enormous dinner, the guy's decide the best thing to do is walk around to more monuments and memorials for another four hours. I won't describe this part since most of the time I thought my legs were going to fall off, my feet swell out of my shoes, and my uterus explode. I don't want to be a Negative Nancy. Plus, its hard to describe these places with words. Even pictures don't do them justice.
Even though I thought I was going to die at these last four attractions, it was good to see them. Makes you appreciate those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, for whatever reason, whether or not they wanted to. I hope everyone this Memorial Day took some time to remember those that have died in past and present wars.
