Friday, June 6, 2014

Quick trip to Baltimore & Washington DC

Jacob and I had the opportunity to go on a quick trip to Baltimore earlier this summer.   
I jotted down a little timeline while we were there...

Day 1:
It was the 1st time I had flown...that I can remember.  I think I had a couple times as a kid.
3:30am- wake up, get ready, hit the road.
5am-arrive at airport.  check in. security.  Chick-fil-A breakfast.  Score a window seat!  Overly excited as I watch a gorgeous sunrise.
6:10am-I was impressed that our 6am flight was prompt in leaving on time.
 6:30am-Jacob snoozes on the flight.  Me?  I am taking the coffee and peanuts (don't even eat peanuts, but it was part of the experience, right?!?

10ish- land in Baltimore.  Head to DC, excited that we have the entire day ahead of us and wanting to cram in all that DC had to offer.  Relying only on iPhone GPS, we get stupid-lost trying to get downtown as our GPS was contradicting what the road signs were saying.  In Jacob's defense, he is a great driver and usually easily navigates congested, confusing downtown roadways.  But DC was so screwed up.  Before we found a parking spot we were both pissed.  Even though I wanted to make the most of this day #1, we both were agreeing {in an argumentative way} that this was a bad idea!  We park in an underground parking deck and hope we can remember how to get back to our unfamiliar rental car.   15 minutes after parking, Jacob is tired of walking and announces that he has no interest in walking in all these museums.  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
 12:00pm- Pass the castle.  I was most excited to visit the Holocaust Museum.   {In high school, I usually stuck to a couple topics for book reports, history project, etc.  I'm a Helen Keller and Holocaust wiz!}  I was disappointed to learn that I was supposed to already have gotten tickets to go into the 2-story exhibits.  So we just stuck to the main floor.  I was interesting what we did get to see.
 2pm-Even though Jacob's legs were about to fall off him, we made our way to the WW2 & Lincoln Memorial.  I enjoyed them all.  My papaw fought in WW2. Jacob's grandfather was in the National Gaurd for several years. We have a great deal of respect for our veterans & current soldiers.  It was humbling to see these memorials.
Selfie with Abe!
 3:00pm- our chicken biscuit from this morning was long gone, we were starving.  We found a Five Guys near where our car was.  We scarfed those burgers down and hit the road.  As frustrated and pissed off as we were navigating to DC, it was worse trying to make our way to our hotel in Baltimore.  After that stupid iPhone GPS got us making several wrong turns, we ditch the GPS and Jacob just uses the road signs to get us on the correct hwy.  NOW, we are stuck in traffic.  Shoot us.  What should've been a 40 minute straight shot, turned into an almost 2 hours of grumbling, huffs, puffs, a little cussing and silent treatment until we both started dosing off.  Remember, we had been going hard for a full 12 hours at this point.  Due to traffic, we were going a steady 15-20mph the entire time.  When we got close to the hotel, Jacob got a little over zealous & jumped the curb because he was so excited to be out of that car and finally to our destination!  Our room was nice.  It was directly next to the Camden Yards, home of the Orioles. {{FUN FACT: Jacob & I, along with our church youth group sang the national anthem on that field about 12-14 years ago!  They weren't playing any home games while we were there or else we would've tried to go to a game.}}

6pm-get ready for dinner.  Jacob picked out our dinner plans after seeing this ad in the plane magazine...
7:15pm-return the rental car.  Go on my 1st taxi ride to the restaurant.  Interesting.  Expensive.  So glad I have my own car and don't have to do that daily!  Dinner at The Prime Rib was amazing!  Delicious.  Romantic.  Fun.  

9:20pm-After sitting in the car earlier and that expensive cab ride, we decided to walk back to our hotel room.  It took us an hour. Only saw 1 homeless man sleeping. But the nighttime, city walk was nice.  The row houses were cool & different from what we are used to.  It felt good outside.  Although Jacob's legs were tired and hurting, he made it, with less complaints or maybe I had tuned them out.  Either way, I really enjoyed our long walk back. 
Day 2:
9am-It was cool and drizzly, but I refused to stay in the hotel room.  I went on a long run around the Inner Harbor, stopping only to explore the Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse. It was maybe my most enjoyable 5 miles ever!
12pm-shower.  Eat this amazing sushi at Edu Sushi.  I had the Harbor Maki.  My mouth is watering thinking about it.  So delicious.  I then explored the shops at the Inner Harbor.  Took a nap.
 6:15pm- Got ready. After sitting in the lobby, watching it POUR down rain, I was praying it would stop soon so we could explore the inner harbor a little more. It finally did clear up.  I picked out this night's restaurant.  Phillips Seafood.  It advertised the best crab cakes, I wanted to be the judge.   I must say it was pretty dang perfect.  I ate the "Ultimate Crab Cake"  8oz of crab meat, mac & cheese, asparagus.  Then finished it with a bourbon cookie pie with ice cream.  Holy-moly was it good!
 Day 3:
9am-ridiculously expensive breakfast at the hotel restaurant. lesson learned.
10am-taxi to airport.
11am-because our boarding passes had us boarding last, Jacob and I weren't able to sit together...not even close.
2pm-got our girls, gave extra lovin, hugs & kisses.  We were so happy to see them!

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