Reflections – Washington D.C.

This past weekend I went on a solo adventure to Washington, D.C. I had to go to Oshkosh, Wisconsin for work the days prior and figured I would take advantage of being almost on the east coast and hop over to a city I haven’t been to yet. After some quick conversations with a few friends, the nation’s capital seemed like a good option for a solo trip. Turns out, it was.

No offense to the people of Wisconsin but, personally, it felt really weird going to a place where the people flying in with your company provide most of the diversity in the city. Coming from a place where I stand out like a sore-thumb to a big city like D.C. where I’m just like anyone else felt like a relief as soon as I landed.

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I spent the first day of my trip doing all the outdoor stuff. This was a little bit of a challenge as it was 87 degrees out and humid. I walked around in Arlington for a good amount of time. To see rows and rows of people who died for what they believe in and to see the graves of people who shaped where our nation is today was moving. Doing it alone allowed me to have space to think about the significance of the things I saw in Arlington. If you have a chance to explore it alone, you should.

I stopped by a restaurant called Founding Farmers to escape the heat for a little bit. This place was hard to get a seat even for a solo diner at 2pm. The pot pie I got was delicious. At this place, I met a person who was also there to round off a work trip with a personal trip. She also happened to be from California and dabbled in videography as a side business. Weird coincidences on the other side of the nation (Even on the other side of the world – I remember meeting a Californian family in Japan).

The rest of the day I ran around looking at the Lincoln Memorial, the National Mall, the World War II Memorial, and the Washington Monument before the suffocating heat beat me and I had to tap out.

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Day 2. I dedicated this day to all the indoors stuff. Much more forgiving than the day before. Thank goodness for AC.

I basically museum hopped. I went from the Library of Congress, to the United States Botanic Garden, to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, and to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. Seeing all this stuff stored there and all the information inside these institutions kind of made me think that D.C. is something of a modern-day Alexandria.

There were a lot more museums that I didn’t get a chance to see but by the time I was getting out of the Natural History Museum, I could sense that something was about to go down. There were cop cars everywhere and blocks of roads closed off. I felt that it was a good time to take a break. Turns out there was a rally called “The Mother of All Rallies” going on. Glad I got out of there. Oh and I took a peek at the White House on the way back.

I ended the trip with a delicious bowl of ramen at Daikokuya and a few drinks in the hip area of town by U street and 14th. That place is lit. I need to go back with a few friends at some point.

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While a lot of the things I did this time around were really “touristy,” it was still eye-opening to see the places where so much history was made and I think that everyone should make a pilgrimage to see the capitals of their nations at some point in their lives.