Spring Break: Part II

Thursday
Hil was waiting at the airport when I got there (which is good, because that’s what she was supposed to be doing) and we went for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in Baltimore. We finished dinner and almost a whole piece of cheesecake, when the waiter went to box up what was left of it, he dropped it, so we got a completely new piece. Neat, eh? Yeah, I thought so too. Then it was back to College Park. I got to meet two of the three roomies who, might I add, are all pretty cool girls.

Friday
We went into DC so that I could be a tourist. We got to see all three branches of government but didn’t manage to get to any of the memorials or museums. That’s alright. The capitol was cool, as was the White House (had to scope out the future residence, ya know) my favorite was the Supreme Court, though. I didn’t get to see any protesters, which was a little disappointing. I was hoping to get my picture with one. Oh well. That evening we went to a retirement party for someone she works with, and I met about a zillion people that I wouldn’t remember if they walked in right this minute. The “wow” factor of the party was that Dick Cheney (yes, THAT Dick Cheney) was there. Apparently he was the retiree’s best man (and vice versa). The security was pretty cool, too. When we got to the house where the party was (right next door to the Sri Lankan embassy, no less) there were a few fed snipers on the roof of the building across the street. (Remember, Pete, no sudden movements) Then it was off to Cosi for a late dinner and S’mores (yes, they serve s’mores at the restaurant… complete with FIRE). When we got back to College Park we stopped by Relay for Life. It was chilly and rainy (basically all day) so RFL was a little dreary… but all for a good cause, of course. Oh — and this leg of spring break had it’s sound track provided by R. Kelly, “Ignition (Remix)” was on the radio damn near every time it was turned on.

Saturday
We went back into DC to do more touristy type things… it was a gorgeous day (as you can see from the pictures). I think I got more sun walking around DC than I did the entire four days in Panama City Beach. On the agenda for the day: the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (of course), the White House again (from the other side, this time), a few Smithsonian Museums (American History and Natural History) and we did a little wandering in the Holocaust Memorial.

In the interest of brevity (because nobody but Hilary really cares what I thought about DC anyway) the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was really… ummm… effective? 58,000 names is a lot. The 9/11 display in the American History Museum was really good too. Of course, there was the Hope Diamond which was big… but other than that, it was just a diamond.

After that it was back to College Park for a much built-up dinner at Chipotle which was pretty good. That evening a whole bunch of us went out to a neat little piano bar called Howl at the Moon in Baltimore. Good times, the site claims that it’s “The most fun you can have with your clothes on.” I think everyone had a good time, but I found that UMD kids don’t drink quite like the ‘Bama kids do. Then again, what would you expect?

Another good day in and around the capitol, but still no protesters! Bah!

Sunday
Pretty lazy day in College Park, when I got to BWI I ran into Victoria, a fellow yankee and UA Student. This is an interesting story that I’ve not journalized yet, so we need an obligatory Bill and Ted style flashback effect…

…diddlydoodiddlydoodiddlydoo…

Sometime not too long ago I was walking on the Promenade when I overheard the word “Yankee” in the conversation of a pair of girls walking in front of me. Then it was louder: “Where are all the yankees at!?” random girl yelled. Finding this to be an odd question, I spoke up: “Well… I’m a yankee!” She looked at me a little incredulously, but after a little chat we found out that we’re both from IL and, of course, asked the obligatory “why are you here” questions and what have you. Since then I’ve run into her several times, but it was really odd to see her in an airport in Maryland.

…diddlydoodiddlydoodiddlydoo…

So I sat and chatted with Victoria and her roomie who were ‘Bama bound after spending spring break in Ireland. They had a lot of funny stories that I’d like to re-tell, but this post isn’t about THEIR spring break, now is it? The flight was the “friendliest” one I’ve ever been on. I sat across the aisle from Victoria and Stephanie (the roomie). The woman sitting next to me was a nice (but chatty) woman, and this guy was sitting the row in front of me. Sitting in front of Stephanie was a Tuscaloosa EMT that does a lot of work on drunk college kids. A few rows back was a sorority sister of Victoria’s. The three of us chatted for most of the flight back, and they’re both characters, so we entertained a good portion of the flight. Lots of laughing — you know the kind, where people laugh because they have to, but they stifle it because they don’t want to admit that they were eavesdropping. Anyway… good flight back.

On the ride back from the airport I “made good time” which, to paraphrase my good friend Matt Schuh, means nothing more than that I was driving fast. Got back and had dinner with Abby (What’d you expect? It’d been a week!) and that was the end of spring break… a good one, I’d say. (Except, of course, that I saw no real-life protesters)

Now comment, darn it… it’s getting quiet around here!