I have never been to Washington, D.C. before (well technically I think I went when I was 4 years old), so when my friend Natalie was in D.C. for an internship, I thought it was high time I explored the nation's capitol! I took the midnight bus from Boston to D.C. and arrived around 11am (the bus was late, and I ended up stranded for several hours in South Station with nothing but McDonalds French Fries to tie me over). 
When I arrived, Natalie was at work, but we were able to have lunch together (burgers and a S'mores milkshake). Afterward I waited for Natalie to finish work, so with my backpack on I walked around the Capitol, the Library of Congress and The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. I loved it! It was bloody hot, and everything was under construction (no reflecting pool, so national mall), but I absolutely loved the Library of Congress which was doing an exhibit on Books That Shaped America. It was so interesting and I added several to my reading list!
We went to the zoo and saw baby cheetahs!! and other fun animals (red pandas!), but the cheetahs were my favorite. I love that the zoo was free! I was so impressed, I thought it would be a dinky little zoo, but it was actually very nice. I don't know how they offer the zoo for free, but I surely appreciated it! I think I sent out about 12 postcards that day - many from the zoo!
It was a lot of fun spending time with Natalie, and it only rained once! After the zoo we went to a tapas bar (I think it was both of ours first time) and ate a lot of octopus. Well I guess nothing in tapas is a lot, but it was tasty nonetheless. We left the restaurant to go on a boat tour of DC, and when we got out of the metro, it was pouring down rain! It let up and we were able to walk Georgetown, but as soon as we got on the boat, it just starting raining like a monsoon! Seriously a lot of water! We couldn't even see the Washington monument from the Potomac. Ridiculous.
But it was fun, and by the time our boat turned around for the return journey, it had cleared up and we could see everything. So that was very pleasant. I saw the White house and many of the monuments around DC. I was surprised by the Martin Luther King Jr. monument, I didn't think I would like it. I have seen pictures and always thought it looked kind of odd. But seeing it in person, I really appreciated it more. I have to say it might have been my favorite. I also really liked this button on the White House fence. I was really hoping it was a doorbell and someone would answer after we pushed it. Shockingly, nothing happened. Michelle didn't invite us in for lemonade, Bo did not come bounding to the gate to meet us. It was a little disappointing. I took the afternoon bus to NYC and had dinner with a friend I met on the Berkshire trip, then the midnight bus back into Boston. I got into Boston around 4 am and was at work around 10 - as per my usual schedule. It was a fun trip, and hopefully I will be able to venture out more in the future!
