Adventures of a Nerd

Last year around this time, the mister and I were preparing for a 10 day vacation. We spent 7 of those days aboard the Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas and 3 days visiting a friend in Florida. Since my stilettos have never left U.S. territory, this felt like it was my first “real” vacation, I was beyond excited.  Sun. Sand.  And drinks with little pink umbrellas equals one happy wifey!

To my own shocking surprise, when our crew ship docked last April, I decided that there was a long list of things that I wanted to see/do in the U.S. before I ever planned on leaving again. Don’t get me wrong, we had a fantastic time on the cruise.  The weather was beautiful, I went to sleep every night to the sound of the sea, and a fresh pina colada greeted me every morning.  Come on. Really? What’s not to love?

The reality is that my journey to “adulthood” has caused my inner geek to surface.  Against all things "cool", I find more enjoyment from learning, sightseeing, and history. After being treated like royalty for a week aboard the Oasis, I decided to make a bucket list of things I wanted to see or do in the U.S. One of the first things on my list was to visit Washington D.C. As completely lame as it is for me to admit, I actually picked D.C. over spending a week at the beach.  Ludicrous, isn’t it?

This year instead of preparing for a 10 day sun and sand vaca, I packed up the truck and forced the hubs on a mini road trip to Washington D.C.  At first I don’t think Wade had any interest in visiting DC and he wasn't the least bit excited about the trip but as we traveled closer to our final destination, I could tell he was into all the history we would be encountering. 

Our first stop was Gettysburg, PA. This was actually not at my request but since I pretty much forced  this trip on my husband, I figured I had to compromise. 

A few snap shots of Gettysburg...

It turned out to be a very interesting stop for me. Contrary to my beliefs, the grounds were breathtaking...

On top of one of the monuments overlooking the battlegrounds...

As soon as we arrived in Washington D.C.,  we conquered two of my demands for the trip…

...The Washington Monument

Our creative attempt to capture the both of us and the Washington Monument

...and the Lincoln Memorial

Seeing Lincoln inside was very powerful.  Pictures do not do it justice.

More pics of the Washington Monument...

The second day in the city, we made our way to the White House. Since we were visiting DC at the beginning of the Cherry Blossom Festival, the Mall was filled with people and almost all of them were flying kites.  When you looked up to the sky it was full of all different kinds of kites.  It was really cool! I wish that I could have captured the beauty of it better but this will have to do…

@ the White House

My final demand for the trip was visiting Arlington Cemetery.  To think that, I almost sacrificed visiting the sacred burial grounds for the sake of my feet and my husband’s...this was such an incredibly moving experience.  I have always thought that I recognized the price paid for freedom, standing there on top of the hill looking down at the miles and miles of heroes, made it all so much more real and valuable.  We are a very privileged nation to have so many courageous individuals. 

@ the Smithsonian

We ended the trip wrapped up in each other’s words at a little piano lounge in the adorable town of Winchester where we enjoyed a fantastic meal. It was the perfect ending to my geeky adventure!