Trip to D.C. Part I

I love roadtrips. I really, really love to travel. I start packing weeks before the trip and count down the days -- that's how excited I get about going places. This trip was no exception. I knew it was going to be a blast and couldn't wait to show my kids all the cool things in Washington D.C. I am so lucky my boss gave me the time off to go. This is a trip the kids and I will remember for the rest of our lives. It was that much fun!

Because we had to pick up people from different churches in the southern WV area, we took the long way to D.C. and didn't get there until late in the evening. Our driver gave us a driving tour of some of the more famous sites in the downtown area, and then dropped us off at our hotel -- the Savoy Suites of Georgetown. I didn't have anything at all to do with planning the trip, so I really didn't know what we had in store for accomodations, but I was pleasantly surprised with the hotel. It's located near the cathedral (you could see it really well from our rooms) and we had a nice room with a kitchenette. There are plenty of places to eat near the hotel, and a Whole Foods just a block away (handy -- because I had to run there to buy cold medicine for Isaac.) It's a safe neighborhood, too -- lots of local residents jogging and out walking around. I was impressed with the service, too. I want to plan another trip to DC to stay longer and show the kids around, and I will definitely stay there again.

Dinner was not so great. We stopped at some place called the Old Country Buffet, which is a lot like Golden Corral and other all-you-can-eat buffets. I mean, it wasn't bad... I'm just not a big fan of quantity-over-quality, and there weren't many low-fat, low-carb options on the buffet, other than the salad bar. Even the veggie dishes were dripping with cheese, gravy, or fried. The kids liked it, though, and we were all hungry and tired of riding in the bus all day, so it was OK. Besides, the bus driver seemed to really, really want to take us there, so nobody complained too much. Little did we know what we had in store for the next evening...

I fell asleep with the curtains open, staring at the cathedral. It's such a gorgeous sight! It looks totally out of place in downtown Washington D.C. You would really expect to see it in Europe, or even New York, but not D.C. That night, I had dreams of walking around the cathedral grounds, looking up at it from the ground, with the moonlight falling down on the frosty carved stone, making the cathedral look like it was made of crystal.