DC, oh the memories!

Good Morning! Sorry that this is a day late. I had the best intentions to get this posted yesterday but I am leaving for school Tuesday (eek!) and the monster known as packing kidnapped me. I have a feeling he will stage another visit later today. Eeeewwwww.

Anyhoo, last week from Saturday to Friday I was in Virginia. It was a very interesting trip with lots of good food, family, and an unexpected trip to the Emergency Room. I'll touch on that last one a bit later.

I'll start with the trip to DC because it leads wonderfully to that trip to the ER. We took public transportation down to DC and started the day around 11 down there. It was a beautiful day-HOT, but beautiful.

One thing I immediately noticed was that a lot of the walkways were not paved. Um..really?? Excuse me, Mr. President, this is our country's capital. Think ya could do a little something about all that loose gravel?? Okay, maybe my irritation stemmed from the fact that I was wearing flip flops and had to walk like I was on hot coals or something to keep the gravel away from my toes. But I think I have a pretty valid point.

We went for about an hour walk when we first got there visiting a bunch of the sights. We went to the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and a beautiful area dedicated to WWII veterans. There was actually a tour of veterans there at the capital that day and watching those men look at their monument was one of the most touching things I have seen.

The brother and I in front of Lincoln's Memorial

Lincoln's Memorial

Capital Building

After our walk we grabbed some lunch and then checked out the Smithsonian. There are actually several Smithsonians in DC but we focused on Natural History and American History. And oh boy, was there a lot to see!

An elephant which I am pretty sure was in "Night at the Museum II"

The Hope Diamond

THE Julia Child's kitchen!

Carol Burnett's dress from her spoof of "Gone With The Wind"

Dorothy's ruby slippers

After a long day in DC we headed back and grabbed some food at an Italian restaurant near our hotel. The walk back is where the ER comes in. We jaywalked to get to the hotel quicker and my mom tripped in the street and hit her head. There was no serious damage but she suffered a gash right above her eyebrow and had to be taken to the ER for stitches. What is the lesson here, my friends? Don't jaywalk. Especially at 10:00 at night.

The drama and all put a bit of a damper on the trip but as my mom recovered the trip gained steam and we ended our stay in Virginia with the greatest (and cheapest) meal. This is a food blog, after all, so I figured I would end this post with a little Pho.

Are you drooling yet? I am. This Pho was seriously good. It even made me sort of get past my cilantro-hating self and that is a huge feat. The tofu was perfectly cooked and the broth SO flavorful. I used srirachi for the first time in it. Oh, the memories!

Well, I am off to see my grandparents. Gotta fit in all the visits before I am carted back to school! Enjoy your Sunday!!