I’m home, and nearly recovered from another non-stop, action-packed, sweat-filled mini vacation. This time I flew down to DC to spend four days sight-seeing with Mandy, who is now a resident of Alexandria, Virginia. I got up at 4:30 to catch my flight, and didn’t lay my head on a pillow until 2:30 the following morning. I’m too old for this! Here’s a breakdown of the trip (or, if you prefer, you can go right to the photos – of which there are many! – by clicking here):

Day One: Arrived in Baltimore at 8:00. Took my stuff back to Mandy’s apartment, gave Pedro a quick scratch, and then headed to the District. We went to the Lincoln Memorial, and then toured the Korea, Vietnam, and World War II Memorials. We then hiked down (up?) the Mall to the Washington Monument. After plenty of picture taking, we drove over to Arlington to watch the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. However, I nearly blacked out from the heat, so we cut that short and headed back to Alexandria. After some rehydration and some down time, we got gussied up and headed out to meet Allison for dinner at The Source (insert oohs and ahhs here!). Here’s a picture of the three of us at dinner:

It was, simply, the most amazing meal I’ve ever had. Rather than ordering from the menu, we were treated to selections sent to us from Chef (aka Scott), which ended up being an eight course meal with wine pairings. We had delicious things like tuna tartare, tiny dumplings, heirloom tomato salad, rack of lamb, suckling pig… I even tried goat cheese! It was just heaven. Thank you, Scott and Allison, for a unbelievable evening!

Day Two: After sleeping in (a bit), we headed back to the District and spent the day museum hopping. We hit the Jim Henson/Muppet exhibit, wandered through the National Gallery (where we studied “River of Light” per Jamie’s orders), and saw dinosaurs, the Hope Diamond, and crazy sea monsters (in 3D!) at the Natural History Museum. We then wandered up the mall to the Capitol for a bit. A quick Metro ride and we were at the Washington Nationals game, where the Nats rallied to beat the Reds. Here’s a picture of me and Mandy at the game (pardon the watermark):

Day Three: It was a beautiful day, and the perfect weather to get away from the city. We drove down to the Southern Maryland shore and wandered around North Beach, Chesapeake Beach, and Breezy Point. Here’s a picture of me in the beautifully warm water at Breezy Point:

After lunch, we lounged away the afternoon by the pool at Mandy’s apartment. In the evening, we noshed on some Thai food and then caught a showing of The X-Files: I Want to Believe.

Day Four: A tour of Old Town in Alexandria, shopping, lunch and sailboat watching at National Harbor, and then it was time to head back to Baltimore for the return flight to Rochester. The picture below is from a fascinating and slightly disturbing piece of art installed at National Harbor called The Awakening.

Again, pictures are all here. (There are two pages of photos, so be sure to check them all out.) Thank you, Mandy Lou, for a fantastic trip! Where to next?