DC, Baltimore, and Philadelphia

A few days ago, came back from a quick trip to Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia. The bulk of the trip was spent in the D.C. area. We stayed in Roslyn, just across the Key Bridge, overlooking Georgetown. The first day, we had lunch in D.C.'s Chinatown then walked over to Museum of Air and Space. Afterward, we went to East Potomac Park, where the photo at left of Justin was taken. For dinner, we went with the hotel's restaurant to enjoy the view from high up.

The next day, we went to the National Zoo and had lunch at some lousy Chinese restaurant in the area. The rest of the day was spent resting, followed by swimming in the hotel pool and dinner at Miss Saigon Vietnamese dinner in Georgetown. We thought Georgetown would be for strolling, but then it rained AND all stores, except Barnes & Noble, were closed at 9 p.m.

The day we left D.C., we went to the the Bureau of Engraving at 8 a.m., but alas they already ran out of tickets. Supposedly people were on the queue at 5:30 a.m. We already got up at 6 a.m. and it was very difficult so anything earlier than that would be impossible. Going with Plan B, we went to the Capitol - again, queues galore, but at least they still have tickets to give out. Our tickets were for 11 a.m. but it was only 9:30 a.m. and it was raining. We had to huddle outside the front door of the National Botanical Garden, whose scheduled opening hour was 10 a.m. Bureaucratic as they were, they wouldn't open the door a little earlier but simply ignored us. Once inside, we had to go through metal detectors and x-ray machines. The same thing played out when we got into the Capitol. Damn you, Osama Bin Laden, for causing all these extra inconveniences! Back north we went and stopped by Baltimore's Inner Harbor for a ride on the Chessie Seamonster paddle boats. Then we sat on the waterfront to witness the return of the yacht ABN AMRO One, supposedly the first-place winner in some ocean race. It was nice that they gave out whistles to the crowd so we could make noises to greet the vessel. We stayed at some Marriott Residence Inn, where I found PC with Internet access - free! Sadly, I didn't have any worthwhile personal email to read.

It was time to go home. We stopped by Philadelphia's Chinatown for lunch. Afterward, we walked over to the U.S. Mint, where camera of all kinds were not allowed inside. Sheesh, we were already guilty before anything is proven. Some tourist-friendly spot! Next was the Liberty Bell, but since I already saw it before, us two drivers walked back to Chinatown to get the cars to pick up the rest of the party at the Bell. A few hours later, back in NYC we were. Aaahhh, no place like home.