DC Voyage Day 2

This morning, we got up very early (my time) and very late late (her time). We made our way to a nice little place called Kramerbooks and Afterwords Cafe, just off DuPont Circle. She had standard am fare: Belgian waffle, sausage patty, and an egg with a glass of fresh OJ. I had the Crabcake Benedict. It was a standard EB with the ham sliced dropped and a crabcake in its place. The hollandaise actually goes quite well with cake. I had coffee as well because do I look like an animal?

 

On our way to the museum, we saw a lot of short-coats on the subway. A short-coat is a somewhat derogatory term for a medical student (because they have to wear short white coats, when they graduate, they get to wear long white coats).  They were going to advocate for changes in opioid policies and some other stuff. The second-year short-coat we talked to wasn’t completely clear on why he was in Washington, DC. I briefly considered changing courses and joining them in advocacy, but I realized I didn’t want to be a part of a lackluster protest.

 

We then made our way to the National Museum of Natural History. This is where dinosaurs go when they die (ed note: they actually go into the ground, usually a mud pit, where they sit and the bones are replaced with minerals that become rock until they are exposed by a graduate student with raising Vitamin D levels then they go to a lab where they sit for decades misunderstood, then they go to this museum). The only problem was that the fossils section was closed for renovations. So we looked at a lot of rocks, gems, what have you. For those dedicated readers, you’ll be happy to hear that Max did not follow us here.

 

The Hope Diamond was here as were a number of other named diamonds that we didn’t know. We still got to see some fossils (particularly the ones pictured). There was also a mummy exhibit but I don’t really think that’s natural history. Seems unnatural to me but what should I know? While there, we also watched an IMAX on the National Park system. It was sponsored by Subaru.

 

There was a woman there that got upset because “this” (she pointed to the skeleton of small rodent) “looks JUST like a Tyrannosaurus” and yet the “scientists” tell us they didn’t have hair! She later admitted that she would relinquish her argument (we weren’t completely sure what her argument was, other than nonsensical) if they could provide her with a photograph of a dinosaur. I considered stepping in (I did TA for an evolutionary biology course in undergrad) but I decided that she wasn’t likely to listen to my answers.

 

After the NMNH, we walked through the mall. The mall is a grassy knoll where the Washington Monument, the reflecting pool, the Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, and WWII memorial are all located.

 

 

 

So we walked through all of these, then we went past the White House and to a nice bar on top of the W Hotel where we met one of Adrienne’s friends. We turned around, took the subway back to the hotel, and had a quick and quiet dinner at the hotel restaurant, Riggsby’s, which we heard was good. Adrienne had a lot of roasted chicken which was succulent and juicy. I had seared scallops that were perfectly prepared.

 

 

At the end of the day, we did a lot of walking – so for the rest of this trip, at the end of the day, I’ll share our Fitbit step numbers. She has a smaller stride, so her numbers are falsely inflated, which I think is unfair.

 

After dinner, we went to bed with tired feet.