So I have left the big city behind and am writing this blog from our beach house while enjoying a beautiful sunset over the marsh during high tide. I was thinking about it earlier and I realized I have moved around quite a bit in the past few days. It is crazy that this time just three days ago I was battling the most crowded metro rush hour I had seen all summer, trying to get back from work and pack up the rest of my stuff before beginning phase one of the trek back to Wilmington.
I had a great last week of work and even received a going away breakfast from my supervisors. They also surprised me with a very thoughtful gift including my very own Smithsonian tote bag, Smithsonian t-shirt, and Smithsonian notebook. I totally am planning on wearing/carrying those three items all at once at some point. On Thursday, my last day at work, Shannon and Aislan and I also walked to get frozen yogurt at our favorite place and then, drumroll please... RODE THE CAROUSEL!!! My Smithsonian ID badge got me a ton of perks this summer. We're talking free IMAx tickets, discounts in gift shops and museum restaurants, access to cool places, no waiting in lines, etc. However, in my opinion, the fact that you could ride the Mall carousel for no charge was the best of all. We also got a very interesting ride since there was a major storm brewing in the distance, complete with massive bolts of lightning and rumbling thunder, while we were gleefully whirling around and around on our pretty little painted ponies. The ride ended, we made our way (quickly) back over towards our office as the sky blackened, and then... maybe 20 yards from our building, the bottom drops out. Tourists were panicking, whipping out umbrellas every which way and running for cover. Luckily, the downpour started right as we reached the covered walkway in front of the Smithsonian Castle. We stood there for a second and pulled out Aislan's tiny little umbrella, the only one we had on hand since I made the smart decision to leave mine at home that day. We were contemplating how to fit all of us underneath the dinky little thing when we realized we were Smithsonian employees, therefore we have underground access to our office building from the castle. SCORE!!! We made it back without a drop of rain on us. I did feel sort of bad when we kept seeing sopping wet tourists walking by for the rest of the afternoon... but not too bad.
Here are some pictures to sum up my last week in D.C.
I just couldn't leave without doing the ultimate touristy D.C. thing and going up in the Washington Monument. Plus, it was the last item on my big D.C. To-Do List that I challenged myself with over the summer.
View of the Lincoln Memorial from 500 feet up!
One last roomie date to go see Mary Poppins the musical at the Kennedy Center
YES THIS IS ANDY RODDICK!!!! I got to see him warming up not 20 feet away from me in between my ushering duties at the Legg Mason Tennis Tournament!!!! May or may not have taken about 100 pictures...
The main stadium at the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center where the tournament took place. I also had the chance to see James Blake play here the next night.
After my fun metro ride home (which took 45 minutes... usually it takes 7... D.C. public transportation goes crazy when it rains) I got back to my room planning on getting together the little bit of stuff I had left. "Little bit" was completely incorrect I soon discovered. I had planned on just carrying perhaps one or two little bags over to Rachael's car as I met up with them when they got off work. Then ideally we would just go along our merry little way and jet on out to their house in Arlington. Well... that's not exactly what happened. First, it was raining outside. And I realized I still had a lamp, a massive mattress pad, all my bedding, a bag of clothes, some kitchen supplies, a backpack, tons of stuffed animals... so that wasn't happening. Thankfully Rachael ended up just driving over and parking in front of my building so I could dump the last of my stuff in her car in a slightly less wet state. Then we drive off to go turn in my keys thinking that I am good to go and had everything out of the room. However, as I was turning in my key, asking the guy at the desk whether there was anything else I needed to take care of, I have this vision of my cute striped curtains still hanging in the windows in my dorm room. So, fun fun fun, I ask for my keys back, we drive over there, I collect my curtains, drive back, and turn in my keys for good this time. Then we went to Thai Noy, our favorite Thai restaurant near their house, and ate massive amounts of delicious food since we were both starved after all the moving.
So I spent Wednesday night in my dorm in D.C., Thursday night in Arlington, Virginia with Rachael and Eric, Friday night in Alexandria, Virginia at my overnight babysitting job, and then Saturday night here at Wrightsville Beach! My car looked like a closet on wheels and I am just looking forward to being semi-settled for a month or so before I head off to Scotland. Plus, I am looking forward to some good home cooking courtesy of the Mommy. As much fun as it was to cook in my microscopic little kitchen with no measuring cups and one pot and pan to my name, it will be nice to be home and have some family time.
I of course waterskied the moment I got out of my car, even before going inside. Then we enjoyed some of the glorious southern creation that is BBQ, performed the usual beach ritual of going to get ice cream after dinner, and then lounged on the porch in the rocking chairs. I love this lazy lifestyle down here, it's so nice to be home. Today I got to run the loop, kneeboard, swim, kayak, walk the dogs, and didn't change out of my bathing suit once. It's going to be a great couple of weeks relaxing down here. I will miss the big city but it is nice to return home to my good old North Carolina roots before heading off to rediscover my Scottish roots in a little less than a month!
