Washington, DC day 1

So as I was taking a shower, I noticed this . . .

. . . yes that is a large amount of mold in the shower; no way that just popped up overnight . . . in fact I did notice it last night around midnight and decided to let it be until morning.  I was not impressed.  I was also not impressed that we did not have hot water . . . it was warm at best but not warm enough for me.  As we were leaving the hotel, I stopped by the front desk to voice my concerns.  I don't like to complain . . . I really do not but found both of these situations unacceptable especially the mold!  I was told both would be taken care of immediately and all would be well when we returned.  We grabbed a cab and headed out for a day of fun . . . well as fun as it can be in freezing rain, and wind but mainly our day would be indoors.  Our first stop was Ford's Theater.

I remember visiting on my trip to DC in high school but on our last trip to DC tickets to Ford's Theater were sold out!  We would have 30 minutes in the museum and then see a 45 minute play called "One Destiny" inside the theater.  You could only enter at your time and of course it was raining but luckily we were under a roof.  The museum was small but good.  Colin enjoyed watching the video clips and looking at the displays.  I'm not sure how much he knows about Lincoln and his assassination but always good to be exposed to historical events.  The best part was seeing this . . .

As we waited to enter the theater a park ranger was telling someone to be sure to go sit in the balcony on the far left so you could see into the box.  So as soon as the doors opened that is exactly what we did.  Front row in fact and he was right . . .

The play started slow but picked up and was really good.  It gave a good background of the day Lincoln was assassinated.  Even Colin agreed he liked it.  It was still raining and cold so we popped into a deli for a light lunch of soup.  Apparently while we were inside the theater it snowed!  SNOW and we missed it.  We were meeting friends at 2pm so had about an hour to kill.  I could not resist taking a photo in front of one of my least favorite government offices as we walked by . . .

. . . I cringe every time I think about Colin paying taxes for money he receives because of Sean's death.  Irks me beyond words!  We decided to walk to the National Air and Space Museum . . . huge mistake . . . the line to enter was about two blocks long.  So we sort of just hung out and wandered around the mall area.  Sadly it is under renovation and you can't just roam on the grass . . .

I was really, really, really hoping that our visit would be perfect to see the cherry blossoms but sadly mother nature had other plans.  We did see a lot of beautiful tulips and winter flowers though . . .

 

Colin was starving so found him a snack before headed to the National Museum of Natural History.

I do enjoy this one and it never gets old roaming around.  Colin had fun too.  We were able to meet up with Sean's high school friends, Will and Jenn, from his days at Seoul American . . . we have kept in touch over the years and it was so nice they drove in to DC to visit for a couple of hours . . . the protest shut down the road they arrived on but they made it and we enjoyed chatting while we roamed around the museum . . .

I was amazed at how crowed DC was today.  I mean I know this is a popular time of year but there were people everywhere and a lot of them!  We headed back to the hotel for a quick change and then to the Metro to head to Alexandria to meet Logan and Patti for dinner.  They had picked a great place for dinner . . . Mackie's Bar and Grill.  As we looked at the menu, I first noticed the beet salad; I was so excited only to be told it was not available so I settled for Crab Cakes.  It sounded interesting and they sure were yummy!  Colin of course had steak!  We topped it off with the 'Dangerously' Chocolate Cake which was so good!  Dinner was good but the company was the best!  We made plans for Sunday and headed back to the hotel on the Metro!  As we walked back to the hotel, Colin proclaimed he was starving again.  Just so happens we passed a Chick-fil-a and grabbed him some food.  Boy, was he happy . . .

I headed for a shower . . . it wasn't hot but it was better than yesterday so I might have to mention it again.  However, the mold issue had been resolved; can you tell what they did?

At first I was like great it is fixed and then upon further examination I realized they did something sneaky!  They just re-caulked the seam.  Take a closer look of side by side photos . . .

 

I sure hope they killed the mold first!  Oh well I guess it isn't my issue but still disappointing too.