Talladega- NASCAR

Since Dustin and I have been together he has been trying to get me to drink the NASCAR kool-aid. For the past five years I have been reluctant.  Watching cars go around a circle 200+ times never seemed like my idea of fun. Knowing how much Dustin enjoys it and that he has never been to a Talladega, I wanted to surprise him.  I got in touch with his twin brother and planned to meet up with them there.  I kept the secret up until the night before we were getting ready to leave.  We went to Wal-Mart to buy food for while we were camping.  I kept putting more food than Dustin thought two people needed. Every time I would put food for four in the cart Dustin would take some out.  He finally started to get frustrated with me and I had to spill the beans.  Heres were I get lazy...I'll let my sister in law explain the rest of the day. 

Devin was a little "tired" and his brother was feeling a little "silly"

Devin didnt think to check the chair for water after the rain.  He got his bum a little wet and was trying to dry off near our puny fire!

Bub and me on pit road!  I didnt realize until we were close up to the cars that even the headlights were stickers.

Despite feeling awful, I managed to have a great time.  It was nice to hang out with Devin and Erin away from the holiday hustle and bustle. To get more into the race I picked a driver, Clint Bowyer 15,  while we were down on pit road before the race.  We are planning on going back to the spring race in a few months.  Hopefully this trip doesn't result in bronchitis. :)

Washington DC - Chinatown

We decided to go to Chinatown for dinner.  By this time we had figured out the Metro well enough to navigate without confusion. (FINALLY!) Getting off the Metro we were welcomed by the  Friendship Arch, a Chinese gate built over the street. 

Chinatown is a cute not-so-little historical development near the Verizon Center.  While there were twinkles of authenticity,  it seemed that most of the businesses were no longer representative of what Im sure Chinatown once was.  However, we later learned in efforts to keep the Chinatown feel, it is city requirement for all shops and businesses to post signage in Chinese characters. Even national chains like Starbucks, Chipotle and Bed Bath and Beyond hang their names in Chinese outside their stores. 

The real reason for our visit to Chinatown, EAT! We chose to eat at Ping Pong Dim Sum. It had a cool, dimly-lit atmosphere that made us both feel a little underdressed but we were hungry and no one really seemed to care. We split 4 plates of dim sum, they were good but slightly overpriced.  Their happy hour drink selection however, was amazing to say the least!  I indulged with an earl grey mint julep, and a few lychee rose martinis.  Im normally not a fan of fruity drinks but the rose was pleasantly overpowering, one of the best drinks I have ever had! 

Museum of Natural History

My favorite of all the museums we visited while in DC was without a doubt The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.  I was hardly impressed when we first arrived.  The first exhibit we went through was Mammals Hall and I felt like I was walking through a taxidermy zoo.

As we continued walking threw the stuffed animals we came across the animal bones. This part was pretty cool.  Not as many full fossil skeletons as there was bits and pieces.  It was interesting but certainly not aww-worthy.  We were actually getting ready to leave when we realized that there was a second floor.

 Butterflies and Insect Zoo!  Tuesdays just so happened to be the free butterfly house admission.  The wait was 15 minutes but it was certainly well worth it!  I had been trying to get a shot of a Blue Morpho  when a friendly little butterfly came and landed on my finger. It was awesome...needless to say I didn't get the shot. :)

 The Gems and Minerals exhibit was my favorite part! But I suppose thats to be expected. What girl doesn't like pretty, shinny things? The bottom pictures are Aquamarine, Ruby, and Emerald.

 

The evolution of Man

We spent most of our day here because it was so fascinating! We had plans of visiting the Arlington National Cemetery but opted to fill our bellies instead.

Washington DC

By the time we got to DC today we wouldn't have had much time to visit any of the museums so we thought it best to get all of the sight-seeing done today. After checking into our hotel we walked down to the metro station. We studied the map debating the best route to take, it was pretty complicated! Ten minutes later, thinking we had it figured out, we hopped on a line heading into downtown.  Exiting the station we realized the stop was not as close as anticipated to the National Mall.  My impatience got the better of me while Dustin was deciphering the map and I decided to figure it out myself, hopping to find signs pointing us in the right direction. We walked almost eight blocks before Dustin pointed out that I had taken us the wrong way.  He got a pretty good laugh at my expense!  He loves it when I'm wrong :) I then decided to relinquishing my map rights  for the rest of our trip.  

The Capitol building was the first stop.  I immediately began to sing, "Oh I'm just a bill, yes I'm only a bill, and I got as far as Capitol Hill..." (I wonder how many other awesome-minded people do the same thing.)

Our second stop was the Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle). What a disappointment! The outside promises exhibits of wonders inside. Sadly, that is not the case. The Castle was mostly filled sweaty tourists sitting around avoiding the heat. On our way to the Washington Monument we stopped into the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum to escape the heat ourselves.

The Spirit of St. Louis. Flown solo by Charles Lindbergh, was the first monoplane to make the transatlantic non-stop trip from New York to Paris in 1927.

The 1903 Wright Flyer.  To see the actual instruments, documented experimentation and research and its outcome in person was remarkable!  Dustin of course was very interested in the engineering studying every hands on display in the exhibit.

                         

The Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle. "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind"

HML/A 167 representing in the Smithsonian!

The Washington Monument was our next stop.  We gave our feet a break laying in the lawn while admiring this grand phallic structure and taking silly pictures.  

Vietnam Memorial.  What can you say about this piece that hasn't already been said? This picture of course does it no justice.  Something everyone should not just see but examine. 

On a lighter note, here is good ole Abe! So many people here that we literally walked up, took a picture and walked down.  I was going to take a picture of the reflecting pool but I just seemed to catch photos of people who walked in front of me.  Egh!  The water was super green with algae anyway.

ALBERT! My main man! After a long day of walking I almost opted out of going to see this fella but knowing that we would be down that far again, I sucked it up.  Im so glad I did!  Look at this guy!

National Museum of the Marine Corps

"The Marines have landed and the situation is well in hand." -Richard Harding Davis

As most of you know I'm not exactly an "Ooh Rah" kind of Marine Corps wife but as Dusto walked me through the Making Marines exhibit my heart filled with pride for my husband.  Don't get me wrong I have always been proud of what he does but walking through the exhibits and and hearing him explain what he went through himself really put it into perspective for me.

After stopping to watch a video before entering the WWII exhibit an volunteer directed us to the next stop.  This volunteer was Frank Matthews (24th Marines, 4th Marine Division - Iwo Jima). He talked to   us about his first hand experiences.  Google him, you'll find some very informal insight!


Flags flown over Mt. Suribachi.  If you look to the far left you will see a scale of the two flags.

Thats right....legos!