back on the west coast, safe and sound!
my trip to maryland was amazing, to say the least. i never wanted to come back to california. but here i am, and within a few short hours, i'm back to my same old routine.
thursday, after my last blog, i showed up at the airport just in time to find out my flight was delayed 2 and a half hours. at the rate things were going, i was even more nervous about the trip, sure that this was just a foreshadowing of things to come. i grabbed a cheeseburger and iced coffee, did sudoku and people watched while i waited, and thankfully, time passed by pretty quickly.
the flight was easy enough. i had the window seat, which i always love. there was no one sitting on the seat next to me, so i sprawled out and tried to sleep. it was far too freezing in the airplane for that and someones uncontrolled child kept screaming intermittently, so that made it difficult. the highlight was watching "despicable me" which i really enjoyed! i'm not sure if i was just tired or what, but i laughed the whole way through.
i finally landed in virginia at around 1am east coast time. ryan was ready and waiting for me. we grabbed my bag and headed back to his house. the drive back to maryland was 2 hours, which wasn't as horrible as i thought it would be. we snacked on pretzels and gushers in the car and talked nonstop about everything from all the pets we've had to speeding tickets. we got back to his house around 3, 3:30 and it was off to bed.
friday morning, we had breakfast around 11 and then took off to see the town! i fell in love with the east coast immediately. the cars on the road are few compared to california. there are trees everywhere, which makes it absolutely beautiful, and all kinds of mom-and-pop businesses. my favorite thing about the east coast though is all the colonial-style buildings. ryan explained to me that most of the houses were built in the 1700-1800's, and i loved that mostly everything out there has an extensive history behind it.
ryan drove me around and showed me the different schools and churches that have been apart of his life up until now. we got coffee and hot chocolate at their local gas station called Wawa. across the street was another gas station called Royal Farms. ryan explained to me that there is a big rivalry between the two and all the locals choose which business they want to support. i liked that! capitalism at it's best :)
after all that, we went out to elk neck state park to do some hiking around turkey point. (i would like to take this time to point out you don't have to PAY to visit state parks in maryland. california's points were going down by the second.)
anyways, that was a fun adventure! it was beautiful out there. quiet. secluded.
i think we saw one other person during the few hours we spent messing around out there!
i didn't wear the best hiking shoes so that made things difficult, but i made the best of it. once again, we talked and talked and laughed A LOT. we climbed some trees, swung on some vines...i left the park feeling accomplished and refreshed :)
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^turkey point^
^turkey point lighthouse^
after our adventures at turkey point, we swung by to pick up james, a friend of ryan's whom i had met the summer of 2009. we went this cute little "apple hill" type place (for those of you sacramentians who know apple hill) and picked up apple cider donuts and cherry cider.
then we went to this cute little mom-and-pop barcecue place to pick up dinner.
we went back to ryan's house to eat our DELICIOUS barbecue sandwiches and apple cider donuts, then watched two movies: 9 and Carriers.
the first was a Tim Burton movie and the second was a low-budget film about 4 kids trying to survive a worldwide virus epidemic. i couldn't figure out how i felt about 9 and Carriers was sad, but both were very interesting and i enjoyed them. after the movies, we sat around eating chips and salsa, talking and planning our trip to DC the next day.
saturday morning we got up early and got breakfast at the CUTEST little country place called Cracker Barrel,
then it was an hour drive to the train, which took us into DC.
our first stop was the holocaust museum.
they didn't have their normal exhibit, but rather an exhibit regarding Nazi propaganda.
it was an interesting and eye-opening exhibit. It was also terrifying to see the same patterns that took place in Nazi Germany being repeated today. i thought it was interesting that some of the people that had been part of the propaganda were tried in the Nuremberg trials along with other war criminals because their words were believed to help promote the crimes committed against the Jews.
i also saw further the part that America played in ending the war and in freeing the Jewish people.
there were also other exhibits in the museum regarding genocide that is still happening across the world today, especially in African countries. it was extremely sad. heart-wrenching, even. it made me want to get involved and reassured me of my desires to be involved in the political aspect of freedom in other countries.
after the holocaust museum, we saw the washington memorial.
after that was the world war 2 memorial, which i felt was appropriate to follow the holocaust museum. it gave me a renewed sense of pride in America and the things we have always stood for. we have always been a country to promote the highest good and to help others who haven't been able to help themselves. i believe America has lost that outlook and i hope one day we get it back.
anyway, the memorial was pretty amazing.
^favorite^
^that says "here we mark the price of freedom."
^i love that quote^
then we headed to the lincoln memorial.
^the view from the lincoln memorial^
^the vietnam memorial wall^
then a quick walk to 1600 pennsylvania avenue :)
after the white house, we were exhausted and ready for food, so ryan asked a secret service guy where the best place was to eat and he recommended old ebbitt grill.
it was good food, a unique atmosphere, and i personally enjoyed it!
after our late lunch, it was back to the train station and a drive back to maryland. ryan dropped off james to attend to some homework, so he and i headed to this little downtown area by his house. and by downtown, i mean one little street of a bunch of cute little shops, all decorated in Christmas lights! it was absolutely adorable. we walked to this place called Woody's which is famous for its crab bisque soup.
so we got some soup and talked about the world and the church and God and friends and all kinds of different things. it was the perfect way to end such a nice day.
sunday morning, we went to his church, then came back to his house for a maryland crab lunch.
turns out maryland crabs are quite different than alaskan crabs, so i got to learn the art of pulling out crab guts and intestines.
it wasn't as gross as i expected, and the crabs were delicious.
after lunch, we headed to philadelphia for the evening. our first stop: eastern state penitentiary, which was freakin awesome!!!
it was the first penitentiary in the whole world. the whole thing was pretty creepy and the fact that we got there in the early evening amplified that effect, but that made me love it that much more! we did an audio tour, so we had a chance to explore quite a bit of the prison, learn about the history, and hear from some of the prisoners themselves.
it was interesting to learn that in this penitentiary, the prisoners had no contact with anyone, not even the guards. it was complete solitude 24 hours a day, with about 30 minutes each day to go outside and stand in their "exercise yard" to get some sunshine. the thought behind this was to give the prisoner only time to think about the crimes they had committed so that they might be repentant.
^the exercise yard^
after the penitentiary sufficiently creeped me out, we went to see the liberty bell and independence hall. the liberty bell was closed, so we got to see it from outside, which was fine by me. :)
independence hall was across the street and was also closed, and security had blocked off the entire street. it was also blocked by trees, so all i could do was take pictures of the adjacent buildings. one day, i hope to go back and see the insides, but it was cool just to see it and to know what important things had taken place in those buildings!
^congress hall^
^old city hall^
after philadelphia, we drove back to ryan's house. his dad had made DELICIOUS homemade pizza, so i sat around with ryan's mom, dad, and brother, brandon, eating pizza and talking.
eventually, everyone left the table except ryan's mom, cheryl, and i, and we spent a good 3 hours talking. i felt like i could connect with her on such a deep level. we talked parents, friendships, politics, struggles...it was nice to hear her story and listen to her wisdom. she had the most genuine, sweet spirit and i was thankful to be able to have that time with her.
i finally got to sleep around midnight, and we left for virginia at 4:30am, getting to the airport around 7.
as much as i knew my time was up, it hard to say good-bye. to the east coast and to ryan. he has become one of my best friends and being that best friends are few and far between, it was a little difficult to say good-bye to that. i didn't cry though, because i'm sure i will be seeing him again.
then it was up through airport security, a quick 1-hour wait, and a 5-and-a-half-hour flight home. that flight seemed much longer than the ride there and i was exhausted and cranky until we landed. but of course, i'm still thankful that i made it there and back in one piece, which is all i could've asked for :)
in the end, it was probably one of the best trips i've ever had and i absolutely cannot wait to go back!
eventually, everyone left the table except ryan's mom, cheryl, and i, and we spent a good 3 hours talking. i felt like i could connect with her on such a deep level. we talked parents, friendships, politics, struggles...it was nice to hear her story and listen to her wisdom. she had the most genuine, sweet spirit and i was thankful to be able to have that time with her.
i finally got to sleep around midnight, and we left for virginia at 4:30am, getting to the airport around 7.
as much as i knew my time was up, it hard to say good-bye. to the east coast and to ryan. he has become one of my best friends and being that best friends are few and far between, it was a little difficult to say good-bye to that. i didn't cry though, because i'm sure i will be seeing him again.
then it was up through airport security, a quick 1-hour wait, and a 5-and-a-half-hour flight home. that flight seemed much longer than the ride there and i was exhausted and cranky until we landed. but of course, i'm still thankful that i made it there and back in one piece, which is all i could've asked for :)
in the end, it was probably one of the best trips i've ever had and i absolutely cannot wait to go back!
^maggie, ryan's dog. she's adorable :)
^ryan and i in his backyard, right before partaking in our crab lunch :)
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