Welllll since mom has told you everything we did today except for when we used the bathroom... oh wait, she covered that too... I don't have much to add but I'll see what I can do.
The city really is beautiful and very different from New York. I have been here once in high school for a week trip and twice for day trips in college. Each time, I figure the city out more and more and love learning new things about it. I, like mom, find it very difficult to figure out my way around the city because it's not laid out on a grid like New York is. We're using our map ALOT and strengthen the Southern accents when asking for directions. We've done our best so far which brings me to the funny cab driver we had today....
After the Jefferson Memorial, mom and I were totally pooped and could not walk anymore so we hailed a cab to take us to Arlington National Cemetery. *Interesting DC fact: my idol, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and my second favorite President, her husband JFK, are buried there.* As soon as we got in the cab and told him to take us to the Cemetery, he reluctantly said "How do I get there?" and of course mom's eyes got big and we busted into immediate laughter. We decided to let him try to figure it out and we literally peed ourselves as he tried to stop every cab driver that passed by to ask how to get us there. No one stopped. So I got out the maps and told him everywhere to go - "You want to go West on Independence Avenue and take the ramp right." Of course the ramp was closed due to construction so I had to guess how to get there via Washington, DC Interstates (thank God for my impeccable sense of direction which I did NOT inherit from my mom). After a few "Are you sure we're going the right way"s from our cab driver and him pulling over three times to ask one construction worker and two joggers where we were supposed to go to validate my directions, we finally made it to Arlington Cemetery....and it was CLOSED for the night! We got a few pictures in after the cabbie agreed to take us back to DC because "We're a team now. We're in this together." As I tried to tell him directions to the Iwo Jima Memorial, he was not willing to take the risk to get us to the Memorial and was only going to take us to Dupont Circle for dinner! We laughed and laughed and had a hefty $23.75 cab ride, but the memory was much worth it (I guess it was, mom paid for it!) I found it very interesting that our cab driver was from Ethiopia and after mom asked "is everyone starving there?" he told us he escaped government corruption and came to DC to go to college and is working on getting his MBA degree. Might be a load of bull but we believed our partner and his stories were very interesting to me.
I was glad to visit my favorite memorial - the FDR memorial (my favorite President) - because it's just absolutely breathtaking. When you're visiting it, you're forced to reflect on a difficult time in our nation's history. I was also happy to visit the Korean Memorial because my Papa Mourad fought in the Korean War - I'm so proud of him and so grateful that he's my grandfather. He truly is a hero, and I was happy to honor him by visiting the beautiful, intricate Korean Memorial.
The only thing I have to complain about so far is my coughing attacks from the cigs (I will have second-hand smoke lung cancer after this trip). But if that's all I have to complain about, I know I'm a lucky gal! So glad to be with my mom - she makes me laugh like none other. When she smokes, I just smack my gum in her ear to annoy her. We're a good pair.
Have a great Friday, all! Until tomorrow.....
ohhhh how I wish I was a fly on the wall ! Ya'll are a HOOT !
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