We ended up stuck in the Quiet Car. I was glad we didn't get stuck sitting with strangers, but I could have done without the Quiet Car. It was so.......quiet. By the time we arrived in DC 2 hours later, I was twitching! But I digress. We were on the train, checking email and Facebooking on the super slow internet, finishing Geometry homework, when the train stopped for more passengers. Into our car came cell phone lady #1. She was SO LOUD. She probably wasn't *that* loud, but after all that quiet, she may as well be screaming! She woke up the sleeping lady behind her, who politely tapped her shoulder and reminded her that it was the Quiet Car. (I feel the need to capitalize it, I don't know why!) Cell Phone Lady totally ignored her and kept talking. Loudly. OMG. Sleeping Lady then tapped her other shoulder and just pointed to the sign. Cell Phone Lady then loudly told whoever she was talking to that she was in the Quiet Car and had to get off the phone. Ahhhhh back to the silence. Next stop. Sleeping lady left and 2 College Girls came in, laughing and being completely ridiculous, but when they saw the sign they left. Enter Cell Phone Lady 2, also loud, also asked to stop, although not very nicely. She talked for another few minutes before she hung up.
Yikes. Finally in DC, where we got some cupcakes at Crumbs in Union Station. We walked one block to the George and were able to check in immediately. Woot! The pic below is Union Station's front entrance.
We finished our walk and arrived at the Armory for the Expo. It was a fun expo, lots to look at. I was hoping to get a medal rack, since this race will fill my old one, but the ones they had were way more expensive than Gone For a Run, so I didn't get one. I got some cute arm sleeves and a shirt with a John Bingham quote on it though. Lots of yummy samples as well. The Teenie also gathered swag for a fellow MRTT member who couldn't get to the Expo today. I was also hoping to get a black running skirt, but forgot to look!
When it was time to go, the Teenie started to complain about walking back. I started to look around for Metro signs when we spied the bike rentals. Cooool! A quick swipe of the credit card, and $14 later, we were on our way back to Union Square!
Since the Zoo is free, we splurged on a cab ride to the Zoo. Our can driver martin was super friendly, pointing out where the Irish Pubs were, showing us certain things as we drove by, and he even pointed out the Hilton where Reagan was shot. Poor guy realized over 5 minutes in that he hadn't started the meter, so we probably saved a bit. It was $13+ when we got there, so I gave him a little extra to make up for what he lost. We stopped at the entrance to take a pic, thinking back to whenwe took the same pic with both kids so long ago :(
The Zoo is so beautiful and clean, I love visiting there! My mom wanted us to say hi to the elephant so we headed there, and we went to the Aviary. It was close to closing time, so we didn't see very much, but it was well worth the trip!
We stopped at one of the many Starbucks, and then headed to the Metro Station. Now, I have to say, the Metro scares the crap out of me. So does the Subway in NYC. I checked the map and was relieved to see that we wouldn't have to switch lines. A super nice woman, who used to lives in NYC, helped us figure out the ticket machine and we were on our way to the Metro. Our train arrived immediately, and we got seats almost as fast. A man had helped us check the map, and I misunderstood him, so we got off 3 stops early. Easily fixed, we hopped back on and made it back to Union Station.
We spent some downtime at the hotel, while we waited for the boys to arrive.
Great post! I live here and I love it. Funny, I went to the Zoo the other day just to walk. I posted about it. Good luck at RnR tomorrow!! I'm excited for this race :)
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading your recap, I was volunteering!
ReplyDeletethanks for volunteering!
Delete