Ram. Blin.

Sweet Enemy and I took a trip to DC to visit AndreZero and ScienceGirl. Here are some notes of the trip

- Trains are cool, but better if your seatmate is a close friend.

- Thirteen hours is a long time, especially if you spend seven of them riding backwards

- Drawing on train not possible due to vibrations. Good thing I brought along a giant book. I did make some attempt during longer stops. Here's a small sketch of a guy walking by while waiting in West Haven, CT




- There is no 'wrong side of the tracks'. Every place where buildings meet train tracks is a buffer of garbage. What is with people?

- A train may make good time but, unless your destination is the first stop, it doesn't matter: they never depart before their set time

- DC Metro is ridiculously easy to navigate, if the Metro card kiosks aren't

- DC Metro is also ridiculously clean and the people are relaxed. It's weird.

- Met by AndreZero and ScienceGirl outside Metro station then walked 100 meters to their apartment. Brought them a gallon of real maple syrup. More expensive than gasoline but so tasty. Bags much lighter on way home.

- Downtown DC near the mall is cool and the nicest city I've been in. Probably because it's tourist-oreinted.

- Hit the National Air and Space Museum. Not near enough helicopters, USCG or SAR. By "not near enough" I mean "None"

- National Portrait Gallery is awesome. It is the only gallery where I didn't get art fatigued. I even sketched a marble bust (I meant to just draw the hair but, kept going). Never looked at the card though. Re-drew the picture 'better' the next day waiting for ScienceGirl to wake up. ScienceGirl not MorningPerson.


- Met AndreZero and ScienceGirl at the NPG and they took us to great small Mexican place. Guacamole made right at our table. Fresh and good. Margarittas, too! Good thing not driving.

-Hanging with AndreZero and ScienceGirl on Saturday and Sunday. That's all we really came for.

- Ate with them at a real cafe near Politics and Prose. By "real" I mean that there was a guy eating lunch with a glass of wine all by himself; you don't see that much at regular restaurants. The food was mediocre, but the service and atmosphere was outstanding. If I lived there, it would be my regular place.

- Was introduced to both Cuban cuisine and the Mojito. Both are awesome. Waiter was wonderful. When Sweet Enemy asked for the tiny remains of our dinner to be wrapped up she apologized for having to wrap up such a small amount but "it was so good". Waiter returned with a take-away box filled with more of what we had. Wonderful.

- Home for more drinking and Lego Creationary *. It is fun but, more fun drunk!

-Dragging AndreZero to the Natural History Museum. He was a good sport.

- At the NHM watched a mom deal wonderfully when her two little girls found the human child skeleton on display.

- None of us noticed the stuffed leopard in a fake tree right over our heads. So much for survival.

- Dinosaurs smaller than when I was eight. Also, T-Rex not dragging tail anymore

- NHM is for kids. Not just the layout and interactivity. It's that they don't answer a lot of questions, they just make you want to find out more on your own. Not a bad thing.

- At NHM discovered that there is a creature called the Pink Fairy Armadillo. No, really.

- Introduced to the TV show Sherlock. Very much goodness.

-Ate home-made nachos for dinner while watching Sherlock. It's good to be a grownup

- Much wine consumed over visit. Tried to introduce ScienceGirl to good beer but doesn't like belching.

The worst part was saying goodbye. We didn't need to be in a place with great museums and restaurants. Hanging out with AndreZero and ScienceGirl was the reason we went. Hope we were good guests. We tried to be good and not needy and all.

Listening to while posting: "French Navy" By Camera Obscura
*Note from that night written down on notepad for some reason: "Everyone's like: 'it's the Italian flag!' and you're like 'No, it's Sushi!'"