Fwd: Day 1 in DC

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Jason Evans" <jevansfp@gmail.com>
Date: Mar 23, 2015 8:38 AM
Subject: Day 1 in DC
To: "Susan Hardage" <grammy1124@msn.com>, "Sheila & Gary Evans" <garyandsheila@cableone.net>, "Mark Evans" <mevans@chkenergy.com>, "Becky Evans" <radrebecca@gmail.com>
Cc:

We left the hotel after breakfast and got our train passes and took the Metro to the closest station to the Washington National Zoo. The highlights there were a kiwi bird (Aaron's current favorite animal) and their new baby panda Bao Bao.   The Zoo is nice.  Not the best we've seen.  It is on a huge hill, so after hiking half a mile there from the closest Metro station and tackling the Zoo's hill, we realized we didn't want to we didn't to wear our feet too early in the trip, so we took a taxi (Uber, actually - called a driver from an app on my phone) to drive us a mile over to the US National Cathedral.  It was the first time I used that app and so it gave me a promo code for a discount that gave us the ride for free. 

The National Cathedral is immense. Amazing architecture.  Lots of beautiful stained glass windows.  Gargoyles all over the outside, including one that looks like Darth Vader.  There is a stained glass window that commemorates our exploration of space that has an actual moon rock set into it.  Becky and the boys are related to former WWII Secretary of State Cordell Hull who later founded the UN.  We found his tomb in the crypt.  We found his birthplace 2 Spring Breaks ago in Tennessee.  We stayed for the 4p Evensong choral performance in the main Cathedral nave.  With the high ceilings and organ it sounded heavenly in there.  Even Alex was impressed.  Aaron thought it was very peaceful and relaxing as the day caught up to him and he napped on my arm.

Our guidebook suggested a Tex Mex restaurant nearby, the Cactus Cantina, so we walked there for dinner.  Dinner was delicious, topped off by sopapillas (Becky), rainbow sherbet (Aaron), and tres leches cake (Alex and I).  During dinner, I knew I recognized someone sitting at the table next to us.  I got Becky to look and she did too, so we knew that it was either a celebrity or someone from Toledo.  Becky thought at first it was someone I knew from the medical field.  I knew that wasn't it, but she was close.  She recognized her and her husband sitting with her from the 2013 Survivor season.   Drs. Candice and John Cody.  Candice was actually on a total of 3 seasons of Survivor and we had seen them all.  I tweeted that we had seen them and they tweeted back that we should've said hi (we didn't want to bother them). After they left, I recognized the man that sat in her seat.  Becky thought I was pulling her leg when I said "Dick Cheney is in that seat now".  She finally turned around and her eyes got wide.  I took a picture of her and Aaron with him in a hat over Aaron's left shoulder.  Fun meal with 3 celebrity sightings!

We figured out the bus system well enough to get back to the train station to get to our hotel in Arlington.  We relaxed and played games until bedtime.  On Monday's agenda: US Botanic Gardens and the Library of Congress near Capitol Hill.

Jason