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Washington, DC December 17-19, 2022
Alternating current? Direct current? Who know what's what. I'll I know is that Washington DC is electrifying! Why has it taken me so long to get to such a great city? Not sure how, but it was a perfect storm that led me and the boy to an exhilarating, unique, and maybe a once of a lifetime experience. This year marked a special occasion for the girl and her cousin, so the Mrs. took her to NYC for a special trip along with my sister in law. Just what we needed, more wallet draining activities. They had it planned for a bit and as it turns out, the boy had no hockey game for the first time on a weekend. What to do, what to do. "Look at the football schedule", I told him. We scroll furiously through the weeks games and options are NY, Chicago, DC. Not going to NY, the girls are there, we were in Chicago in the summer, DC it is. Within 24 hrs., I booked the flights, hotel and secured tickets. As lady luck would have it, the Maple Leafs were in town Saturday night to play the Capitals. BOOM! Perfect Storm. Oh yeah, and this guy the Capitals have, named Alex Ovechkin, who just happens to be the boys favorite player, is on track to become the second all time goal scorer with 801 goals to beat Gordie Howe. History? Perhaps we could witness it especially in a city with so much other important history. Quick in and out, fly into Dulles, which I would never do again and get to the hotel at about 4 PM. Quick stroll and a quick bite, and off the the hockey game. We met an old dear friend of mine who moved to Washington 18 years ago. He brought his boy to the game and we had a great time especially as we have always shared a love of a good late night soup! Who doesn't really. Post game he took us to Chinatown for a great wonton! The perfect storm of goodness continues. All day Sunday was walking around town - Lincoln memorial, WWII memorial, Vietnam memorial, Capitol Building and Washington Monument. Heavy day really when you think about it. How much rich history this country has and the loss of life for it. Grateful. As if the day wasn't heavy enough, off to the Holocaust Memorial Museum. Really important place to see. Unfortunately, a storm of evil. I had a good cry here and I make sure to let the boy know to never forget. I told him that we had to lighten it up and so off to the National Museum of American History. On display here are the ruby slippers that Dorothy wore and Prince's guitar, a section on the Muppets and their influence and a whole lot of other pop culture eye candy. Also showcasing the history of American invention, money, some beautiful photography and some great tidbits on American football, which by the by was invented in Canada. I felt like this was the perfect place to end our touring day and a perfect segue to the Sunday night game between the NY Giants and the hometown Redskins, oops did I just write that, I meant the Commanders. The Commanders, what kind of name change is that? Not sure the best minds came up with that one, and not sure the change was necessary but we don't talk money, politics or religion at least in this blog. We talk football, we talk about bonding with your son, we talk about the people in your life that make all of the above so special and of course we talk sleep.
SET UP
Pretty standard hotel room in the center of town. The Marriott Metro Center or is it Centre? I was raised with centre and sticking to it. Only a king bed available as we were so last minute, but plenty of room in a king to share even with the boy. Good location for the hotel, walking distance to the arena, good shops and restaurants and the train station we took out to FedEx Field, oh and this thing called the White House.
MATTRESS
HA - so I can only tell you that through the fully encased mattress protector it was a Simmons Beautyrest. I have to tell you that I could feel it was not a pillowtop and it was definitely on the firmer side. Other than that, not much to tell except that I love that the mattress was not even accessible as it was protected so much. I didn't know where the zipper started or ended, alI I did know is that our cab was coming and I had no interest in doing more than I did to get a photo!
SLEEP
Besides from the boy kicking me a few times through the night not bad, although night 2 we only had a few hours as our flight was at 6:30 am and we didn't get back from the game until midnight after a quick stop at the WAWA, we didn't cozy up until 1230 ante meridiem.
OVERALL
A great time had by father and son, a great 2 nighter away and a wonderful city to do it in. I will be back and I hope soon as there is so much we didn't get to see. City of museums and art, city of history and greatness and so much of it, so many wonderful sites and beautiful architecture and all meaningful. I should mention that although we witnessed history around town, we did not witness hockey history. Ovi scored his 801st AND 802nd about a week later and so fitting that this wonderfully talented great, plays in a wonderfully talented city. We had some suggestions for meals, but because we were so quick we couldn't take advantage of the numerous outstanding restaurants that are offered. As I whistle Hail to the Chief right now, I can only wish that the great US of A can be a leader, an example setter, and a true commander of all things this wonderful world has to offer. 🏈🏒🕎🏛 🏟👨👦
GREAT REALTED LINKS
https://www.ebbitt.com/ great old victorian style restaurant with great eggs benny
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQbIqz723h4 wasn't the prettiest of goals but history made!
https://www.nps.gov/linc/index.htm truly a stunning building and try to get there at night!