More Adventures in the Capitol

Well, I thought I was going to post great stories each day of my many adventures here in our nation's capitol, but that just has not happened. You may think this is due to the fact that I have been diligently working my way around the city, studying every monument and museum from top to bottom. Well, I have been making my way around the city, but I have not been super thorough. I leisurely stroll through a museum or two in the morning, come home, eat lunch, and rest for awhile, and sometimes go see something in the afternoon. Once Josh gets home from work, we usually go out to dinner or eat at home, then go walk around town or visit a museum.

Ordinarily, I would be buzzing around town at a somewhat frenzied pace, but my leisurely pace has been inspired by a new development...I am pregnant! Right now I am six weeks along. The due date is March 7. So, this baby is definitely making its mark on my D.C. experience (which is just fine with me)!

Everyone says that once you have kids your life is forever changed. Now I would venture to say that once you are pregnant, your life is beginning to change. My routine is already becoming less of my own, as what I eat, how much I sleep, etc., all effects this baby, which in turn, effects me. I cannot walk around this city briskly bouncing from one spot to the next without feeling tired. I cannot go without breakfast without feeling nausea. I am much more okay with spending much of my day resting in my room, which, for those of you that know me, this is not typical. I usually like to be out doing things. But at this point in time, my body, and my baby are telling me to SLOW DOWN!

So, I have slowed down (at least for the most part). I still plan on seeing all the sites in this great city before I leave, but knowing that I have five weeks and most of the museums are free, I am not in too big of a hurry!

All that to say, posts from now on may look a little different as I attempt to figure out what is best for me to eat and do.

So, back to my tasty travels here in Washington! The picture at the beginning of this post was taken this morning. This is the Supreme Court. As a history teacher and the wife of a law student, I have much respect for our nation's highest court. It is really fascinating to me. I walked around the Supreme Court building today and enjoyed seeing the inside of it, especially the court room. Who knows, maybe one day Josh will be a Supreme Court Justice (okay, so maybe it is just a dream of ours, but you never know)!

While there, I sat in the court room as a woman gave myself and other tourists details about the court. During her little lecture, I started feeling a wave of nausea. "Oh no!" I thought. "What if I vomit in the Supreme Court? They will never let my husband practice law in this country!" Well, I did not have to worry about that, it was only nausea (praise the Lord)! However, this is a common thought running through my brain as I visit these museums. Yesterday I was at the National Archives, and it was "What if I throw up on the Declaration of Independence? They might throw me out of the country (even though it is enclosed in a glass case). And later that day, as I strolled through the National Gallery of Art, it was "What if I can't make it to the bathroom in time and ruin one of Rembrandt's masterpieces?" I have yet to ruin any historic documents, government buildings, or pieces of art, but I don't think the fear will subside. And I will persevere in my tourist endeavors!

On Tuesday I visited the National Museum of American History, which is really amazing. One of the highlights of the museum was seeing Julia Child's kitchen. These are pictures of her simple, yet fabulous kitchen. This may sound cheesy, but I felt a little inspired just being there!


On Tuesday night we ate dinner at the place we are staying (just a simple pasta, nothing too exciting), but for dessert, I went to Pitango Gelato. It was delicious! They had really unique flavors. I had cardamom gelato, which I never would have thought of, but it was delicious!

Last night we met a friend at Matchbox, which was really great as well. We had one of their wood-fired pizzas, and for an appetizer, we had the mozzi carrozi. It was so good! It was basically like a mixture of fried mozzarella and a caprese salad. It was mozarella and tomatoes fried with fresh basil and tomato sauce, you can't go wrong with that, right? For dessert we all split the chocolate chip bread pudding...yum! It was so moist and delicious!

On Wednesday night we ate at Good Stuff Eatery. It was a great, casual burger place. Chef Spike Mendelsohn from Top Chef runs it along with his family. We had the Spike's Sunnyside Burger which had a fried egg, bacon, and special sauce on it. We also had their Village Fries which are seasoned with fresh thyme, rosemary, and sea salt. They also have a mayonnaise bar where they have different flavors of mayo like chipotle and sriracha. It was great food in a really cool atmosphere, and since we split all of that plus 2 drinks, we ate for about $12. Not bad! They also had great looking milkshakes there, which I think I am going to get right now...