GDIT in their infinite stupidity, mismanaged funds, laid off 16 people at headquarters, and instead of filling them with permanent workers they kept wasting money to bring in people to fill in from around the country. Paying per diem, overtime, hotel, airfare, metro tolls, etc. They could have brought in 3-4 permanent employees for the same cost of having one of us there. But this is GDIT we are talking about.
Long before this trip happened I volunteered to go. After the layoff I finally got my chance. My boss, Pete, called and asked me if I want to go. I didn't even hesitate to give him an answer. I had already talked to Natalie about this trip and I knew her answer. I called her up right away and told her to plan for some vacation. Natalie was only able to take a week off work though so I would be spending four days up there alone. 4th of July this year was on a Monday so Tuesday morning I flew out to DC. I landed at Reagan National Airport in Crystal City, Virgina and and a nice scenic drive through the woods to Maryland. We stayed at the Hampton on Colesville Rd in Silver Spring, Maryland. The Hampton is in the same building as the Homewood. Half my coworkers were in the Homewood side and the other half were in the Hampton side since the Homewood was booked. Since the Homewood was booked the manager gave me the key so I could go to the Homewood side for a better breakfast with my coworkers. Sweet. So needless to say I had the breakfast of champions every morning for two weeks. Strawberry Belgian waffles. My favorite. I put on quite a few pounds in DC, it would have been even more if I didn't do a minimum of 4-5 miles walking everyday.
I really liked Silver Spring. They close the main street at night and open it up for pedestrians. People get out and walk there. The streets are crowded every night and there are good restaurants. It's also very scenic. We would walk up and down a big hill where the Discovery Channel building is to get to and from the metro.
So needless to say I had the breakfast of champions every morning for two weeks. Strawberry Belgian waffles. My favorite. I put on quite a few pounds in DC, it would have been even more if I didn't do a minimum of 4-5 miles walking everyday.
The first day there we didn't do any work. We all met up at the hotel, went to the spa, went to see Transformers 3 IMAX 3D, and went to dinner. Then Wednesday we finally all went down to 111 Massachusetts to work our long 12 hour days with the boss from hell watching over us. I worked with a good group of guys. All of us that came in on detail were good people. It's the people at headquarters that we didn't like too much. Finally on Friday, the day I almost got sent home (without even getting to see the city yet), Natalie arrived in DC. She was actually about to board her flight the minute Ken told me I was going home. Luckily I escaped that disaster.
We spent all day Saturday walking around and seeing the sites. We probably walked a good 15 miles on Saturday. It was pretty hot outside too. Not like people say it is. People try to say it's so hot there and compare it to Florida but it's not even close. Florida is worse at 6am than DC is at high noon in the summer. Yeah it can get humid but in the day when the temperature rises the dew point drops and it's actually similar to where I grew up, Riverside, California. Of course summer mornings are warmer in DC than Riverside and the mornings were quite humid. Even on the hottest day when it was like 106 or 107 it wasn't nearly as bad as South Florida. Anyways it feels hot though because everyone walks everywhere. And that is what we did all day. Walk, sweat, and drink water. We went to the Smithsonian, The White House, National Mall, Capital Hill, walked by Ford's Theatre and saw the house where Lincoln died, and visited some other sites. I think it was about 100 on Saturday.
Sunday we tried to go up the Washington Monument. We were running once we got close to get tickets but instead of going to the booth I ran up to the monument just to find out I had to run down the hill for tickets. Right when I got to the booth they closed it, sold out. I was very disappointed. We didn't get to go up the Washington Monument. So instead we went to the Lincoln Memorial and saw some other museums.
I like to tell everyone that this trip was when Adriana learned how to walk. Adriana was at the stage where she would walk holding our hands but she was afraid to let go. On Saturday she probably walked a good mile or two holding our hands. On Sunday she did quite a bit as well. The rest of the week she was with Natalie in the day while I was at work but I'm sure she got her walking in then as well. The Monday after we got back Natalie dropped Adri off at her aunt's house and that is when Adri took her first steps. All the books say that when kids start walking they'll go back to crawling when they want speed. Ha. This kid was so overly ready for walking that once she started she completely gave up crawling and went straight to running. But I blame all her walking on DC for preparing her for her first steps.
The food in DC was phenomenal. I was used to working in the bad part of Miami where we had to drive 15 minutes for a decent lunch. In DC there were 500 restaurants within 15 minutes walking distance. We were close to China Town so everyday we would walk down there and grab lunch. My favorite place was Tony Cheng's Mongolian Grill. That place was amazing. You make your bowl, pick your spices and marinates and they grill it and give it back to you. The best Asian food ever. We also found a small sandwich shop right around the corner from headquarters that served the best sandwiches. They would have big slabs of meat cooked and when you tell them you want pastrami or roast they cut it right off still warm. Best sandwich shop I have ever been to. They also had a Planet Bollywood where I had my first plate of Indian food.
There was so much to do in DC and most of it was free. Between that and the food I was really impressed. If I ever had to live in the cold that would be the place. Always something to do and somewhere good to eat.
Not bad for a free trip. The only thing is that I only had two days to really get out and see the sites. Plenty of time to eat, but not a lot of time to sight see. Next time we go there on vacation I plan on actually staying in DC next to the sights. I really liked Silver Spring but I want to stay in DC next time. The second trip out there I went by myself. It was all work and eating. No sightseeing. But I still had a good time.
Here are some pictures with explanations.
Adriana loves the metro. She was yelling "Whoa, train"!
Adri at breakfast
A lot of the buildings in DC were like this one. They don't build them tall in DC, just extremely massive.
I'm proud to be an American and all but this is just too much. In America men wear longer shorts!
We had to get a picture of chubs with the Washington Monument, even if she wasn't awake.
I couldn't believe how massive the Washington Monument is.
Sleeping at the National Mall
To get a sense of how big the Washington Monument is just look at the tiny people at the base.
Tip toes
The most hated person in America lives here.
Adri testing out her walking skills.
At the Smithsonian. Earth is tiny!
The house of ill repute.
Blue bonnet. I wanted to ask her for some butter but Natalie grabbed me by the collar.
The WWII Memorial
At the Lincoln Memorial. I think that is Crystal City, Virginia in the background.
The look on his face is priceless.
Oxymoron?
What did Natalie do to her?
Daddy taught her well
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