StoryTime - Spring Break 2012

Well, I'm up past my bedtime again... in my defense, I was up late tonight because I had to let some students off-floor for a big legislative trip. Otherwise, I probably could have passed out when I closed my apartment door at midnight. On the plus side, I've still felt compelled to write a blog entry. Going off of those rules of thumb (rule of thumbs?), I'm halfway to making daily blogging a real habit (since it's supposed to take a little over a month for it to really settle in.)

I was thinking about how I blog after I posted the coffee shop entry yesterday. There are posts where I feel like I have all of these things to say, but when it comes to actually writing it down, I skim the surface. To add to the confusion, I feel like I use my own in-language, so if you already don't know the experiences I'm referencing, it'll be hard to keep up. I'm hoping to start blogging earlier in the day, so I can put some effort into adding pictures and other bits of context (and to sort my words out). For now though, sleepy blogging!

I feel like several of my recent blogs have been about broad topics, so I think we're due for storytime. Now I just need to figure out what story to tell... Aha!

Since Spring Break is on the horizon, I realized that I never blogged about last year's Spring Break adventures. The biggest thing (and how I typically paraphrase the break) was that I flew to Washington D.C. Definitely my first time out there. I picked DC partially because of the college friends I knew that were out there (one going to Georgetown grad school, one in Maryland, and one in Philly) and partially because it was a new place with many sights to see. Oh, and I didn't worry about being sucked into a beach party where everyone yells "WHOO SPRING BREAK" all the time. The flight itself was pretty standard. I've definitely flown a lot more compared to college, mainly to avoid driving through Iowa. After I got to DC and figured out the ticket system for the trains, I thought "wow, I'm actually here in DC, which is this booming area" and "if something would befall me on this trip, it would probably happen right about now". Fortunately, nothing did befall me and soon enough, I was whisked on the train into the city.

I wandered into a cafe and had an amazing salmon plate (yes, it was so good that I remember it a year later) and then connected with Chris (the friend in grad school at Georgetown) since he was done with classes. Since that day was St Patrick's Day, I tagged along with Chris to a house party of some classmates of his. (Oh, and had Five Guys for the first time before that. I'd dub it hype-worthy.) It was definitely a unique experience to be sitting on the rooftop of an apartment building while the people I'm around talk about their experiences with living abroad and then looking out and seeing the glowing red lights on the Washington Monument. Oh, and the ambulance sirens. There are a lot of people in DC, after all. It's probably since it was St Patrick's Day, but it was the most sirens I heard in one night.

Unfortunately, I don't remember all the details, but I spent at least the next two days in DC. (I do think I have it written down somewhere, but I don't want to track down that paper at the moment.) Since Chris had classes, I spent good chunks of that time on the National Mall. I think the best thing to call it was 'surreal', since there were so many historic buildings that were right. there! The Capital, the White House, the different Smithsonian museums. Quite the experience. I called my mom while on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial just because I could. When I visited also turned out to be the blooming of the cherry blossoms, so it was an incredible sight to see. I spent the first day of the Nat'l Mall with Ben (friend who works in Maryland) and part of the time was spent at a coffee shop (well, a Caribou, so... kinda) that was like 2 blocks from the White House. No biggie. Chris and I went to the Mall on the 2nd day before Chris went to classes. I remember us eating our bagels and tea while sitting near the Lincoln Memorial and feeling like the city was emerging from slumber. Of course, I think Chris and Ben both told me that I would need to come back and see the National Mall at night when everything is lit up. Add it to the list, I suppose. If I have to. :-P

After my few days in DC, I got on a Megabus to go to Pittsburgh. I'm definitely glad I found the bus on time since I got turned around a couple of times and I'm sure I stuck out as an outsider. I can't say that I've really used the bus that often - in terms of major road trips, that is. I think my first experience on a Greyhound made me standoff-ish about future bus endeavors. (The bus was crowded, so my girlfriend at the time and I had to sit a few rows apart and there was a guy who was in the back and just kept singing, even though the bus was going through the night.) This bus trip was uneventful, although I did physically pass through West Virginia, if I wanted to cross that off the list of states to visit (but it was only a drop-off and I didn't physically get out, so I'm not counting it.) The reason I went to Pittsburgh was to see my high school friend Jessie who was working there for a youth ministry. She's one of the high school friends that has lasted through the years of busy schedules and I figured, "hey, I haven't been to Pittsburgh either!".

My time in Pittsburgh was quicker than DC. When Jessie picked me up from the bus stop, we found a little Thai place to eat dinner (amazing Pad Thai) and then we went back to her place to chill. I ended up seeing Inception for the first time - BWAAA!!! Oh, and to give you an indication of how nice and generous Jessie is, I slept in her bedroom while she slept on the couch in the living room. The next day, I got to see the church where she works at and otherwise relaxed, including some time at a coffee house (definitely a coffee house) where she has weekly get-togethers with the teens from the church. I didn't really do much sightseeing of the city, but I definitely enjoyed the time to just relax and spend time with a friend.

After those two days, I got on another flight and went to St Louis. Didn't really do much in the sense of sightseeing there either - just caught up with friends for a couple days and then drove back to campus.

I didn't really think about it until writing it down, but I definitely based a lot of these memories around food. I did take plenty of pictures so I'll have those memories as well, but still. At least it was good food and most of it was healthy...

So yeah, that was my Spring Break trip last year. My plans this year aren't quite as revolutionary (heh) - there's a college wedding the first day of break, so I'm flying to Minneapolis for a couple days and then flying to South Bend to spend some more time with a close college friend. Even if it's not a destination that is completely new, I'm still really looking forward to it... and thus concludes my storytime. Good night, everybody!