Washington DC trip

Our Marriott hotel, which used to be a bank. When we checked in the woman at the desk said "I've never met anyone from Utah. I didn't know anyone lived there!" Rob said "Well you do know one other person from Utah." She replied "No kiddin, who? Rob "The man who owns this hotel"



Ok so I didn't take many pictures because we were so busy having fun and eating and eating and eating! First we must discuss the food. We went to this really cool authentic Spanish tapas restuarant ("La Tascas") and had amazing chorizo paella, jamon, and lots of other great tapas (appetizers). We couldn't believe that there were two Spanish restuarants within a block of our hotel. There is only one in all of Utah! Later we found out that our hotel was situated near all the best restaurants in town. We went to a really delicious pizza place called "Matchbox" with a good high school friend and his wife and cute little boy. The pizza was great and the sliders were to die for. We also visited "The Lebanese Taverna" which was also good but I have decided that I prefer Indian to Lebanese. What can I say I love the sauce. We also visited "Zaytinya" a really amazing Mediteranean place with another good friend from HS and her husband. But my favorite (because I am partial to beef) was "Ruth's Chris" steakhouse. We were very disappointed with the lobster bisque there but the steak more than made up for it. It is definitely worth visiting (there's one in Park City).

We also had fun visiting the museums and other various historical spots. The national portrait gallery was pretty interesting. Surprisingly there was a picture of Joseph Smith on display. Ella was so mad that we didn't bring her to see all the museums but we promised to bring her back. We talked with some really cool Chinese guys who were going to school in the states while in line to see the Declaration of Independence. Rob is always good at making conversation with complete strangers. Good thing he was there, I probably would've just listened to my ipod. We also got to experience the International Spy Museum. It was really really fun. I think it would be even more fun with the right people and if you dressed up. When you first walk in they have you pick a spy cover identity to memorize. Throughtout the museum there are check points to see if you remember your cover. Plus they have little tutorials on lock picking and how to spot operatives. We also crawled through an air duct to try to listen in on an important conversation.



Rob checking out the scenes at Ford's Theatre.



Air and Space Museum



Checking out the whale at the Natural History Museum.



I thought it was neat that I was the size of a 800 BC man. Don't I look excited? Look how far we've grown. I should have had my brother in law, who is 6 ft 6, stand next to this.



The Smithsonian castle. Surprisingly not much to see in the castle. It is mostly a visitor center for the rest of the Smithsonian museums. Yes, it rained pretty much the entire time we were there. We still had a great time!