DC Day #9

I stand corrected. Our plans for the day never included the Naval Observatory. That is where the VP lives. We went the Naval Academy.

We rented a car and drove through DC. Well Andrew drove, no way was I going to try that. I would have been stressed out. He did very well though, even in those darn circles.

The Naval Academy was very cool. They have a huge swimming pool and by a the end of their 2nd year there (I think)they have to jump, in uniform, off a diving board that is about three stories high - feet first arms crossed over chest. And this my friends, would be when I failed out, if I made it that far.

We got to see them line up in formation for lunch time. That was really cool. The band plays anchors away and those 4,000+ people file into the building and downstairs to the cafeteria very quickly. Once they are all seated the wait staff only has five minutes to get every one's meal served.

After the Naval Academy we made our way to the Kennedy Center. We jumped in on a tour here and got to see a few things including the Opera House. It was gorgeous. Being here made me wish we had gone to the National Symphony Orchestra. We didn't stay here long because if you stayed more than an hour the parking fee was INSANE!!!

So then we went to the zoo - same deal with parking here so we sped through. But I got to see pandas which were so cute. One little guy was eating and he was just slinging that bamboo everywhere. We got to see two elephants, each in their own cage, fighting. One was trying to see hay from the other's cage - pretty funny. We saw a huge hippo eating. Then we went to the monkeys. One gorilla just had a baby girl back in January. She was laying down with the baby all curled up in her arms. All you could see of the baby was an ear, but it was still just too cute. Then we had to leave the zoo. As you can tell it was very hit and miss. We saw some other small animals, but these were just the big things and I literally mean big. :)

After that we went to Union Station to look around and for dinner. Andrew had Chinese (YUCK) and I had a most yummy grilled cheese from Johnny Rockets. I like that place.

Then I rode home on the most packed metro train I have ever seen. We were squished in there like sardines - not good for a person like me who is not a fan of crowds. But I survived and we came home and went to straight to bed.