Just got back from my trip to Washington D.C a few days ago where I attended the National League of Cities conference as a part of the Austin Youth Council. I've only been to D.C one other time, and it was a more of a day trip, so I was excited to have another chance to visit the Nation's Capitol and be able to explore a bit more! Day one started bright and early, or should I say dark and early because we left on the Sunday when the time changed. Our flight was at 5am, I needed to be at the airport at 4am, which means that I had to leave the house at 3am and wake up at 2am...which doesn't exist when the time changes, so after a 45min nap, I unwillingly woke up at 1am and got ready for a day filled with conference sessions and sight seeing.
After out first conference session, we walked around the Arlington National Cemetery and got to watch the changing of the guards. The cemetery is vast, but it was really beautiful with the light layer of snow surrounding the burial grounds.
After waiting in line for two hours, going through security, and nearly falling asleep multiple times during the opening talks, I had the awesome opportunity to see and listen to President Obama's 15min speech announcing his new initiative, TechHire, which is a pretty great idea in my opinion. I would have had the chance to shake his hand, but my mama raised me well, and I didn't think that it was okay to push through the handicapped people in front of me for a simple handshake (however, many other people, adults and youths alike were totally okay with doing so :/)
Me and the rest of the Austin Youth Council posing with Marc Ott, the Austin City Manager, and Clarence Anthony, the CEO of the National League of Cities.
We didn't have much time to spend at the museums, in D.C but we did get to go the the Air and Space museum, as well as the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian which was very interesting and has some stellar architecture.
I'm sorta, kinda, really obsessed with the design of the many of the buildings in D.C. This is a pic of the outside of Union Station.
If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend that you go take a tour of the Capitol! I honestly think that it is one of the most intricate and beautiful buildings I've even been inside of. Just look at that ceiling! That chandelier!
A super sleepy hotel selfie. The weather was cool, so I was able to get away with wearing jeans with a sweater or button down and a light jacket when outside.
Architecture!!! Symmetry!!! Clean lines!!! Industrial feel!!! I love it!!!
For dinner one of the days, we went to a pizza place near our hotel. Pizza was pretty good, and I just love how there was plenty of food places within walking distance of our hotel! (The Omni Shoreham)
Instead of walking through the rain to see the monuments, we opted to join another council on their bus and drive by. I had already seen most of the monuments the last time I was there, and after plenty of walking and being on my feet, sitting in a comfy chair on a bus for a bit was totally up my alley.
When I found out that Iw as going on this trip, the first thing that popped into my mind was that I would be able to go to Nando's again! Nando's is a South African based company that serves Mozambican-Portugese styled chicken and they're famous for their peri-peri (African bird's eye chili) sauce which is to die for. If you're ever in the DMV area, make sure that you stop by and pick up a bottle of some peri-peri sauce!
The four days I spent in D.C were jam-packed and filled with plenty of fun, but I was definitely ready to come back home to Austin! I know that I still haven't seen everything that D.C has to offer, but since I'll be going to college somewhere on the east coast, I totally plan on going back to visit during a long weekend or on break.
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