WASHINGTON, DC: OLD BUILDINGS, YOUNG KIDS

DC: Drop off your lil hoodlums and let them run around museums! I'm not saying there wasn't adults around to guide them, they were just horribly outnumbered.

I digress... I started out catching up with an old friend from Costco at a pub in Arlington. We'd fallen out of touch, as moving to another city or island will do. But I'd seen he moved to DC on instagram and hit him up while I was waiting on my hosts to get done with work. We realized we were both heading towards a similar location in the next few days (Blue Ridge Parkway/Great Smoky Mountains) and hopefully we'll be better at keeping in touch this time!

I arrived at my friend's cousin's place. Never met him or his sigO before, but they welcomed me in and treated me like someone they'd known for years. Making friends out of strangers! I gotta say, that's probably the most humbling part of my trip, how welcoming people can be.

I took the train into DC the next morning, walking around the national mall area until the museums opened. I walked around a couple monuments and finally headed into the Smithsonian National Museum of American History (there was less kids!) and actually found myself liking this museum more than the natural history museum. Who would've thunk I would like history instead of animals! Afterwards wandering for 3 hours, I made my way to the Natural History Museum and the hoards of children. Most on their phones instead of taking in the exhibits and information. My favorite exhibit was here. It was a set up by National Geographic and it was all of their nature's best photography for the past 20 years. On to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, I expected all the children. Luckily it was around 3pm and they were all bored and waiting to get back on the bus. Woohoo! I ended up spending so much time in the air side of the museum, it was closing before I could make it to the space side. I stopped to grab an ice cream cone on my walk back to the train.

I could have spent 5 days in museums in DC but the mountains were calling and I had to go.

In the next post: the most beautiful drive I've ever taken

State with the most roadkill: Kentucky, by far

Pimento cheese sammies eaten: 6 (the best was surprisingly at the Jim Beam distillery... so far at least!)