The day started off with filling up with gas (because I always procrastinate about filling my car up with gas), stopping at Bojangles, and finally heading on our way! First stop: Mount Vernon. I have been to DC but never to Mount Vernon. I had bought the tickets a few months back (part of my obsession with prioritizing, planning, and having things in order) so that we wouldn't have to wait in line. Thank goodness because the lines were quite long. However I did not buy tickets to see the mansion. It was only $2 more to buy a timed ticket, but the first available time was 3 p.m. We took a pass on that and just walked around. It was so miserably hot and humid! We looked in all of the little outbuildings, saw a mule and a couple of horses, and checked out the gravesites of George and Martha...Washington...duh! That lasted all of 45 minutes. We headed back to the car and blasted the A/C trying our best to cool off. And then we stuffed our faces with foods from the cooler we packed! I can't even begin to tell you what a great idea a cooler is for a roadtrip! Best thing! That is a must on every trip from here on out!
Our next stops, or attempts at stops, were Arlington Cemetery, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and the White House. Let me just say that Matthew pretty much had already decided that he hated the GPS telling him what to do. I mean me telling him what to do is one thing, but another "backseat driver" telling him what to do, and a woman at that. He just wasn't having it! But we did not have the heart to take her down as we had no idea where we were. As we headed towards Arlington Cemetery, Ms. Thang (the GPS), told us to take a turn when all of a sudden we end up in the parking lot of The Pentagon! Of course I made the comment, "Ugh! Where are we nowwwww? What is this place?" I honestly had no clue. Perhaps I should watch more History Channel and Fox news. And for all of you who think Matthew is a manly man, well you should have seen the fear in his eyes at that moment. He was scared to death. He thought we were going to be locked up and charged with trespassing and spying and all sorts of things! But amazingly we got out alive! Surprise, surprise, huh? It was just the parking lot after all! I reset the GPS to find Arlington Cemetery again. This time it sends us to Fort Belvoir. Yes, I understand that Arlington Cemetery is for the military. But I did not know that it would be on a military base. We were at the front gate to the base and the super polite (not!) officer or security guard asked for Matthew's license. Matthew tried to explain we just needed to turn around and what we were looking for. The man basically said that the cemetery was on their base but we couldn't get there from where we were. So instead of letting us turn around without making a scene, he sends us to the line where they just so happen to be searching cars. And by searching, I mean taking out everything! Fortunately, there were nicer people working that line and they let us go on through. We just gave up on looking for all of these places and continued on our way!
We then headed to The Food and Wine Festival at the National Harbor! I had found this online a while back and thought it sounded fun. We definitely do not have anything like this near home! It was awesome! When you walk in, they give you your wrist band (showing that you are of age), a wine glass, and a tote bag. I love getting free stuff! The festival was basically set up on two long piers and the adjoining section between the two. There were tons of booths and tents to stop at and sample snacks and foods and drinks! And this wasn't just any food. This was like gourmet food: asparagus soup, shrimp with gazpacho, lump crap dip with fresh baked crackers, pumpkin bread. The list goes on and on! There were chips and peanuts as well, but they were not your average snacks. A lot of the booths were giving away free things to take home with you. We ended up with dill pickle chips, crab chips, peanut brittle, pecan brittle, chocolate creme cake, a big container of chicken stock, etc. Both of our tote bags were overflowing and had gotten so heavy! I myself did not enjoy my one taste of wine. I just think wine tastes like rotten fruit! But Matthew enjoyed trying all of the different kinds and of course trying the free beer! I would definitely go back again though, if not just for the Chipotle tent and the free mini taco! Yummmmm!
With our bellies full, we got back in the car and headed to our next city: Philadelphia! We arrived at our hotel about 8 p.m. (after an hour of sitting in traffic...thanks to the tolls) and got our little welcome package! You may think that's cheesy, but by buying a package, I not only got free parking for two days ($36!!!!) but I also got a free teddy bear and a Philly brag book. I mostly cared for the parking and the bear! As I should have known, Matthew was hungry for Chinese food. The girl at the front desk told us about her favorite place and off we went. I could never live in Philadelphia just because of the cost of parking. It was $12 to park at the lot across from the restaurant, and that was because it was Sunday. We could have parallel parked, but c'mon, do you really think we know how to do that? Didn't think so. It was worth the $12 since the other option would have inevitably led to me calling my father and telling him about all the scratches on my car. We ordered two plates, since we are two people. Bad idea. It was way too much food. And in my opinion, it was not that great. I will also mention that my drink was a can of Diet Coke and a glass of ice. So if I wanted another drink, I would have been charged for another drink.
Back at the hotel, we crashed. After 5 hours of sleep the night before and having driven close to 8 hours that day, we were done with Day 1 of the Honeymoon!
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