The Women's Ensemble first did this 3 years ago and were invited back again this year. What an amazing opportunity it was! I not only got to get to know these wonderful ladies better during rehearsals (and there were a lot of them!) and during the trip, but I got to tour Washington DC, tour and sing at the White House and visit with some dear friends of mine who happen to live in the DC area.
It was quite a whirl wind of a trip, starting with us leaving on Saturday, December 20th and coming back on Monday, December 22nd. Yes, it was cutting it close to Christmas!
We flew out that morning and got to our hotel around 4 in the afternoon. Once checked in and freshened, we all headed in small groups to different destinations (some more colorful than others :) ) and ate dinner. Now remember that I am 7 months pregnant at this point and I had already had a long day. I left with my roommate Brooke, Amanda, her baby Noah and Amanda's mother, Kathy. For those of you who have never been to DC, it is an amazing tourist place, but you walk MILES!! We left with the idea of going to visit the Art Museum, which is the only museum that is open late til 7 pm. We started with getting horrible directions from the valet man, we should have checked with the concierge. He directed us towards the Smithsonian where all the museums are located, except for this one. Oops. We walked basically all the way there in the freezing wind only to realize our error. We quickly turned around and headed to a store to warm up before heading in the correct direction. By this time it was dark outside and we were all getting tired and hungry, but were determined to make it to this museum. So, off we go again. The map we were using was tiny and the street lights were not helping us much, so after about 45 minutes or more of walking, we realized that we had done a couple circles, we were still about 6 blocks away and it was getting too late. We made a unanimous decision to nix that idea and find someplace to eat that was child-friendly. We found a restaurant, which can only be safely compared to a signature Denny's, and sat down. We honestly didn't care about where we were as long as we were able to sit down, get warm and eat something.
The rest of the evening went about the same way. We headed back to our hotel because we had booked a limo night tour of the monuments at 8. We were all really excited about this until the limo failed to show up at 8. When we called, we found out they had booked us at 8:45 instead. Oops. So, what do you do when you have some time to kill? Why, head to the hotel bar with a 3 month old baby and preggo lady of course. The whole evening, although being a calamity of errors, was quite entertaining. It did end properly with a fantastic monument tour and then a quick ride through some other areas of Washington DC that we would not have been able to get to see. By the time we made it back to the hotel, it was close to 11 and we were all exhausted.
Sunday was our other free time, until about 3:30. So, I got together and ate lunch with Justin and Amy. I haven't seen them since Lubbock and it was wonderful getting to catch up with them. Plus, I got the advantage of seeing Amy nice and pregnant. Poor Justin was chauffeuring around two very pregnant women for the afternoon! We ate at a fabulous restaurant and then they drove me to see the National Cathedral. It was breathtaking! It is the 6th largest cathedral in the world and, according to Justin and Amy who lived in Italy for 2 years, is very comparable in architecture and grandeur to the ones in Europe, minus the long history of course. We finished our tour and they drove me back to the hotel. Sad. I have no idea when I will see them again and am so thankful for this trip that I was even able to now.
The rest of the day consisted of rehearsal, dinner at the hotel restaurant and a Christmas party/exchange with the group. Brooke and I decided afterwards, in spite of having to wake up at 4:45 the next morning, that we needed a hot chocolate from Starbucks, which we had the night before. Yum. To our dismay, we found out that Starbucks in DC close at 6 on Sunday evening. We turned back around and had the bartender at the hotel bar make us some instead. It was no Starbucks, it was probably just Nestle's version, but it hit the spot. Except that the bartender stuck straws in it and Brooke automatically took a large sip only to scald her mouth. She literally had a blister on the roof of her mouth the next day. OUCH!! But, thanks for taking one for the team - I was about to do the same exact thing.
Monday morning we woke up and got ready to meet and warm-up downstairs at 6 am. We had to leave around 7 to walk the two blocks to the White House for check-in because we sang from 8-9:30 that morning. The two blocks were long that morning due to the 17 degree weather with a wind chill of 3. Once we got to the White House we had to stand outside at the check-in booth. BBbrrrrrr! But, oh how worth it!! The White House was decorated in a red, white and blue decor and was beautiful. We hung up our coats, headed to the restrooms and then got directed to the Grand Foyer where we were stationed to sing for the White House staff and family tours. I had about 15 women who made sure I told our escort "my situation". That I should have a chair directly behind me just in case I was not able to make it the hour and a half. Even though it was humorous, I have to admit I was thankful for the precaution. However, I actually made it through with out needing that chair. Thank goodness! After singing, we got to get the tour of the Green room, the Blue room and several other famous rooms/galleries. In fact, we were ushered out of one because President Bush was about to walk through. Were we lucky enough to see him? Not even close due to those secret service men who quickly shut all doors leading back to that room. It was still neat to know that we were breathing the same air.
Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel to check out and catch the metro to Union Station where we were eating lunch at the famous B Smiths. Then, we jumped on one train, hopped on another and then ended with a bus ride to our airport. It was a long day and after all that walking, I felt as though I was 9 months pregnant. That airplane ride was LONG because my back and feet were yelling at me. I am just now starting to feel back to normal, or what normal is right now. :) When we landed, Chris and I headed to Liberty to meet his cousin, Carrie, half way. She watched Aidan for us Sunday night and Monday since Chris had to work. Bless her!
This was a fabulous, once in a life time trip and I am so thankful to have been able to asked to go and for everything to work out to allow me to go.
1 comment:
Wow, that did sound fast. I'm sad I couldn't go this time, but so glad you guys had a good time! Isn't it fun to have all those "mothers" around -- especially in "your situation."
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