OK, I finally bought an umbrella. That, of course, will almost certainly guarentee that the rains here in DC will abate, but if that’s what it takes, it was more than worth the cost of the umbrella. After spending the past two days alternately freezing in air-conditioned buildings because we were damp, or changing out of soaking wet clothes, I figured it was more than time to buy one…

The rains have closed several of the things we had hoped to see (e.g., the National Archives, the National Zoo), but we have still gotten to most of the sites: the spy museum, the Apple store in Pentagon City, some (but not all) of the Mall, including the Washington Monument (I zipped down early yesterday to score tickets), the Jefferson Memorial, the gardens outside the Smithsonian Castle, and the World War II memorial. Saw the White House from outside the fence, and we had arranged for a Capital tour (which was cooler than I thought it might be). We did get to sit in on part of the debate on the proposed Constitutional ammendment on protecting the flag in the Senate chambers as part of that tour — thanks, Natalie! I really have been taking pictures, and will get some of them posted.

Jeff was not up for joining us for dinner last night, having endured the Metro at rush hour from Reagan out to the hotel, but Deb, Ian, and I enjoyed a great Greek dinner at Mykonos Grill about 4 blocks from the Twinbrook stop on the Metro’s red line: saganaki, roast leg of lamb, mousaka, dolmos, spanakopita, followed by rice pudding and galaktabourika (I probably butchered the spelling on that one, but its a custard wrapped in philo and covered in a honey sauce) with Greek coffee.

The CFUnited conference starts today, so I am probably done sightseeing for this trip (or close, anyway). The one thing that I am bummed about missing is the National Archives. And getting to see the Lincoln Memorial with Deb and Ian — that is my favorite of all of the memorials. OK, I know that’s two things. Deb and Ian are headed for the zoo this morning and maybe just some down time to let stuff dry out (at this point, I don’t think any of us have a dry pair of shoes with us) and to let tired legs recover from all of the walking and standing of the past couple days.

When it rains back here on the East coast of the US, it really rains! (Consider, of course, that this is coming from someone who lives where the average annual precipitation is somewhere around 10 inches each year.) After looking at the weather forecast the past couple of days for the DC area, we had pretty much decided that we would spend Sunday doing inside-kinds of things. And the forecast was correct: although it wasn’t raining when Deb and I walked over to get breakfast from a deli close to our hotel, it was raining by the time we headed back — and we were pretty damp by the time we had walked the intervening block.

It rained off and on again all day, and then really let loose with a prolonged downpour while we were eating dinner. We waited most of that one out in the restaurant, and then dashed back to the hotel during what turned out to be the only lull in the rain, thunder, and lightening for a couple hours.

We were pleasantly surprised when we got off the Metro down by the Mall and found that our walk to the Mall was without rain. We spent the morning at the Smithsonian’s incredible National Air and Space Museum (photos coming soon). Ian and I had a blast in the flight simulator, and we really liked the planetarium’s “Infinity Express” show.

When we left the museum around 2pm to walk up to the Holocaust museum, it was only sprinkling, so our walk past the Smithsonian Castle and its incredible gardens was very pleasant (although we didn’t dally much, as we had 2:30pm tickets for the Holocaust museum’s permanent display).

The Holocaust museum is incredible, if overwhelming. It has to rank near the top of any list of museum exhibits in both the breadth and depth of the story that it tells. We left almost speechless, and all wondering why no one did anything to stop it, particularly when there is now evidence that several countries knew what was going on and when various groups were lobbying at least the US government to bomb the concentration camps to end the purging. And why were the various countries so reluctant to open their doors to the Jewish refugees that were attempting to flee the area? But then I stopped to think about whether things are any different now: our governments pick and choose where they wish to get involved and those decisions are not always based on what we as individual citizens wish they would consider important. And I look at the closed-door mindset of my own country right now, and I am saddened that I believe it would be much the same today.

Breakfast: an egg, bacon, and cheese bagel from Ize’s, right around the corner — I was yet again reminded that there is really no comparison between those things you get in a plastic bag in a grocery store in Idaho and a fresh bagel from a real bagelry. Bonus: I got their trivia question correct and we won two free bagels!

Dinner: lamb kabobs and a gyro from the Mediterranean place right next door to the hotel and in the same block as Ize’s. Jeff and I found this place last year — still very good!

We’re in Washington, DC, this week — in part for the CFUnited conference during the second half of the week, and in part just for some time together as a family (time which has been tough to find recently). Ian has never been to DC before, Deb and I spent a day back here when my younger brother graduated from college, and I have been back here several times over the past 6 years or so with work-related travel. This, however, is our first trip back here together and with time to just do what we want.

I love Washington, DC — at least as a place to visit. Good public transportation, a buzzillion things to do and see, lots of decent places to eat, and I have been here often enough that I know my way around (pretty much — at least enough not to get lost on the Metro). I am looking forward to sharing some of that with Deb and Ian this week. We are actually staying out in Rockville at the hotel that is hosting the CFUnited conference, so we will get to spend a bit of time on the Metro getting to and from wherever we go and watching people.

The weather today is supposed to be pretty lousy, so we are headed for some of the Smithsonian’s museums and we have tickets to the Holocaust museum for this afternoon.

Part of my enjoyment of travelling is food — Jeff always gives me a bad time about how much I love food. And it’s true — food is a wonderful thing, and I love trying new and different things. And food can be (and should be) a social experience. Dinner, for instance, last night more than made up for the lack of anything resembling food on the flight from way out West to DC: a deep dish three cheese pizza at Armand’s Pizzeria and Grill in Rockville, and a Sam Adams. Simple and good.