Scoobie in DC

It's been absolutely fabulous to have little sis here with me. Here's Scoobie's take on her first day in DC: seeing the Capitol (in her words, "a beacon of democracy"), her love affair with honest Abe, getting hit on by a security guard and more:

Hi All,
just wanted to let you know that I got to DC perfectly intact. Dani is doing great, her apartment is the coolest place I have ever been and we are having an awesome time!

...Washington DC is a beautiful and lively city with a culture of its own. I feel so lucky that I got to go through it alone today and see so many interesting things. I woke up late (I am on Cali time) and met Dans and her coworker for lunch. Then the sightseeing began. I LOVE sightseeing. I went to the national archives where I saw the constitution, magna carta, declaration of independence, emancipation proclamation, etc, etc and watched a video about how the archives protect our democracy because they give everyone access to government documents so we can hold the government accountable. the proof that made the holocaust case where survivors and their heirs were given their money from Swiss bank accounts was found in the archives, they actually had Swiss bank records and lists of jewish names! There was also an exhibit on presidential education ("from schoolhouse to white house" very corny). but I saw a love letter from barbara bush to george HW accepting his invitation to a college dance. It was cute. I saw nixon's violin, clinton's high school portrait, and JFK's report card. It was all very funny.

Then I went to a sculpture garden and down to the Mall. I was so exhausted at that point from the heat and all the walking, that I got a hagen daz bar and sat under a shady tree for a good while. I "haal'd" big time. (by the way, I have pictures of everything--even that!!!). I went to a gorgeous botanical garden and took pictures of the most beautiful and exotic orchids I have ever seen and almost got arrested when the security guard had to ask me to leave 3 times because they were closing. Then he hit on me. That finally got me out of there.

After that, I hiked up capital hill. Up close, the capital building is amazingly gorgeous and majestic. I thought about all the laws and history that were made at that spot. I love US history. nerdy, I know).

Then I trekked to the metro to meet Dani for dinner. We went to a cute bistro with one of her friends, sat outside because the weather is fabulous now and had margaritas. yum. We rested for a while, then took a night tour of the monuments. Around the monuments, there are lots of pools and lights which make everything look very romantic (oooh ahhh)... I am so fascinated by Abraham Lincoln, from both the historical and psychological perspective. He was a cool dude and I was excited to see the monument dedicating to honoring him. We also saw the vietnam and WWII memorials and the washington monument which is ENORMOUS....

I am so sticky (DC was built on a swamp, you know) so I have to shower up and get to bed. This was only day 1. I love being a tourist.