I'm just a bill...sittin here on Capitol Hill.

My second day in Baltimore was a bit more weather friendly. Charity and I went to Fort McHenry which looked over the channel which is part of the Chesapeake Bay. It was a fort during the Revolutionary War and it was a neat little park right on the water. I'm all about being right on the water except for the freezing winds it brought in off the ocean...they were a bit brutal! After that we went to Federal Hill which was so cool...it was an excellent view of the city and of the Inner Harbor. I got a really cute picture that I'll try to upload later...but not tonight, because I have a long post! We then walked down to the Inner Harbor and did a little shopping, got our nails done and then headed to her grandparents for my first Seder dinner.

Charity's grandfather is Jewish, so this was a very neat first time experience for me. Clarissa gave me a stern warning about the kaveltafish (I don't know how that's spelled...it's phonetical here) and the matzah ball soup. I won't go into her detail of description of the two, but as you can imagine it was very colorful! Well, there was no kaveltafish, which I was prepared to not even try, but the matzah ball soup wasn't too bad. Actually it was alright. What was rough was the morar which is a bitter root and happened to be horseradish root. It was put on matzah with a mixture that represented mortar (it was ground nuts, cinnamon, etc) and I ate my bite and everyone found my expression and my tears very amusing. That cleared my sinuses...thank goodness Charity had the same reaction, I wasn't the only one!! And the water hadn't been passed around yet...how cruel!! But I really enjoyed the ceremony, after the symbolic food Bonnie had prepared a dinner for us, so it was very nice and I'm glad I got to experience that. Especially since I have so many Jewish friends at camp and I had no experience with it growing up in Franklin.

I woke up on time this morning...probably because Charity could hear my alarm going off and she woke me up, but either way, I got to shower before my trip! So we headed off to Penn Station this morning so I could catch my first ever Amtrak to DC. Well, we missed a turn and I got to experience Baltimore's finest...if you know what I mean! But, we quickly back tracked and found the correct way and I headed on to my next big challenge of PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION!! As I mentioned in Boston I got a little taste of it with Jason and Clarissa...accompanied by them...I was all on my own this time!! Well, that's not exactly true, I had help from a few nice gentlemen who obviously knew it was my first time on the Amtrak! I missed the announcement for the correct gate...thank goodenss for my nice friend...he then explained it would be the last stop on the trip and I couldn't miss DC...I didn't even know there would be multiple stops...how ignorant of me!! Anyway, I then get off the train and head towards the Metro, DC's public transportation. Well, it's about 8:30am at this time and I'm in the middle of rush hour with an overstuffed backpack, my suitcase, and an added bag (my luggage keeps growing) yeah, I stuck out. So I have to get a metro pass and I feel bad even standing in line because everyone is in such a hurry and I had to read all the instructions...but some other helpful man recognized my confusion...helped me buy my ticket and then directed me right through the gates to the correct train. Thank goodness for these kind people, I really might have waited until 930 0r s0 until the rush died down...it was so intimidating!

I'm proud to say I conquered public transportation! I made it to Rebecca's apartment, dropped off my stuff and headed out to explore the city...on the Metro. Rebecca had to work so I was on my own, but I loved it! I got off the Metro at the Smithsonian stop and got goosebumps when I saw the Washington Monument...I had no idea it was so huge...in my head it has always been the size of the statue in the square in Downtown Franklin...I know...ignorant again. And I knew it was bigger than that, but in my head I always picture it small...that was WRONG...it was so HUGE! We're hopefully going to go up in it tomorrow. Anyway, I went to the National Mall and walked towards the Capitol Building. Some of you may be familiar with the title of the post...I'm just a bill...it's a School House Rock Video where they sing a song to teach how a bill goes through Congress to become a law...great song...YouTube it! Anyway...I got lots of pictures of it and as I got up closer I realized there was scaffolding built up around the front of it because they were either cleaning, repairing or painting it! Ha, oh well, in up close pictures you can tell, but otherwise I don't think you'll be able to.

I then went in the Museum of American History. I really wanted to see the First Ladies Exhibit, but it was a 30 minute wait and same for the American Flag exhibit...so I walked around a few others and wasn't overly impressed...but whatever I'm still in DC and it's still neat and historical. I then headed over to the White House to get a glimpse...and I got just that and ONLY that. I think that's about the extent of the opportunity. Not quite what I expected, but it is a family residence. I'm not sure what I was looking for...but just not that. Anyway, I rushed over to the Holocaust Museum which I had a ticket for at 2:45 and I went through that. Wow, what an experience...some of the exhibits just made me cringe, as it should anyone, but it was very well done. I spent about 2 hours in the exhibit until my legs, feet, and back could take it no more...5 hours of walking about did me in!!!

I headed back to Rebecca's apartment about 530 and we went to dinner at a Lebanese restaurant...my first time for that as well. It was delicious! We then chatted and drank wine for a couple hours while we caught up! Rebecca is a friend of mine from when I was 4...we lived across the street from each other growing up. She now lives up in DC and works for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (I think is the name). Funny story, when we were little our families used to trade furniture because both of our moms liked to redecorate, but didn't have the money to buy new furniture. They would trade, rearrange, paint, anything! We were talking how we didn't realize until much later in life that it was NOT normal to trade furniture with your neighbors! So about an hour later in the middle of a totally different conversation, Rebecca says...wait...do you realize what chair you're sitting it? I didn't know what she was talking about...but sure enough, it was one of my family's big comfy chairs that we had in Maplewood and probably traded for a table or dresser or something! Her mom passed it along to her and is now in her apartment in DC. *Mom and dad- it's the tan comfy chair, the one that we had 2 of, but the one we kept was covered in a different, more yellow colored fabric!!

Anyway, it's 1130 and we have another big day planned tomorrow...and I am exhausted! I'll update later, hopefully with pictures...I have so many good ones! Sorry for such a long post, it has been 2 days and they have each been so full!!

Take Care...