Going the Distance In Washington, D.C.
We really enjoyed adventuring around Arkansas. There were a lot of really unique and cool things to be found. We have now set our sights on a new location and temporary home, Keansburg, New Jersey. Most of the transitions we have had between Amity’s job locations have been around 2-3 weeks. This was not going to be the case with this transition. We only had 4 days to get there for her between Amity’s last day in Arkansas and her first day of work in New Jersey. This came with challenges and opportunities. We needed to put some serious driving in to get to the east coast, but once we get there, we had the chance to explore Washington, D.C. before heading up to Keansburg, New Jersey. So, here we go. We have 4 days to drive 1,378 miles, do as much sight-seeing as we can and get settled in before Amity has to check in for her first day. If you know us, WE GOT THIS!
Mile: 46,677
Quote of the Blog: “This all came from a dream in Washington, D.C.” - Marvin Gaye
Song of the Blog: “Born in the U.S.A.” - Bruce Springsteen
Being able to do this we had to hit the road immediately. This meant packing the car while Amity was working, and getting as far as we could down the road after she was done working for the day. We left Amity’s workplace in Van Buren, Arkansas around 6:00pm. We were able to get pretty far before we needed to get some sleep in. This got us to Jackson, Tennessee. Looking back at it, it doesn’t even feel like we slept there, before getting back into the car and making our way to DC. We passed many areas we have researched for future jobs, and passed beautiful areas such as the Smoky Mountains and Shenandoah National Park. As we drove into Maryland and DC we passed some of the most lush ivy forests we have ever seen. It was fairly late by the time we pulled into downtown DC, and boy were we ready to get out to the car. Twelve hours in the car and we had made it. With a two night reservation at the AC Marriott Hotel, we knew we could go straight to bed, and still have a full day to explore the city. While we were getting ready for bed, we used ChatGPT to come up with a walking plan to see several of the museums and galleries in the day, while going to the monuments at night. All in all it put a day together that seemed out of reach, but when has that ever stopped us?
ChatGPT suggested that we start our day early and get breakfast as a spot called, The Founding Farmers. This was perfectly between our hotel and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. We got there so early we were in line before they opened. It was worth it, as we were able to quickly get in and have an amazing breakfast to start the day. On the way to the Smithsonian, we started passing federal buildings, historical landmarks and spotted the Mexican Embassy. It was about this point when it started to sink in that we were really on the east coast, and that we will be living on the east coast. This made our journeys today that much more exciting. We got to the museum before they opened their doors. I guess we did get a good start for the day, but we had a lot to see.
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is amazing! We spent a couple hours wondering around taking in as much as we could. We both thought the area with all the minerals and gem stones to be the best. This is where the Hope Diamond is, which was on Amity’s “Must See” list. Also in there is the Uncle Sam Diamond, which was cool to see. Uncle Sam is the largest diamond to be found in the United States and was found in Arkansas at the Crater of Diamonds State Park, which we had been at couple weeks ago. They had a full display about the diamond state park, and Amity just so happened to have all the crystals we found there in her pack. We had to take them out for a quick photo with the display! We also found a massive crystal of Amity’s birthstone, Aquamarine, and compared her Montana Sapphire to the Logan Sapphire, which is MASSIVE! We also enjoyed the Egypt section. Looking at a real mummy will blow anyone’s mind. After a couple hours of exploring, we had to keep the day moving. At this point we had put in 4 miles of walking and it wasn’t even 11:30am.
ChatGPT had suggested that we do three of the four major museums before moving on to the federal buildings. We headed down the street to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Amity had a couple more items here that were had to see. One of them was the Ruby Red Slippers from Wizard of Oz. They were pretty cool and still very shinny. I enjoyed walking around the civil rights and voting areas. The area that has all the information about all of the First Lady’s in US history was surprisingly enjoyable. It’s amazing to see the transition of fashion throughout the history of the country, and we laughed at Barbra Bush’s ultra conservative style. We enjoyed looking at the pop-culture section. They had all of the most famous costumes, entertainer outfits and sports memorabilia from throughout the years of American history. One of the craziest displays in this museum is about the falling of the Berlin Wall. They have a chunk of it there on display. Amazing to put your eyes on something that was so impacting in this history of the world. By the time we were done here, we had put on another 3 miles of walking and it was time to head to the next museum.
We were not sure we could do the third museum and have enough time in our day, but we wanted to see some of the major art that is on display there and it just so happened to be close by. We didn’t spend much time at the National Gallery of Art. We wanted to see the Leonardo Di Vinci painting, but as we walked around, we found Monet, Van Gough and The Thinker Statue. It was such an amazing museum, but we had a ton on our plate for the afternoon, and we were getting hungry. We didn’t put much more walking in there, but we did have a ways to get to our spot to have lunch. Andy Early had suggested we go have lunch at this spot where you have great views of city called, Vue Rooftop Bar & Lounge.
On the way to our lunch spot, we walked past the White House. We stopped for some pictures and some quick people watching. It is quite the scene down there. We started putting pieces together on recent and historical events, and started to realize where we were standing. The inspiration and feeling of awe are gaining steam as the day progresses. The rooftop lounge was awesome! We had great views of the Washington Monument, and the Federal Reserve was next door and sitting between us and the White House. Having an aerial view of everything only made the great food and drinks even better! By this point, we had stay with the plan put forth by ChatGPT. We had walked just over 9 miles so far, and had a full afternoon/night ahead of us.
The second half of our day started with checking out some of the federal buildings. We walked down to the National Archives. Having a chance to see the Constitution and the Bill of Rights is mind blowing! The fact that you can see them is first off crazy, and the fact they have been maintained and kept in such great quality. A couple of other document we were able to see today were the Magna Carta and the Letter of Resignation from President Nixon. It's really amazing to see all of this. Recognizing all the amazing advancement of our country, while not shying away from the struggles and battles that we have gone through to get here is something special.
By the time we were done here, it was nearly 5pm and we were starting to think about dinner. We had a plan to go to dinner at The Hamilton. This was quite a bit of a walk from where we were, so we found a dive bar on the way to have a drink and check out the local vibe. We made our way up to Union Trust. We ended up having some great conversations with the bartender there. He had spent quite a bit of time in Virginia City, Montana (which is way in the middle of nowhere) when he was younger. He was a great character, and knew about how much fun Butte, MT is for St. Patrick’s Day. After a short period of time there, we wanted to make a move to get the second half of our walk in to the restaurant. We were much faster than we planned, and had more time to kill before our reservations. We poked our heads into the Old Ebbits Grille, and found a spot at their bar. This was a really cool rustic looking spot. We were again greeted with a great bartender who wanted to chat while we enjoyed our drinks. Dinner was a welcome evening event. We were both very hungry, and slightly tired. The Hamilton is a casual dining spot in the downtown DC area. We were satisfied and refueled for the night portion of our events.
By this point in the day we had done 12 miles of walking, and we were both not sure if we were going to be able to make it much further. We had to walk a few miles to get to the memorial, and then about another couple miles to get back to our hotel. We decided to get some scooters to save ourselves. The problem with this plan arises as we were getting the apps open and pay for the scooter, my phone dies. This leaves us with having to walk. Having something like the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and the National Mall as our motivators, we were able to dig deep and finish the necessary walking to get the day done. We first walked up to WWII Memorial. The lights and the dark contrast made this sight all the more empowering. We continued along to the Washington Monument and the National Mall. This is something we have all seen in movies and on TV, but being there in person it has a much bigger and larger than life feel. At the end of the mirror pond sits the Lincoln Memorial. Making the trip up the steps to the statue of President Lincoln was awesome! Having the knowledge that all of these things, and this country does not exist without the will and strength of this man shook me. We took several photos and started to make our way out. Along our walk through the park that runs along the National Mall, we came to the Vietnam War Memorial. There is a really cool statue that tributes all of the female doctors that served in the Vietnam War that did not get any recognition at the time. Amity really enjoyed spending some time around this spot.
We were now totally zapped! We were only motivated by the idea of getting to a bed to lay down from the day. We were proud, inspired and so grateful to be able to have had a day like this. We had fulfilled nearly everything ChatGPT planned for us (we only missed the Supreme Court and the Capital Building). All in all we were able to put down 16 miles of exploring in our national capital. Live Rad is going to have to get used to doing some “urban hiking” with this east coast lifestyle. Bed could not have felt any better!
We still had to finish our journey to New Jersey. We still had 5 more hours of driving to get to Keansburg, NJ. We had a plan to get there early enough to meet with our new landlord and get into our new rental. With the short drive, we took our sweet time getting up in the morning and found a great bagel spot for breakfast and coffee called Call Your Mother. I went with the standard breakfast sandwich bagel, while Amity went with a Maple Salt & Pepper bagel with cream cheese. Needless to say, getting bagels for breakfast is going to become commonplace in our east coast lives! We made the final push of our journey to New Jersey. The drive was quick and smooth. We pulled into our rental before the sun went down, but we were a little late to meet our landlord. She was nice enough to just leave the door open for us, leave our keys on the table and leave us a welcome bottle of wine and beer. Her name is Helen, and we have a feeling Helen is going to be a great landlord! After pulling our things out of our car and into the rental unit, we did our first walk down to the beach. Yep! Our rental is about 5 minutes from the Atlantic Ocean, and our own private entry to the beach. We have a fantastic view of New York City in the distance, and quite a bit of beach space to take advantage of. We are very excited to be here in New Jersey. We have many adventures planned and cannot wait to see the places we find. This has been one crazy transition between jobs! Over 1,300 miles of driving across 6 states, 16 miles of walking around DC over 36 hours and a whole new place to call home all in the matter of 4 days!!! When will we rest next? Who knows!