2.10.10

BLIZZARD 2010

I didn’t have class for a full week, plus a day or too. I was stuffed up inside, so naturally, we decided to brave the storm.

This included: making snow angels in the park, walking to Krispy Kreme in the snow, observing a major snowball fight at Dupont Circle, or having our very own snowball fight outside the UCDC center.

Nothing is better than a night at the movies when its snowing! (aside from the fact that the metro closes when it snows!) So far, we’ve seen Avatar 3D, Dear John, and Valentine’s Day.

MOM- my snowboots fared me well.

2.12.10

NEW YORK

Decided to travel to New York for the weekend despite the storm and Nick’s cancelled flights.

Went with a group of 6 other girls – cramped inside a tiny hotel room at the Roosevelt.

When we first got there, we ate at an Italian restaurant in Manhattan. Since it was so late, we only were able to go to Starbucks and Times Square for a couple hours.

The next day we woke up early to go to Times Square again and stand in line for cheap Broadway tickets. We scored tickets to Chicago at 2:30, but first we decided to eat at Maxie’s, right in the middle of Times Square. Alex and Kanel were looking for a New York breakfast – so we all ordered the cheapest breakfast we could find. I got bacon and eggs (a massive amount of food that I couldn’t finish, yet I drank all my orange juie) Then, we traveled to Alice’s Tea Cup, a cute little boutique-like tea shop based on the Alice and Wonderland theme. I bought a really cute little teapot there that was decorated with Alice and her Wonderland friends. After we watched Chicago on Broadway, we took a taxi to Chinatown to buy some cheap souvenirs. We then walked through a bit of Soho and ate at one of the best Italian restaurants I’ve ever had. Shortly after, we walked down to Ninja NY, which was a fun/expensive (I only spent $30 bucks mom!) adventure probably not to be repeated for the rest of my life. I tried real sake for the first time in my life (the rice wine that had little tiny rice particles still in it). We went back to the hotel after that because we were all super exhausted from our long day.

Alex and I went to Ray’s Pizza the next day and had some amazinggg slices. We walked to MoMA but the Tim Burton exhibit was sold out, so then we tried to get to the Natural History Museum. It was such a far walk! All the way around Central Park so we went and visited the New York FAO Schwartz! It had a bigger Harry Potter section than the one in Vegas. I even rode a Nimbus 2000. We went to the Natural History Museum, but then had to head back to the hotel in a hurry because our bus was leaving for Washington, D.C.

2.19.10

BOSTON

The next Friday, I packed up all my stuff once again to head to Boston, 7-8 hours away from Washington, D.C. We got there late at night on Friday due to the fact that we didn’t leave until 2:00 pm because of our class schedule. The next day, we woke up bright and early to explore the city. We hit up another one of Food Network’s hotspots on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives – called Mike’s City Diner. I ordered the “Emergency Room Breakfast” and split with Michelle; we still weren’t even close to finishing. My favorites were the pancakes because we asked for bananas and strawberries on them – and the put the bananas right inside the pancakes themselves! It made my order feel very personalized.

After such an early breakfast, we went to the famous Sam Adams Brewery. We were able to get a tour at 11:00, so they took us through the brewery and we learned all about the ingredients that go into beer and even try some of them before they go through the brewing process (bad idea don’t try the hops). They gave us a free glass, and filled it up 3 times with different types of beer! The tour was free too, so it was an overall great experience.

Next, we took the T to the Freedom Trail and walked along a portion of it for a bit. We then went to Fenway Park and learned about the history of the Red Sox in a tour. After, we visited Harvard and did a little bit of walking around the local neighborhood. The girls and I ended our day with a trip to the oldest working restaurant in the nation – Union Oyster House. I ordered shrimp with rice pilaf. We briefly walked through Little Italy after and got some watermelon gelato.

To end our trip, we traveled half an hour north of Boston to Salem, Massachusetts. We visited the Salem Witch Museum there, and learned about the Salem Witch Trials and how perceptions of witches have changed over time. I felt like it was a pretty educational experience, and I liked the people in the little town far more than I expected. They were really nice!! Even the witch-people shop owners were really welcoming, and they had their own Harry Potter wands made as well as Twilight stuff.

We then drove back to Washington, D.C. to get back to our normal lives of interning and schoolwork! But not before we bought some Boston Baked Beans!