This past weekend was the global climate march in our nations capital: Washington D.C. Now I wouldn’t consider myself a climate expert by any sense of the term, but I do believe that humans need to start paying more attention to the negative impacts we make, and to do whatever we can to protect our mother earth. Sounding like a hippie aside, a coworker of mine was taking a bus to D.C. for the weekend to be a part of the climate march and I decided to join in. Cue a gorgeous last minute trip!
Old Friends
The Thursday before was when I realized that the only thing that I had done in preparation for my trip except make signs for the march. Sadly I did not snap any pictures on my sign, but you can check out Nemo’s in the picture slideshow. Holy Hannah usually I love planning ahead but I had put everything off until last minute! I was able to find an open flight with no problem and I scoured AirBnb, hotels, hostels…. anywhere that offered a reasonable price and allowed dogs (Nemo was coming with). It took hours but I finally found a lovely hotel and booked it for Friday and Saturday night.
Ok. Now that I had the transportation and lodging figured out I had no idea what I was going to do the entire time I was there! Although I love museums, theses treasure troves of history were not an option because of Nemo (unless I found someway to register him as a legitimate service dog in less than 24 hours…). My coworker was bussing down Saturday morning and was leaving immediately following the march so I had Friday evening, Saturday evening, and Sunday morning wide open.
One of my very good friends lives in the area, and I was ecstatic that she would be in town on Friday night 🙂 Hanging out with her was a blast and it was nice to catch up after not seeing her for a couple years! We met up at a bar in Georgetown for happy hour with several of her friends from work then hung out at a coworkers house for a chill night in. Even Nemo hung out with us! 10/10 would love to do again!
Heated Marchers
Nemo and I were awake bright and early to prepare for the climate march. It was supposed to be sunny and HOT outside for the entire day so I made sure to pack water bottles as a part of my “protesting essentials” backpack. The morning temperature was cool so I decided to walk to the Mall from my hotel (around 2 miles) instead of taking an Uber.
We arrived around 10 and the temperature was already in the high 70’s. Nemo and I walked past the WWII memorial and the Washington monument all the way to where the march started. My coworker met up with us around 11:30 and we were PUMPED to help support the environment. Apparently mother nature has sense of humor because today was the hottest day ever recorded for April (further supporting the theory of Climate Change-just saying). It was in the low 90’s and humid! Poor little Nemo was panting up a storm no matter how much water I poured on him. Nemo and I were only able to march for a minute or so before I had to find us a place to sit down in the shade.
My coworker went on without us and had a great time standing up for the environment! Nemo rested in the shade while I planned what we were going to do. We slowly walked through all of the monuments on the mall from the capital building to the Lincoln Memorial (a 3 mile distance). Nemo and I were admiring the White House when another one of my friends met up with us! It was amazing to explore D.C. with someone who lives there. We had a couple drinks and caught up while Nemo slept in the shade. I went back to the hotel, took a power nap, and ate dinner while Nemo rested his little puppy head.
Penns vs. Caps
Game 2 for the second round of the Stanley cup playoffs was tonight for the Penguins and the Capitals.. and the game was held in D.C.! There were excited fans throughout the entire city! My friend and I met up again to watch the game later that night. Being in D.C for that game was amazing; you could feel all of the emotions in the air. Ultimately the prevailing emotion was defeat, as the Caps lost 6-2. We left the bar with all of the other fans to see tens of Penns fans standing on the steps to a building and cheering/chanting! I have never seen the fans from an opposing team do that before, and the experience was odd.
Monumental Adventures
Leaving the hockey game behind us, we walked to the mall to explore all of the monuments in the dark. Everything was clean, and well-lit- with the added bonus of being crowd-free! All of the monuments were glorious at night. The entire walk took us from the White house, to the Washington Monument, Jefferson Monument, JFK Memorial, and the MLK Memorial. By this point it was already past my bed time so I hopped on an Uber and went to sleep immediately after getting back.
The next morning was bittersweet. Everything was packed, Nemo was relaxing, and I was on my way to see Arlington National Cemetery. I find it hard to describe the feeling of being in that historic setting. The grounds are beautiful: greenery covers rolling hill, trees provide scenic shade, and majestic headstones stretch as far as your eye can see. Despite beautiful environment there was a perpetual solemnness clinging in the air. Just the sight of all of the graves fills you with a mixture of sadness, pride, and respect. Those individuals buried there were amazing people; some of which died too young protecting our country.
It was muggy when we got there, and I only had enough time to look around for about an hour and a half before I had to leave for the airport.We walked around and saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Eternal Flame at the Kennedy gravesite, and the house where General Lee lived. The tour around was quick, and left me wanting to see more. Unfortunately I had to leave, so my friend and I parted ways and I left for the airport.
UBER
Uber was the star of the shoe throughout this entire trip! The ease of having a cash-free transportation option was amazing. Every driver that I met had exceptional personalities, wondrous stories, and were skilled at navigating the city. Plus the fares were reasonable compared to the taxis in Albany. I hope that Albany will allow Uber drivers here soon otherwise I am going to organize a protest.
Thank you for joining me today and I hope you enjoyed reading about our Nations Capital city! I had a blast and would be more than happy to answer any questions or comments that you have! Have a lovely rest of your day 🙂