8 States and A District

Warning: Long Post. On Friday, April 17, 2009 I flew out to Washington DC to visit my friend Jenni and watch her run the prestigious Boston Marathon. I arrived on Friday evening and we went straight to the capital building for a short jog. Then we went to the famous Kabob Place in Arlington, VA for some dinner. It was really yummy.
The next morning we woke up to the bright sunshine coming through the window. BEAUTIFUL spring weather! So we took advantage and went for a 6 mile run through the district. We ran from Jenni's sky rise condo to the Pentagon.
Then over to the Lincoln Memorial.
And down to the Washington Monument and World War II Memorial.
Then along Pennsylvania Ave to the White House.Lastly, we ran about 2 miles over to the metro station for a ride home. It was an awesome run!Saturday afternoon we started our road trip to Boston, MA for the marathon. It was quite a journey through toll roads galore and traffic. Jenni's parents came with us. The 4 of us had so much FUN. We hit Maryland (I thought of Ginger as we drove by the signs for Annapolis), Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. After traveling approximately 2 blocks in about 45 minutes through Manhattan bumper cars, we finally found a place to park and toured the city. We took the fairy over to Staten Island and saw great views of the city.
The Statue of Liberty with the sunset.
Then we walked over to the financial district and saw this:
Wall Street
New York Stock Exchange
Lastly, we took the metro up to Times Square and joined the SWARMS of people walking around.
After New York we drove to Connecticut and stayed the night in a comfy hotel. At the end of the trip Jenni's parents and I agreed that DoubleTree Hotels had the best beds:). We were all exhausted from the hustle and bustle of NYC. The next morning we woke up early and went to church in the New Canaan, CT ward. It was a great Sacrament Meeting. Guess whose ward we had ended up attending...Glenn Beck. Pretty cool huh! Jenni's dad got to meet him! After church we headed the rest of the way to Boston. We went straight to the marathon expo. It was this part that I became a little sad that I was not running. Jenni and I soaked it all in and decided that I needed to participate at least once before I die.
We purchased our Boston Marathon gear to remind me to train hard. We each got spandex shorts and both wore them for every run the rest of the trip:)
While we were waiting for our dinner plans we decided to go see the Boston Tea Party Ship. We were a little surprised when all we saw was this:
The water with no ship. I guess the ship was getting restored so we decided we would just take a picture of where it was supposed to be. The next morning was Patriot Day (Monday) and that means race day. Patriot Day in Boston is a holiday and the race is HUGE for the city and for the world. Elite athletes compete in the Boston from everywhere, especially the fast countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, USA, etc. Jenni ran an AWESOMELY FAST time of 3:32, which is about 8:07 minutes per mile for the 26.2 miles. She smoked the race and it was a well deserved accomplishment. Here are all the pictures from the race.
Watching Jenni around mile 6.
Mile 15.
The 23,000 plus people that ran the race and the crowds at the finish.
The finish is where I became the saddest that I wasn't running. The cheers and crowds just ran a tingle down my spine and it made me realize how much I regretted not doing the Boston in any of the years between 2003 and 2005 when I was qualified to go. Thankfully, I have a wonderful friend who plans on making sure I re-qualify for Boston and then running it again with me in the near future.After the race we ate dinner at the 'Barking Crab'. Jenni's mom ordered the lobster. She let me try a piece. It was my first LOBSTER experience and I am proud to say it was in Boston and it was good. I love this picture...After dinner we walked around the Harvard campus and then headed home. It's an 8 hour drive between DC and Boston so we stopped to sleep in New Jersey. On Tuesday, we hurried back to DC so we could tour the Supreme Court Building on Capitol Hill. I learned SO much on this tour and thought it was pretty cool. You actually couldn't take any pictures inside the Supreme Court room so the second picture is from the foyer into the room.
We saw the reception rooms.The famous spiral staircase.The Supreme Court Library.And...the Basketball Court that sits right above the Supreme Court room. Did you know that? I didn't until I toured the building. The best part...we played!
The Supreme Court Building is right across from the Capitol Building.On Tuesday evening we went for a run (in our Boston Marathon shorts) along the Mt. Vernon trail. It runs along the Potomac River and you get gorgeous views of the city. The Reagan International Airport is also right across the way so when the planes take off and land they go RIGHT OVER your head.The next day, Wednesday, I was supposed to go home. My flight was canceled so I spent the day with Jenni hard at work with her 7th grade math students. After school, we ventured out to Georgetown and walked around. I LOVED that city.
Cobblestone streets. Brick sidewalks.
Old school.
Georgetown cupcakes-the happening place. And they were good! We got the white chocolate raspberry. SO yummy!
After Georgetown we of course had to go for another run. We drove down to Old Town Alexandria in VA and ran down to the waterfront along King St. and then up to the Masonic Temple. It was about 4-5 miles.
The DC area is filled with great places and great running. There was sooo much more to see that I never got to. That makes an excuse for another trip:). Thanks Jenni for a wonderful tour and vacation!!!