Taking Washington, D.C. by storm – and by bike!

Oh, we flew into Miami Beach B.O.A.C. Didn’t get to bed last night. We’re back in the U-S-S-A! Temporarily. A little two-week jaunt, before returning for our final 3 months in Costa Rica. Thanks for the good times, D.C.! Amanda kicking things off at the Supreme Court building.

The all-free museums and monuments are such an incredible draw for the city of Washington, D.C. What a Mustachian place to live! Although, the cost of public transit ($2.75/p.p.) is a bit of a shock after seeing the low fares in Panama City ($0.35/p.p.). We borrowed bikes from our great friends who were hosting us in D.C. and made use of the excellent bike lanes around the city. We hit up the Capitol Building, the Library of Congress, the must-see Holocaust Museum, as well as the Museum of Natural History.

The architecture and colorful interior of the Library of Congress are stunning. We didn’t even take the tours, just wandered around the lobby taking pictures.

Where’s waldo Amanda?

The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History is a world-renowned assault on the senses: flashy informative posters with tidbits on every square inch of wall, animal bones and giant structures flying overhead. An attempt to get you to look everywhere at once, and certainly a museum experience designed to keep the attention of easily-bored children (who are subsequently running around like headless chickens). We made a game of dodging other people’s kids!

Our week in D.C. was hosted by our Canadian expat friends and their adorable 10-month old. Amanda is really excited to be wandering around the Capitol Hill neighborhood, east of the Congress building. It has charming rowhouses, each with its own character and style.

The historic Eastern Market is also in this neighborhood, with a farmers market outside and indoor stalls of meat, produce and fresh flowers.

Little Miko is confounded by the world, and every crumpled leaf in it.

The area around Georgetown University is quite swanky (as is the school, at close to $50,000 per year). Colorful homes, high-end shops, bars and restaurants, as well as a very picturesque waterfront.

We took in the neighborhoods, the parks and the fresh summer fruits.

Travis tries to repay the warm hospitality by making a beautiful apple-blueberry pie. Happy birthday, Ariel! Thanks for sharing all your beer!

Bikes and transit were a great way to get around. We tried the Metro system and the buses, all the while overhearing some great conversations. We loved it. Travis remembers his favorite part of one such conversation that went something like:

“she threw out my favorite tennis shoes! can you believe that shit!? then when my birthday came around, she didn’t even buy me a new pair!! what the fuck!? well, it don’t matter anyway cause when that bitch had her birthday last year, I didn’t buy her ass nuttin’ either!”

Taking in the Washington monument by bike on a bright blue-sky day.

The view out to the Lincoln Memorial brought out all sorts of silly selfie-taking tourists. Travis helped this one lovely yoga couple.

Doing donuts around the Lincoln Memorial.

We couldn’t leave Washington, D.C. without taking a peak at the White House. Obama, where aaaaare you?? Getting ready to host the Saudi King, at the time. No time to spare for the likes of us. The accessible public areas around the White House didn’t disappoint though: religious fanatics condemning abortion, disgruntled members of some foreign French-speaking country with megaphones, and tourists from all over the world – like us!

Next stop – the city that never sleeps!