Adventure 6: Insidiously Good Chicken and Waffles

Here’s part 2 of my highlight recap:

1. Insidious

2. UCD on the East Coast

3. Chicken and Waffles

One thing I’ve definitely taken for granted in California is the beautiful year-round weather. I used to complain when the temperature fell below 65 or rose above 80. I can only laugh and shake my head at how foolish I was growing up in California. In DC, I’m trying to get used to actually checking the weather report every day because you never know when a thunderstorm will occur. And these aren’t the mild, (southern?) Californian thunderstorms where you hide under the covers if you see a few sprinkles of water. East Coast thunderstorms have a lot of lightening, thunder, heavy winds, and of course rain. One night, we experienced a pretty terrible storm and all of us were looking out the window to see trees bending back and forth, rain splattering against the glass as though we were in a car wash. We (I tentatively say “we") agreed that it was the perfect night for a scary movie. Using Agent024’s excellent resources, a.k.a. Netflix, we tried streaming Insidious. I was surprised that we even had internet, but the UC Center seems to have a nice safety bubble against the storm. I later found out that the director of the Humanities Council had a tree fall over onto the roof of her house and her car, so I think we’re pretty fortunate to come out of that storm unscathed. Anyway, watching Insidious definitely made me scream, cover my eyes, hold onto Agent024’s stuffed animals, and hide under the blanket. The thunder and lightening only added to the eeriness of the film. I couldn’t sleep for a few days after that and I had to turn on all of the lights in the hall just to use the bathroom.

Not that this was taken during the storm, but have a look at our home away from home. Maybe we brought good vibes from California.

On a happier note, Agent024 and I volunteered at the Folk Life Festival, where UC Davis had a booth! Go Ags! We got free American Apparel, organic shirts. The festival was showcasing universities that receive land-grants and I guess I learned something new—namely that UC Davis is a land-grant receiving university. Anyway, we had a really cool booth about sustainability, but us lucky volunteers were stationed at the Alumni tent across the path. Basically, Agent024 and I just sat at a small table, waiting for UCD Alums to stop by and leave a message on our bulletin board. We received a few visitors, but the place wasn’t exactly overflowing with people. I was surprised by how many Davis Alums still live in DC though and I couldn’t help but well up with a little pride in our school. Not only that, a few non-UCD visitors stopped by our table, asking questions about Davis in general and complimenting our olive oil. I was surprised that people even knew about Davis outside of California. But yeah, all you Aggies out there, be proud of your school! UCD was the only UC represented at the entire festival.

I hope I don't blend into my shirt. Yay free shirt!

Still can't believe it!

"I want to ride my bicycle!"

Last weekend, the girls and I decided to visit Ford’s Theatre, where President Lincoln was shot. The inside of the theater was refurbished, as it went through some changes throughout history. They recreated Lincoln’s viewing booth the night of his assassination, but the theater was rather small. I learned that attending theater during Lincoln’s time was still taboo, as it wasn’t morally acceptable to “be yourself” and enjoy entertainment in public. As a result, President Lincoln was moved to the house across the street, where he could have a more honorable death. Apparently, it took President Lincoln 6 or 7 hours to die after the shot, which must have been so agonizing for his family and those around him.

Waiting in line

Being mature

The gun that killed President Lincoln

President Obama and the First Lady sat in these chairs at Ford's Theater

Behind us is the booth where President Lincoln sat the night he was shot. Also, please ignore the photo bomb.

The bed he died on

The rope from the noose of the 4 conspirators. Creepy, right?

A tower of books about Lincoln

At the mini-museum about Lincoln, there was an exhibit that asked the public, "What are some qualities a good leader should have?"

Here's what the public said

After we were done learning about Abe, we decided to eat at Lincoln’s Waffle Shop just down the street. I decided to order chicken and waffles, with a side of fries to share. It was delicious, oily goodness and I definitely started falling asleep at the counter, induced by food coma.

Lunch time!

Fueled by fat and more fat, we headed off to the most famous Smithsonian, the Air and Space Museum. The Air and Space museum definitely attracted the most diverse visitors, as we saw many international families and field trip groups at the museum. I guess the rest of the world doesn’t care about American history as much, go figure. Unfortunately, the Air and Space museum was the least interesting museum for me out of the three we’ve visited. True, I was probably tired and dehydrated by the time we got there. And it probably didn’t help that I have minimal interest in “air and space” in the first place. Anyway, the museum showcased a lot of aviation history, how airplanes have evolved, various engines and propellers, and so on. I was a little disappointed because to me, being at the museum felt like being at an airport. I guess we were so tired, we barely saw the “space” part of the museum, which was probably more interesting than the “air” portion. Don’t worry though, we gave the Air and Space museum another chance on the 4^th of July.

On the way to the Air and Space museum, we passed by the AIDS memorial quilt

Space

Aero Gel? Sorry, I forgot the significant about this, but it looks cool

German corner!

Until next time: “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other” ~Abraham Lincoln

<3 Upshire Girl