Well, now I am back to work after my wonderful 5 day vacation. It was definitely hard to get up this morning, as I had gotten used to a) not using an alarm and b) waking up around 9:30 instead of 7. Oh well, back to the daily grind. I am officially one month (32 days) away from being back in Texas! I couldn’t be more excited! Not that I am not enjoying my time here, but I have found out a lot of things namely:
I do not enjoy living solely in the city. It is nice having everything so convenient, but I long for a nice long drive through the country and sitting outside without hearing cars honking at you.
I enjoy this line of work, but I’m not sure I would enjoy working in the government or in a D.C. caliber job. My internship isn’t necessarily stressful, but I can see how this type of career would definitely take its toll on me.
I miss Texas! I love the culture of this city, and all of the opportunities that it holds, but this trip has made me realize how much I love my state and how much I love being a Texan. Sorry non-Texans, this really is the best state in the U.S.
Now onto a rundown of the last three days of my vacation:
Day 3
Woohoo, my birthday! I want to thank everyone who wished me a happy birthday, it was an absolutely wonderful day! I started the day by waking up late and then Zane and I went out to lunch in old town Alexandria. We explored the shops and finally settled on eating at this place called Hard Times Café. Oh my goodness, favorite restaurant of all time! It was another chili bar, but so much better than Ben’s Chili Bowl. Not that Ben’s isn’t great in its own right and for being a historic site in D.C. that everyone should visit, but Hard Times was pure Texas. They had 4 styles of chili (which you could sample before you ordered), corn bread, Texas style sweet tea, Shiner beer (of which I did not partake since it was 11AM), and Texas style country music! The chili dog I had was absolutely delicious, and I can’t wait to go back there again!
Side note: why aren’t there chili parlors in Texas? I could see this place being a total hit! Below is a picture of the entrée, it may look just like a mound of chili, but that mound of chili is a mouthful of deliciousness.
After we went to the chili parlor, we hopped on the metro to visit the Eastern Market. If you are into arts and crafts, jewelry and décor as much as I am you would LOVE this place. There was handmade jewelry, trinkets and art pieces EVERYWHERE! It was so much fun to look around at everything at this market. There was even a guy selling hand strung pearls for $25! Granted, the pearls weren’t of superb quality, but they were beautiful and for $25 they were hard to pass up.I was thankful that I wasn’t carrying cash with me because I would have bought so many things.I would pass by the décor items and think, OOOh that would look beautiful in my apartment, ohh that would look nice next to my bed, ohhh that would make such a statement! As much as I want to get back to Texas, the Eastern Market is a BIG reason of why I will miss D.C.
After going to the eastern market, the day kind of wound down. Zane and I returned to Old Town Alexandria to explore and eat some more. Sadly, I did not get a birthday cake, but I am going to go to a cupcake shop in Dupont Circle called Hello Cupcakes to purchase a belated birthday cupcake.
Day 4
Independence Day! Actually, this day was not very eventful at all. Considering the amount of tourists that were out and about, we made an executive decision to travel only where our feet could carry us. So, Zane took me on a tiny tour of some more of Crystal City. We eventually ended up at the Potomac Yard shopping center and had lunch at this restaurant called Hop’s, another new favorite restaurant. This place has a microbrewery inside of the restaurant and you can get a sampler of all 6 beers brewed there for only $4! As well as the beer, the food was spectacular! They give you complimentary croissants covered in what I assumed to be butter but tasted like icing. I ordered some delicious potato soup as well as a salad. I was stuffed by the end of the meal. Here are some pictures of the feast.
After that, we went to the movie theater where we paid $9 each to get in to a matinee…another reason why I can’t wait to get back to Texas. After the movie we walked back to the apartment and waited until “A Capitol Fourth” came on TV. I am slightly sorry that I did not attend the event in person, but then again, I didn’t have to deal with all of the tourists.
Day 5
The last day of my vacation! By Monday, I really had run out of things to do. I had seen all of the tourist destinations that I wanted to see, so Zane and I walked back to the Potomac yards to watch another movie. After the movie we stopped at this grocery store which was finally reminiscent of HEB. IT was not overpriced, the aisles were large, and I only spent $30 for 2 weeks worth of food. Way different than the premium prices that I had seen at Harris Teeter!Although no grocery store will ever compare to HEB, in my eyes, this one is certainly the best market that I have come across while in D.C. After our trek back to the apartment carrying about 30 pounds of groceries, it was time to rest a bit. I pretty much hung around the rest of the evening, with the exception of our excursion to a DELICIOUS Italian restaurant for a pizza. It was a wonderful evening, and an great ending to a fantastic 5 day vacation!
Now, back to work!
One of the best parts of my birthday was my present that Zane gave me! He made a western style belt for me, which I had wanted to add to my wardrobe for a long time. Here is a picture of it! He picked out the Conchos and everything, stained the belt and put it all together…however it is missing holes so I can’t actually put it on yet. Apparently, they do not allow belt hole puncher gadgets on planes! Oh well, another thing to look forward to when I get back to Texas!
Beautiful belt
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