Look to the Past

Okay, so I wasn't exactly a quote, unquote happy camper today as I rode into the sunrise in a hatchback with my new friends. I hadn't had much sleep and the enthusiasm wasn't bubbling over, but just the same, Russell made me giggle.

Ride to Nashville: Slept

Airport: Turner made fun of me and my passport... nice. 

Plane Ride: Slept

Bus Ride: Heard Russell sing and ask Shane "are we there yet"

Hotel: Rave in Turner's room, okay not really, but it was crowded

Okay, so then it got really interesting and our D.C. adventure took off. After a few problems with the Metro Machine we got our passes and we're off. Some of the girls and I went out to eat (yummy) in ChinaTown and then on to the Smithsonian. 

I guess the sight of the Washington Monument or the Capital Rotunda may not seem like much to some with the artistic eye, but I was in awe. Not at the size or the grandeur, but the feeling that they gave me. Yeah, I'm a history and politics nerd (it's taken me a while to come out with this =] ) but I still wasn't prepared. I thought the feeling and newness would have surely dimmed by now, but the feeling is always there. You are standing at the exact spot that hundreds of thousands of the world's greatest leaders and thinkers have stood. Humbling? Most certainly. 

While I'm afraid that I might have been a bit of a bore for Ali as I explored the Smithsonian, I was happy. The Smithsonian is my heroin. I got high on exhibits following America's wars and busts of my old pal Abe. And while I joke a lot, I can't lie and say that I didn't kinda cry because I was completely in my element and blissfully aware of it. 

Our last stop was The Holocaust Museum. This is kind of my area of study and passion, so as I walked through the story of David's life, a child who survived; and as I stood in silence in The Hall of Remembrance there was a definite catch in me. I can't describe the experience to you except to say that I am certain each visitor to this hall leaves with a feeling of possibility for changing the world, it makes you WANT to change the world. "The government of the United States... gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance." -George Washington. So the next time you want to be bitter, come to D.C. and feel the connection to the past because it will give you hope for the future.

Basically, today rocked. =) oh, and our waiter was dumb. 

p.s. I love you Momma =)

Hunter Stevens

I tried photos, but Macs hate me.