Day 7 September 13th, 2010
Alright, it has been 7 days since the start of my odyssey and I am feeling fantastic! A little tired, but not exhausted anymore. After Boston, I headed to Washinton DC and had a fabulous time walk/running lol! (as I only had 12-5:30pm to get to everything as closing time for most stuff was 5:30pm) through our nation’s capitol, getting lost in a labyrinth of walkways to the National Library of Congress (which was really started by a gift of books personally collected by Thomas Jefferson), reading like a speed demon for 15 minutes in the Smithsonian Air & Space museum, soaking in the remaining bits of sun creeping around the massively tall Washington Monument, heading across to the ever famous Lincoln Memorial (pausing to buy a delicious chunky mango popsicle $2), listening to Enya heading to the Jefferson Memorial while trapsing along the Potomac, and finally putting on a light jacket as I glimpsed the White House from a considerable distance due to 18 layers of security. And I ended with a little Mc Donald’s Dollar Menu items as I’m on a very strict budget they’ve saved my bacon on this trip. To be honest, staying with the couch surfing hosts was a bit terrifying at first as I didn’t know what to expect and it was in a shadier outskirt of DC, but they were so warm and giving that we soon carried on with storytelling adventures around the world as if we had been lifelong friends.
Waking up at 4:30am to catch a bus to Dulles (an airport I don’t recommend anyone going in or out of due to distance and cost $12 roundtrip) was very rough especially after heading to bed at 12am, but that is traveling life Little sleep and lots of adventure! I had a 5 hour layover in New York, so after finding my way to the city with my pack unfortunately (I had tried to find a place to dump it only to find it’d cost me $10), I quickly walked 20 blocks starting at Ground Zero making my way north on Boardwalk. Ground Zero was amazing I must say! I didn’t know what to expect. I remember when it all happened, I was attending University and my surfing friend came in (I thought he was high) yelling about 2 buildings just blown up in NY. In disbelief I watched them plummet with plumes of smoke belching forth covering all in its destructive path. So, at the sight, I was astonished to find how large the area was that actually was affected. It is strange looking out over a wide swath of ground just void of any building life especially as it is in the heart of the financial district. It’s as if the terrorists just ripped out the heart of NY and America and our wound is still open for all to see. Sure there is building and a monument of sorts is being erected, but we almost prefer to keep it open and festering so we don’t forget or remain naïve enough to believe the rest of the world loves us and is going to allow us to continue with our way of life. But, transitioning back to sightseeing, I quickly made my way to Mc Donald’s again, and had another Mc Double burger, well two of them (on the Dollar Menu) lol! However, I didn’t have time for much and was soon catching a subway back to the airport. Still the same day, I made my way to Richmond.
Richmond is very unique. It is a large city, yet intermingled amongst its vastness can be found quaint neighborhoods and it was there that I met my next host Yueh. I had hitched a ride to his house with a fellow Jet Blue Jet Setter who was heading to Virginia Beach but kind enough to drop me 20 minutes out of his way. He had just come from a lunch of Lobster in Maine, bedded down for the night in Boston, and now was heading back home. I thought he was crazy, he thought I was and then remembered at the lunch another woman jetsetter had flown to Maine from Long Beach just for a lobster lunch with him and other fellow jet setters. She was returning to Long Beach that night. That was crazy we both agreed lol! Waiting for Yueh to get back from work, I walked around his neighborhood and quickly found it to my liking. Richmond is vibrant yet very laid back and peaceful. Abundant parks mixed with 1800s red and white bricked homes on a plateau overlooking the James River surrounded by lush vegetation, I truly felt a sense of community watching families and couples play with pets and tossing footballs and baseballs to one another. It represented to me idealistic Americanism, black/white/asian and more laughing and enjoying a beautiful sunset interacting with one another in peaceful serenity. Wow! Yueh was a terrific host, for after working a long day and coming back from his running club, he took me throughout the city from 8-12am showing me all the favorite local haunts, museums, famous statues and explaining the history’s long and glorious history. The next day I slept in fortunately as I hadn’t much sleep the night before. Unfortunately, that only left me a few hours to see the famous river and Civil War museums and monuments, so lugging my pack with me and computer bag, I made my way into the heart of the city. The James River is beautiful with cool Iron lade bridges spanning its width and connecting to small islands laced throughout the stone strewed waters. I was impressed it was rated the top white water rafting urban place in the US, but even more so that it had been kept so natural in every respect. And yet it even with this preserved natural beauty, the city planners had enough foresight to also create a chic new urban canal walk along its edge with little historical plaques explaining the city’s history as the major slave depot in the south that was transformed (with the confederate’s Civil War loss) into the world’s major Tobacco exporter. Almost missing my flight was a bit exciting having been forced to request by local security to loudly ask all passengers in the security line if I could “cut” through to the front as my flight was leaving in 15 minutes, but I made it and headed back to Boston.
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