The Capitol Limited and D.C. (day 1)

After my afternoon jaunt in Chicago, I returned to Amtrak to catch the Capitol Limited to our nation’s capital (the name misleads—it doesn’t stop at the capitol). We left Chicago around 7pm to arrive in D.C. around 2pm the next day. My seat neighbor was from Canada, and we filled time discussing traveling, credit cards, estate law, and food (he had been a chef before he retired). I then tried to fill time in the lounge car reading my second book of the trip, Walden, which I’ve read before but suspect I’ll enjoy more the second time through. Before I could discover whether this is true or not, I was engaged in conversation with a guy from Nepal. We discussed traveling, the U.S., family, books, education systems, loneliness, and freedom, among other things. You can imagine us in profile against this background:

At about 6am I gave up even pretending to try to sleep and got up. I ate breakfast in the dining car because I never had before, and my dining companion was a pleasant older woman from the suburbs of Chicago.

I arrived in D.C. the next afternoon tired and several days unshowered, but positive, and happy to stretch my legs on the two-mile walk to the hostel. My positive attitude was reinforced when the first thing I noticed out of Union Station was the National Postal Museum. My grandpa was a postman, so I figured this had to be some kind of good sign. Five seconds later it started raining. Then it started raining harder. I quickened my pace.

	(above the doorway: Messenger of sympathy and love/ Servant of parted friends/ Consoler of the lonely/ Bond of the scattered family/ Enlarger of the common life)

After the best shower of my life (which admittedly would have been better if it wasn’t cold) and a call to my parents about the weather (literally), I decided to venture out and do some reconnoitering. My first goal was to find some galoshes or a second pair of shoes. It had stopped raining, and as dryness increased so did my confidence, so I eventually abandoned that goal and just settled into walking and exploring.

I somehow ended up with a picture of the sign for Ford’s Theatre but not of the theatre:

Near Ford’s Theatre (not pictured, to reiterate) I found some wonderful, amazingly kitschy souvenirs (little keychains that said things like “#1 human” and “gr8 guy”), which I purchased since I wanted to prove to our capital what a good American consumer I am.

After some more walking I concluded my evening with a trip to Barnes and Noble where I bought Harry Potter 1 & 2 (Walden‘s just not gonna get read) and a food stop at Five Guys Burgers & Fries (grilled veggie sandwich and fries, yum).