After exploring the West Coast in the month of February, I laid down for a few weeks. That didn’t last long though as many of my Michigan friends decided to visit Washington DC.
Ever since I visited DC for the first time, I was in love with the city. I couldn’t believe that a city like this existed, which you can entirely explore on your feet. I loved how I saw people running, enjoying, relaxing, and chilling. I loved the fact that you don’t have to go far to explore all the important places in the city and everything seemed quite near to each other & how can I forget one of the tastiest Indian food places I visited – Rasika West End. Just writing about the last time I was here brings a plethora of memories.
But this post is not about my past visits, it is about the present one and more importantly with people that I loved. We were 7 of us for this trip – myself, Manju, Bhaskar, Ravi, Rohan, Surabhi, and Anupama. Washington D.C. is a 7-8 hours drive from our home. This hits the sweet spot, which gives you a feeling of driving on free and open American roads. With friends by my side, I didn’t even realize the long 8 hours drive. The drive was more beautiful with frequent stops on the road for food and drinks and off course for clicking pictures.
The more surprising part of this trip was our stay at the Airbnb. When we booked the Airbnb, I didn’t pay much attention to the apartment that we had booked for our stay there. Upon discovering that the apartment was on the third floor of the building, I was like, are you serious? We had to carry all of our stuff from our cars to the third floor of the building, which was a tiring task for me. Anyway, all the tiredness was gone when we looked at the apartment. It was nicely kept 3-bedroom apartment with enough space for 7 people. We absolutely loved it and were looking forward to spending a night or two there.
We had dinner nearby as most of us were tired and were looking forward to catching up some sleep and we had a long day ahead of us the next day.
The Washington D.C. exploration began with us finding a good parking spot for our cars. We knew we would be on our feet throughout the day, so it was important to find a free parking spot for the rest of the day so that we could explore without any worries. We found the parking spot a couple miles away from the National Mall. It worked well for us as we took a couple Ubers from the parking spot to the Lincoln Memorial, which kicked off the day for us.
Like last time, my itinerary of exploring D.C. was fixed. The first thing we wanted to check out was Lincoln Memorial. After Lincoln Memorial, it was time to head to the World War II memorial, while walking by the lake between Lincoln Memorial and World War II memorial. After the WWII memorial, it was Washington Memorial and finally various museums that D.C. had to offer us.
I was with different set of people this time, so we ended up taking more time between the WWII memorial and Washington Memorial as the area was filled with different types of Tulips and the city was celebrating the Tulip Festival. All the girls were busy posing and the boys were busy clicking their photos.
The crowd there was beyond our imagination, so it was hard for us to find a perfect spot to click our pictures. Anyway, the group was tired after the WWII memorial, so we decided to refuel ourselves at the Panera Bread location near the White House. This way, we would be able to take the much needed lunch break and cover the White House, which is located a little off from the National Mall.
After the White House, we carried on exploring more places in the city, but by 4-5 PM every one of us were tired after roaming on our feet. I remember falling asleep in one of the museums. I told my friends to go ahead and explore the museum while I take my nap. It was a much needed nap and I remember being energetic after it.
After we were done with the day, it was time to head to our Airbnb and prepare for the night. It was a fun night, filled with booze, food, and late night gossips and Chai. It set the tone well for the next day, when we were supposed to head home.
Next stop: Day number 2 in Washington D.C.
stochasticity 
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