casa blanca.

washington, dc. on our list of places to stop, of course, but if i'm being honest, it was only on the list because we felt we should stop. not because we're interested in us politics or war memorials or the white house. &, if i'm being honest, we skipped the smithsonian [ didn't want to spend a beautiful day indoors, we haven't had much luck with the weather thus far &, heck, we have visited more museums than we can count so we're kinda over it ], did a walk by of the white house [ it was white, & a house ], had tacos at an outdoor food market [ the fish taco was mostly batter, major disappointment ] & spent most of our time wandering through the national mall. though the lincoln memorial was pretty epic, it was nothing compared to the reclining buddha in bangkok, you know?

now, we didn't stay in washington proper. we didn't think attempting stealth parking on a street in the same city as the white house, the secret service, THE PENTAGON was a good idea. also, washington dc is one of the most expensive cities in the country & we're on a budget [ ish ].

so we stayed in kingstowne, a suburb of washington, where there was an anytime fitness [ shower! overnight parking! ], a walmart [ a second option for overnight parking! ] & an irish pub with an irish bartender we fell in friendship with the moment we met him. & as a bonus it was a five minute drive to the city of alexandria which has an historic town centre, gorgeous waterfront & quaint main street situation. it was so quaint, in fact, that we spent an extra day in the area to soak it all in. we wandered, we ate lunch overlooking the harbour, we had craft beer on a patio. this town made us feel like we were on holiday, not van dwelling.

ok, back to the bartender. his name is hopper, he's from tipperary & he's a fucking legend. he treated us with so much kindness, was [ much too ] generous [ we acquired a guinness glass, a pub  t-shirt, a bottle of hp sauce, half a chocolate bar, two patches, complimentary beers, complimentary bread pudding & complimentary curry chips - they're an irish thing]. he made us belly laugh [ more than once ] & is definitely someone we'll stay in touch with [ hi hopper! ].

i know i've been focusing a lot on the people we've been meeting more than the places we've been visiting, but, truthfully, & as my dad says, it's the company that makes the experience memorable. it's always been that way for us. we collect friends, & memories [ & now stickers ].

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