last weekend BDOC, Sweet, and BGA ran in the D.C. Half Marathon. Since Ice was going to fly down from Boston to cheer them on, and BBM and her fiance would also be in attendance, i figured i didn't want to miss out on all the reunion fun and decided to join the trip. plus with the way the weather's been these past few weeks, i figured it'd be nice weather to walk around D.C.
Part of the reason i love roadtrips is because they're an opportunity to just "wild out" for the weekend (or just hang out; i am getting old) with great friends i don't get to see everyday and hang out in an entirely brand new city. there's something about being in a brand new city that makes it fun and it's exciting to get to explore new places and see new things. and D.C. is a city that i haven't had the chance to explore as an adult; i vaguely remember a school field trip to D.C. and a trip to the Smithsonian, but otherwise, i have no impression of the city.
unfortunately, my trip last weekend was nothing like the above. BGA and i managed to hop on an earlier bus and would be arriving in D.C. earlier than we expected, which was a good start to the trip. i even got to eat at a Roy Rogers which was perfect since i'd been lamenting to BGA how i missed the Roy Rogers and Pizza Huts of my childhood.
but then we arrived in D.C. planning to meet with Sweet and BDOC, who were picking up Ice from the airport. except BDOC had decided to leave without us. instead, she thought it would be "better" to just give us directions via public transportation. which wouldn't have been so bad if it was simply directions via the Metro. i mean, BGA and i both live in NYC. i'm sure we can figure out how to navigate the Metro system-it may have taken us a few minutes, but we figured it out. but of course, life is never that easy. she then directed us to take a bus. WHAT?! as out-of-towners, she actually expected us to figure out the whole bus system. even in NYC, i barely figure out how to take a bus. which is why i never tell out-of-towners to take a bus. buses are for "locals," because the stops are harder to figure out, they're never announced, and you never know where and when a bus will make a stop. on top of that, BDOC couldn't remember which stop she was. AWESOME. by the time we arrived at BDOC's apartment complex, BGA and i were cursing the D.C. Metro and public transportation system and thanking all the god(s) above that we lived in NYC and it's (much simpler) public transportation system (with universal Metro cards-don't even get me started on the D.C. Smartcard vs. paper and only 1 of them being useable for bus transfers).
since BDOC, Sweet, and BGA were running the marathon the next morning, we decided to grab some carb-loaded dinner and call it a night. Sweet ordered a chicken wrap believing it would be "wrapped" in a tortilla of some sort, only to find out it was wrapped in lettuce cups. and as the most serious of the marathon runners, it's pretty ironic that she was the only person to not eat any carbs the night before the race.
the following morning, Ice, Cheese and i headed out to meet the gang at the finish line of their race. it was my first time attending any marathon/race event, and i realized, people wear some really weird outfits when they run. that, and, some of the signs and t-shirts are pretty hilarious. and...that's all i really have to say about that. i mean, what else can i describe to you except that there were a bunch of sweaty people standing around making me feel even less healthy and athletic than i normally do. o, and runners got a free half-can of beer. except it was Michelob Ultra, so take that as you will.
after the runners (BDOC, Sweet, BGA) and the slackers (Cheese, Ice, me) had reconvened with our requisite beers, i figured we would go out to brunch (it was around noon) and i'd get to see some of the DC area. not quite. BBM and her fiance were on their way from Richmond to meet up with us, so instead we went back to BDOC's neighborhood for some brunch. except it seems that Arlington doesn't actually do brunch. so our only option was to go to a diner.
it was amazing and fun to see BBM and BJ since i haven't seen them since my last trip to Richmond. plus, their wedding is fast approaching so it was good to catch up and see how it going. we ended up hanging around BDOC's apartment for most of the night and, through a cab debacle, didn't end up getting to out into DC until 10 pm. and then poor BGA had forgotten his ID back at BDOC's apartment, and it being St. Patty's Day, there was no way in hell he was going to be allowed in any bar without it (and spending another $50 roundtrip on a cab to go get it didn't really seem worth it). BGA ended up meeting up with a friend who lived close to the bar, which was a good deed on his part since he probably knew Ice and i wouldn't want to abandon him alone or on a solo ride to an empty apartment.
but it slightly dampened the rest of my night anyway since one of the main points of the trip was for us to have a reunion-of-sorts! that plus the fact that the crowd at the bar was tepid at best (again, it being St. Patty's Day and most ppl having already passed out from their day activities of heavy drinking) and Sweet and BDOC up to their usual shenanigans, i decided to call it an early night.
so my trip to D.C. didn't really involve anything D.C. at all. i've decided it shouldn't count and i'm intending to go again. the real highlight of my trip, aside from seeing all my old friends, was that i ate 3 hamburgers in the span of 36 hours. hmmm, is it kind of sad that that was the highlight of my trip?
No comments:
Post a Comment