amandaventures.: March 2011

I first fell in love with the DC area when I was eleven. My parents brought me in the spring of sixth grade to attend my Godfather's wedding. We made a full-on vacation out of it and did all the normal touristy things. I immensely enjoyed visiting the monuments; reading the inscriptions on the wall of the Jefferson, getting chills looking over the tidal basin as the last of the cherry blossoms hung to the trees, and staring up at the stately Lincoln. The eerie, silent power of the Holocaust museum and war memorials, that made recent classroom history lessons sink in. That feeling of wonderment and power standing on the floor of the House of Representatives knowing that THIS EXACT place is where some of our country's biggest (best and worst) decisions are made. Even then, I was in awe of how history, art, power, and culture all came together in this one tiny space. I knew that I needed more time in this place.

Over the years I have made many trips back, learning more with each visit- about the District and myself. Now, I am a mere sixty-minutes away and have the good fortune of spending much of my free time here. Since my time here is only guaranteed until August, I've decided to make a mini-bucket list for the District, and explore as much as I can during these next few months. Hopefully the coming year will find me with a job and an address within the District, but for now, this will do. I plan to write about each of these items as I cross them off my list (and do some posts about recent completions), so follow along! And if you have suggestions of "must-do" items, please send them on!

In no particular order: