Adventures in DC!!!!

We left NY sunday evening and arrived at Ronald Reagan International Airport in DC. I was surprised it only took a little more than an hour. It felt like it took us longer to get our rental car. Anyway we finally got a Malibu (Classic) with no GPS unfortunately. It would have made our lives easier to have GPS. Then again, our adventures wouldn't be as much fun if we didn't get lost :) We drove by the Pentagon, which was great. We got to our Hotel, TownePlace Suite in half an hour. It's a nice suite with a small kitchen, living room and two bedrooms. I'm so happy the room has high speed internet access. Without it, we would be really lost. At least we can get directions through internet and i've had the pleasure of writing it all down cuz we didn't bring a portable Printer. Oh well, Next time :) Anyway, we stayed in and watched my favorite shows: Desperate Housewives and Gray's Anatomy. It was the season finale so i didn't want to miss it. We ordered Chinese food for dinner from this random chinese place. I never tasted such dry spare ribs in my life. And it was so damn expensive. Let's jus say the dinner wasn't too yummy! So by monday morning, we were really hungry. I got up with saji and had a small breakfast at the Hotel. I went back to sleep after saji left for his Training. I got up by lunch time and since saji's training is only 15 minutes away. We went to Chili's and had a wonderful lunch. Finally some good food :)
When saji left, i did some researching of DC and made a list of places to visit. Unfortunately we wouldn't be able to see the US Capitol, or Washington Monument since we need to buy tickets in advance and it's only offered during day time. Since saji's training is until 5, we wouldn't get a chance to go on any tours. And i don't want to go by myself so.... it's a good thing i brought some books to keep myself occupied.
We decided to drive to DC to see the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. And we had the taste of Rush Hour traffic in DC for the firs time. For a 20 minute trip, it took us an hour to get to the Basilica. So we only had half an hour to spend in the Church but it was definitely worth it. I was sooooo blown away by the magnitude of the Basilica. What amazed me the most was the painitings on the walls and all the different shrines dedicated to the Holy Mother, represented from around the world. We got to see our beloved Vellankanni Mother's shrine. I've been to Vellankanni, in Tamil Nadu several times with my parents. My dad is a faithful believer of Mother Vellankanni and so am I. So it was a great experience for us to be there together. When i get back, i'll post some pictures from our trip.
After our visit to the Basilica, we had dinner at an Indian Restaurant called White Tiger in the Capitol area of DC. Finally some Indian food, i can't live without Indian food :)
Yesterday, as usual i spend most of the day in the hotel while saji was away. It's been raining a lot here. Just our luck! Yesterday evening we drove to my friend Esha's house in Maryland for dinner. The best part of our trip was getting a chance to spend some time with her. She is an amazing cook and we were so full by the time we left which was a little late. Then we got lost coming back to the hotel. We tried to follow the directions backwards but let's just say, we missed the exit to Falls Church. So we drove through DC and finally got on the right route. We always have a good time getting lost together.
Today we are planning on going to the National Zoo and checking out the Night life in DC. WE are going to go to this club called Modern in Georgetown. It should be fun. Unfortunatley it means we won't get to see the finale of American Idol. I was rooting for Vonzell but now it doesn't matter who wins.
Anyway that's all for now! Take care!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!