Many Waters of Virginia

One week in June, I went down to The Great Falls Park in Virginia. I met up with a good friend to go out for a day of hiking. We first started off with a warm up hike around Lake Anne, one of the four lakes in Northern Virginia. It has been modernized extensively, and included they Cafe, a bar, a couple retail outlets, and a bookstore that my friend and I went through to find some used literature. We walked around the perimeter of the lake, saw their Unitarian Universalist Church, and hit the road for Great Falls.

Blurry Aesthetics of the Great Potomac Falls.

In all honesty, I wasn't expecting the Great Falls to be as Majestic as they were, especially since I did not realize that I had already seen the other half of them from the Maryland side of the Potomac River. They were Majestic and grandiose, and the Riverside trail made for a very good 3-mile hike or so. It was a very easy trail of about a 2 out of 5. There's a network of trails in this area that you can choose from that extends about 12 miles, so pick your poison accordingly. Either way around, you will see the rivers, see the gorge, and see the beauty of nature as it was intended.

Take me with you to the ocean, sweet river.

After this adventure, we stopped by Cafe Sano, a small little cafe on one of the four legs. It was a Mediterranean restaurant that had very good small plates for decent price, with everything being fresh and mostly organic. It was here only got one of the best falafel wraps I've ever had, whilst enjoying the best homemade tzatziki sauce and ever had, was looking at the lake.

I then stopped at Cafe Amphora for a coffee and dessert with my friend. I had Tiramisu and a soy cappuccino, and fell in love with this little Bakery. It is here that you can actually sit in the Loft above the bakery and watch the bakers hard at work. It is a must-see for anybody who was in the area.

Fanny Mae Gardens  were the last stop on the days of venture, a Botanical Garden riddled with poetic prose and thoughts about the natural world scattered on top of stones throughout the pathway of the garden. It was behind an Urban spot of offices, and was really used by the people that work there. So on that day, we decided to put it to good use, admiring the beauty of nature, the flowers, and quotes by Henry David Thoreau, David Bryant, Sylvia Plath, and Emily Dickinson. They inspired me to be one with the world once more.

Although the hiking here wasn't the most intense thing I've ever done, it was still a very worthwhile trip to go and do for a day. I was extremely excited to be down in Virginia hiking with a close friend, and cannot wait until the day that I returned to like some more.

America's Capital City

When I was halfway through college I took a day trip to Washington, D.C. I had been here before in middle school, but this time, I came with just two other friends to enjoy the city and some museums. For this post, I'm going to reflect upon past experiences in the city, as well as my trip in my twenties.

When I first went in 8th grade, I was socially awkward. I had like three good friends, and I was constantly trying to mack on the pretty girls in my 8th grade class. Unfortunately, all of this was to no avail. I did, however, make some friends, see a lot of the major monuments, and managed to get lost once or twice. This was my first experience having a cell phone as well, so I had my best friend's number on speed dial for this reason. Seeing the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial and Natural History Museum were all quite entertaining, and the Air and Space Museum blew me off my feet as well.

But I returned later in life, I learned that it made more sense to take the subway everywhere instead of driving through crazy traffic, and to plan time for two or three really excellent museums. And so, that's exactly what I did. I hopped in the car for my friend’s house in Westminster Maryland, and from there we headed for the nearest DC subway stop. We got a special deal on cost of parking (which always comes in handy, mind you), bought a day pass for the subway line, and headed for center city.

Upon arrival, we were blown away by the sheer amount of stuff that there is to be found in the city. I came back a few months later to experience the National Zoo and see their beautiful pandas again, but even this was not quite as awesome as being lost in the big metropolitan DC. We staggered around, eventually stumbling upon the Native American History Museum. We thenceforth went to the Space Museum, learning about astral science and whatnot.

At both museums, there were massive gift shops, and a plethora of history lessons. If you are reading this, understand that science is an important part of our evolutionary past, and that it is important to understand the world around us. Also understand that if you're looking to understand the world around us and the science behind it, going to the Smithsonian museums in Washington DC is a perfect way to do so. They are fun, competitively inexpensive (with most of them being free), and also very relaxing. In actuality, I would argue that the museums and history are probably the number one reason to visit Washington DC.

If you're still not sold, know that there are plenty of clubs and bars, good restaurants, movie theaters, concert venues, and other exciting things. I can personally attest to the National Zoo and concert venues there, as I've been to both and give both very good feedbacks. The capital of America is a city to be experienced for and by yourself, and absolutely worth a day trip. I am lucky that I only lived about two hours away from the state capital, so it was pretty cost-efficient to spend a day there.