The Distinguished Gentleman

Signing Off

2010-08-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

So the time has come. This is my last week here. The only thing I have left to do is pack. I hate packing. I also hate unpacking. Which, I guess you can’t really hate one without hating the other. You’re pretty much doing the same thing just in reverse order.

Living in DC these past 10 weeks has been a marvelous experience. The things I’ve seen, people I’ve met, and places I’ve been have truly made me a more cultured and enlightened person. However, I find it odd that I choose to be down here the summer when there’s an earthquake, tornado warnings, and we have what was probably the hottest summer on record. I would check into that. But reliving some of those over 100 degree days is a little… too hot to handle right now… See what I did there? Yea, you saw it. But seriously, I think some supernatural force is out to get me. WELL HE FAILED! You hear that nature demon?! I’m still here! For now… I’ll be gone soon though. So I guess he’s getting what he wants.

I still remember when I first came here and navigating the city was still a little confusing. Now it seems like I have a map permanently in my head and I get anywhere I want like my body is on autopilot. I feel like I have become fully ingrained as a citizen of DC, except I don’t pay taxes to it so I guess it’s not really official. But who knows, maybe after I finish my last year of grad school, it could become official. After being down here this summer, I would have no problem coming back and living in the DC, Maryland, or Virginia areas for good.

Oh, you already know I’ve been to Maryland. Well, I also visited Virginia for a friend’s birthday party. That place wasn’t bad either. They seem really big on karaoke though. That comes off a bit scary. But we’ll see what happens. I try not to plan much and just go with the flow. Or, as my man Bruce Lee would say, “Be Water.” That’s the only reason I’m in grad school or decided to come here because I assure you. Graduate school was never in my plans and working for a summer in DC was not on my radar either. Not until the opportunities presented themselves.

I have few little tidbits of knowledge for the next batch of cats rolling in:

Ask as many questions and learn as much as possible. Knowledge is power.
Attend as many conferences or discussions as possible. You never know what you might learn or who you might meet. Even if you didn’t like it, you might still get a free lunch out of it.
If you’re unhappy with your internship, let your supervisors know. Voice to them what you want to learn, what you want to see, and what you want to do. If they don’t know, they can’t help you.
Attend as many events in the city as possible. DC offers so much as far as free events. Take advantage of all of it.

One Saturday, The Washington Center offered students a trip to Atlantic City, NJ. Since I had never been there, I decided to go. I didn’t gamble because I only had 40 bucks cash and refused to use their ATMs. No way are you going to hit me a huge fee to take out money that you’re probably going to end up taking anyway. That’s double theft. I can’t have it.

The U.S. Small Business Administration set it up so all the interns could go on a trip to tour the Capitol Building. Living in the RAF, you tend to walk past the Capitol a lot. Also, I watched a concert on the lawn of the Capitol during Memorial Day. But I had never stepped foot in it until now. After you go through the line, you sit down and watch a 15 minute movie about the history of DC and the Capitol. It used to be much smaller than it is now. Here are some pictures from the tour:

Oh, I bet you thought I was done. Nope, there’s still more to come. Prepare for the last and probably best. An OMNIBUS NATE’S FOOD REVIEW!

This is a jumbo slice. I trust the picture really emphasizes the sheer girth of this slice of pizza. My roommate and I got one while we were in Adams Morgan. I literally had to roll my slice up like a burrito in order to eat it like a semi sane person. It was a purely joyous occasion.

This is a jumbo fish sandwich from Horace & Dickie’s. It’s a small little fish joint down on H Street which isn’t very far from the RAF. I learned about it because Adam Richman from Man V. Food went there when he was in DC. I wanted to get some macaroni or potato salad as sides but they were out. In case you are wondering, there is bread, it’s under that heaping mound of fish.

This was a sandwich called “Time Square.” I got it from Loeb’s New York Deli, which is up the street from the office I work at. It has pastrami, fried egg, cheese, slaw, "special recipe" Russian dressing. Just reading these ingredients I knew I couldn’t lose. I was not disappointed when I picked this off the menu.

These are oysters from a restaurant called DC Coast. During the month of June, they had a deal where you could get 12 oysters for 12 dollars during happy hour. Every Friday in June, I went to DC Coast after work to enjoy these oysters. Before this I had never eaten raw oysters. They were always cooked. I must say, they are delicious. They added some chopped up celery to each oyster, I assume it’s for some people that want some crunch with the slimy soft oyster. That on top of some lemon juice and Tabasco sauce was an absolutely awesome.

We finally come to the Coup de grace. Yes my friends. One weekend, I decided to take a trip up to U Street. After walking around Howard University’s campus, I stopped by a place I have seen on many food and travel shows. An establishment so ingrained in Washington DC history that you can’t talk about DC without someone saying “You have to check out Ben’s Chili Bowl!” So check it out and I did and I might have to say that it was one of the best decisions of places to go in this whole city. I can’t even express how good this food was. I decided to only get the chili dog but next time, I’m going to go for the half smoke. After that hearty meal, I spent a while just walking around the rest of the U Street Corridor. There is a lot of stuff going on in that area.

One Sunday, one of my roommates and I went to the Waterfront and walked around for a bit. Our main goal was to check out the Cantina Marina. It’s a bar/restaurant on a boat. I had a crab cake burger. It was very tasty. My roommate told me he’s had bigger crab cakes at other places though. This made me a little upset but just gives me a new quest for a later time.

I also took a trip to the Jefferson Memorial. It was well worth the journey. You also have an awesome view of the Mall and river from there.

So there you have it, my last testament of my life in DC this summer. I hope you were able to live vicariously through my exploits in order to get a taste or idea of what DC has to offer. I hope it inspires you to get out there and do something with your time in a great city such as this. Please don’t feel obligated to do as much stuff as I did. I’m from Pittsburgh. There is absolutely nothing to do there. So when I came here, I felt like a kid in a candy store and pretty much have been on a sugar rush ever since. On my first post I said we were going to have fun. Am I or am I not a man of word? Yea, you’re welcome. PEACE!

Annapolis

2010-07-28T07:42:00.000-07:00

Being one of the lucky 30 people to have gotten a parking space in the Residential and Academic Facility, I am at a bit of an advantage. I don’t have to wait for the shuttle to go to the grocery store. One better, I can actually pick which grocery store I want to go to. I choose Giant over Safeway. On top of that, I can carry, buy, and bring back much more than someone taking the shuttle. But, I think the biggest advantage of having the “Natemobile” aka Sonya (yes, I named her Sonya because she’s a Hyundai Sonata… and I like Mortal Kombat) around is that I can travel places the Metro doesn’t go.

One of those places happens to be Annapolis. Yes, boys and girls, Annapolis, Maryland. The capital of Maryland and the location of the great movie of the same name staring James Franco and Tyrese. Before I continue on with this story, allow me to digress.

While having a car here does offer a great advantage, there is also a great disadvantage. That disadvantage is the other drivers in this area. Now, as stated previously, I’m from Pittsburgh. We Pittsburghers are fairly easy going people. We take our time getting places. Getting somewhere the fastest way at the risk of our lives and other people’s is not on an average Pittsburgher’s mind. I have noticed that is completely opposite to people within the DC and Maryland area.

People here change lanes on a dime often without using turn signals. They honk at people when certain circumstances are out of their control. If someone is trying to turn left and is being stopped by pedestrians or cars with the right of way, what gives you the right to honk at them? Is that going to change the situation at all? They also speed like a bat out of hell. Example, on my way back from Annapolis, I’m driving along, going with the traffic. Mind you, the traffic is going around 80. A guy in a Mercedes is behind me begins flashing his lights at me as to imply I need to drive faster. Unfortunately, that is not possible seeing as how there is a car in front of me. He is so perturbed that he moves over to a far right lane and begins passing car after car. Mind you, the traffic is already going around 80 which means he is going 95-100. I’ll just never understand the need for all the rushing.

Anyway, I arrived in Annapolis; all the big buildings were made of red brick. I did a little walking around, checked the sights. It was a pretty laid back city. But that’s not what I was there for. I was there to see the water and eat some seafood. I found the port; it was right next to the Naval Academy. I tried to get in there, but it was all gated up. I screamed through the gate “I pay my taxes! Let me in!” They wouldn’t hear it. So I left feeling defeated. I turned around wagging my first in the air screaming “Next time Gadget, next time!” hoping it put the fear of a sequel in them. I copped a squat on a pier for a while and just watched the boats sail by. Some were big, some small. All the people looked like they were having a fun time on them. There was also a little band playing some music next to the water as well. It was very relaxing experience.

After I was done walking around and relaxing at the port, I went and experienced the cherry on top of my visit. Indeed, it is yet another episode of NATE’S FOOD REVIEWS. I went to Buddy’s Crabs and Ribs and had the SEAFOOD EXTRAVAGANZA.

Ladies and gentlemen, this marvelous feast contained shrimp, clams, oysters, mussels, crawfish, snow crabs, and blue crabs. When the waiter brought this to my table, I almost cried in happiness. The only things missing from this feast were lobster and scallops. From my understanding of seafood, that makes sense because lobster is more northern coast seafood. Crab is the king crustacean around these parts. The crawfish weren’t as tasty as the ones I’ve had in New Orleans but I was able to look past that. Other than that, this was a meal fit for a king and I drove home a happy camper. That is until I got back into DC city limits and got blasted by humidity again. But talking about the summer heat might be a blog for another day. Here are the rest of the pictures of my trip, PEACE OUT!

New York Trip

2010-07-22T05:20:00.000-07:00

Being from Pittsburgh, it is a bit of a pain to travel to New York. Not that it has stopped me from going multiple times but it’s just a horrible experience. One was by train and took about 8 hours. I told myself I would never do that again. Granted, if I drove, I could probably shave a good amount off that time. However, who wants to deal with trying to find a parking spot in Manhattan or paying a crazy amount to park somewhere for a weekend? So, as much as I love the people I know in New York, I just haven’t been able to bring myself to visit there often to see them.

However, now I’m in DC, the travel time to New York has been cut from 8 hours to around 4.5 hours by bus. I could also probably shave another hour or two off that drive giving traffic conditions. There are tons of bus services in DC that go to New York. Megabus, Boltbus, Peter Pan, Greyhound, DC2NY. The list is huge. One thing a lot of these bus lines advertise is wifi on the bus and power outlets so you can use your laptops. That was also a nice pull to take bus. Let someone else drive while you watch a few movies.

With that being said, I’ve been to New York twice since I’ve been in DC. Both times to visit separate friends. The first time I took the Peter Pan bus. It did indeed have wifi but it did not have power outlets. Sadly, the battery that came with my laptop only lasts 2 hours at the most so I was able to get one movie done before I just shut down the computer. Luckily enough, to keep me occupied, the bus driver played The Blind Side. I forgot how hot Sandra Bullock was. But that’s neither here nor there. Anyway, I got to where I needed to go. Lucky for interns that stay in the new residential facility, we are only a few blocks from the Greyhound station as well as Union Station which many of the bus lines and trains stop. So I have my pick.

It was nice being back in Northern weather for a while. It’s was cloudy and in the mid 70’s. It also rained for more than 10 minutes but didn’t become extremely humid afterward. On the Sunday of my visit, we went to the Puerto Rican Day parade. I didn’t even know it was going on that weekend. I’ve been to many parades in my day but nothing beats that one unless you’re in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. It was a giant party full of Puerto Rican flags, horns, dancing, and music. And, I got to see Jennifer Lopez for 2 seconds. That was awesome. Later on we went to this restaurant called the Frying Pan, which is a boat right on the Hudson. That was a nice until it start raining very hard and we were without any sort of cover.

The second trip to New York was to visit a friend for The Fourth of July. We share a similar love for food. So, under his guidance, we partook of many delicious foods. Delicious Vietnamese food in Chinatown, pulled pork Cuban sandwiches, cow tongue tacos, and Indian Curry from Brick Lane Curry House where Adam Richman from Man vs. Food did the Phaal Challenge. Needless to say, I did not participate in that challenge. I ate regular curry. A few other people tried it. They were not in the best state of mind and body afterward to say the least. Vomit may have been involved. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

My friend lives in SoHo. That’s an area of Manhattan I haven’t seen before. It’s a very nice area and right next to NYU. On top of that, the subway drops you off right there from the Bus Terminal. One night, we even took in an improv show at the Upright Citizens Brigade and I know I saw Streeter Seidel from College Humor in the audience. For the fireworks, we went to the roof of my friend's building where he works at. His building is right next to the Hudson River where the fireworks were set off. That was a much better situation than dealing with a crowded street level location. One night, we went to a bar called the Olive Tree where the tables are made of chalkboard so you can draw on them with chalk and play games like Pictionary. To add to that, at the same bar, I happened to see this bald guy standing around that looked very familiar to me. Immediately, I remembered he was on an episode of Flight of the Conchords, which is one of my favorite shows. It only lasted two seasons sadly. I didn’t really want to go up to him singing “Do the doggie bounce!” He would have probably hated that. But here is a clip from the episode of Conchords here was in:

University of Maryland

2010-07-16T07:19:00.000-07:00

My roommates decided to go out of the city to their respective destinations during the weekend. Where they went isn’t important. The fact that they weren’t here is very important. Ergo, vis-a-vis, concordantly...

...I got to enjoy solitary solitude of aloneness. It was awesome. Not that I don’t like my roommates. I’m just a hermit by nature. A lone wolf if you will. I believe Kanye West said it best: “With so much personality, what more could you want from me? I could be by myself and enjoy the company.” That’s so true it isn’t even funny in my case. On that note, Kanye also interrupted some bloggers just to let everyone know that I have the best blog of all time… Of all time!

I never had a roommate or had to deal with people all up in my personal space until I went to college. So, I had to get use to it pretty fast. However, needless to say, when I graduate and look for a place to live, it shall be only me. Alone. Mr. Solo Dolo. I already have it planned out. First two big purchases will be a wonderfully giant lazy boy recliner and a giant flat screen TV. Maybe a HD projector if I have a big enough wall to use it on. It shall be glorious… Ok, I’m getting off track, moving on.

After spending Friday and Saturday in my solitary solitude of aloneness, I decided to go on a little adventure on Sunday. After looking over some places I still need to visit, I saw that I haven’t taken a trip to the University of Maryland yet. So that’s where I headed. From the Chinatown station, UMD College Park is about 15-20 minutes away on the Green Line. I walked around the campus for a while, it was very beautiful. I believe some sort of orientation was going on but I didn’t really see anyone. After my visit, someone told me there is apparently a statue of Jim Henson with Kermit the Frog on campus somewhere. I’m really mad I didn’t see it. I would have loved a picture. Who didn’t grow up with Muppets? They’re awesome. I don’t know if I could really name my favorite one either. I think I’ll have to lean toward Statler and Waldorf:

I’ll have to go back up there later and go on a search for that statue.

They also have a small strip mall across from the campus that has things like Boston Market and Game Stop in it. What else would a college guy need? There also happened to be a 7-eleven which I quickly went into to buy a Slushy in order to continue my meandering. It was very hot. You’d think I’d be use to it by now. But every day seems to reach a different level of hot. It’s crazy.

While walking back from the Metro, I took a stroll down to their area where all the fraternities are located. Normally it’s referred to as Frat Row. I happened to see a chapter of my fraternity Tau Epsilon Phi. So I knocked on the door to introduce myself. I got a tour of their house and hung out for a while watching a little big screen TV. All in all, I’d say it was a very good Sunday.

Georgetown

2010-07-12T08:07:00.000-07:00

One of my roommates and I recently took a trip to Georgetown. While planning the destination, I quickly found out that there aren’t any Metro stops near it. However, that was quickly resolved. Every once in a while when I am looking out the window or from the balcony of my apartment, I see a bus that says “Georgetown” on it. After doing some researching, I found it that type of bus was call the Circulator and it leaves from Union Station. Bingo, simple means of transportation to Georgetown. Plus, it is only a dollar. Well, it was a dollar. DC has boosted Metro costs across the board so I don’t know if the Circulator got a new price or not.

I think I need to take this time to congratulate D.C. for its public transportation. Not only is it reliable, on time, and frequent (during the work week, weekends are a totally different story). But it’s also very clean. These qualities are not the types of things you find in Pittsburgh.

So, I make it to Georgetown University from the Circulator. I must say how nice that area is. The campus is beautiful with a lot of very big buildings. Also the neighborhood surrounding the school is very quiet and cozy feeling. A good amount of construction was going on in one location of campus. No idea what they were in the process of building though. This weekend was apparently an alumni weekend. They were getting ready by setting up tables and putting up signs welcoming back Alumni. I didn’t see many students walking around. I don’t know if I should chalk that up to the fact that it is summertime or maybe the fact that they may have all be walking around down where all the shops are. While on the bus, we drove up M St NW which was full of restaurants and shops. After we were done exploring the campus, that is where we headed.

Now it is time for another edition of NATE’S FOOD REVIEW! Being an unpaid intern, you have a very small budget. So, sometimes, it’s very hard to find a place that you want eat when you are out and about which won’t make your wallet scream at you. We found this place called Moby Dick’s House of Kabob. It’s apparently a chain around here. I ordered a Lamb Platter. It was pretty good. Kind of like a deconstructed gyro. The restaurant in Georgetown is very small. It has 3 tables and one counter for you to sit at. A lot of people seemed to be ordering their food for to go instead of standing around waiting for people to leave like me and my roommate had to do because we had nowhere else to go to eat the food. I would try it again but perhaps at one of their bigger places.

National Zoo

2010-07-06T09:57:00.000-07:00

I took a trip to the National Zoo. For some reason, every time I visit a new city, I always put going to the zoo on the list. I mean, if you’ve seen one lion, you’ve probably seen them all. Yet there I was walking around the zoo. It was a pretty good time and I got some good pictures. I think the best zoo I have been to so far is in New Orleans. We’ll talk more about New Orleans a little later on in this post. Anyway, it was hot as all get out that day and of course, much like every other attraction in this city, it’s on a inclining hill. You don’t really notice it as you’re walking down. But you certainly notice it when you’re walking back up in 93 degree and humid weather. They have little contraptions that spray mist which help a bit as you meander along trying to find the sweet, sweet exit. Nonetheless, I think I’m going to stay away from zoos for a while. I always forget how big of a pull they are for kids. I’m just going to put this out there. I don’t like kids. Not one bit. I’m not a kid person. We will just leave it at that. Anyway, here are some pictures:

Notice how I don’t have any pictures of Pandas. That’s because Pandas are the laziest lethargic creatures I have ever seen. I think even sloths look down on them. But what more can you say on that subject when they’re species is going to go extinct because they’re too lazy to have sex.

After I was done with the zoo, I decided to walk to Adams Morgan. This was not a spur of the moment decision. You don’t make spur of the moment decisions when the sun is beating down on you daring you to take another step somewhere other than to an air conditioned building. Most of you may not know…Actually, none of you would know: I love food. I am a giant food fan. Most of the time, my television is on the food network or some other show that has someone discussing or preparing food. This is where New Orleans comes back into play. I’ve been to New Orleans around 4 times or so. The last time consisted of me and 4 other fraternity brothers driving down there from Pennsylvania in a rented car for spring break. Let me just recommend that no one ever do that. It was not a fun experience.

One of the foods I always get when I am in New Orleans is a po’ boy. Po’ Boys are a traditional hoagie of Louisiana that consists of either seafood or meat. To define them in layman terms: THEY ARE CRAZY GOOD! While looking through various restaurant reviews to find out some good food to sample while I am in DC, I came across a place named The New Orleans Café. Lo and behold this place served po’ boys! When I was done with zoo of course I had to go over there and try it. So, without further ado, I now welcome you to something that will probably become a very normal occurrence in this blog while I am in DC: NATE’S FOOD REVIEWS.

When I bought the po’ boy, my initial thought was that the container they gave me was pretty light and small. I figured that perhaps they just cut it in half so it would fit. When I got the po’ boy home, this is what was in front of me

To a normal person, that may look ok and delectable. However, here is a picture of a real po boy:

Yes, I trust you see the problem with this situation. This isn’t to say the “po’ boy” from New Orleans Café was bad. For what it was, it was good. I am just used to a much bigger po’ boy with more fixins for the price they charged. Then again, we are far away from Louisiana so perhaps my expectations were much higher than they should have been. Needless to say, I would not go back there for a po’ boy fix.

Well, I guess that’s all for now. Tune in next time. Same Nate time, same Nate Channel

Lincoln Memorial

2010-06-24T07:18:00.000-07:00

I took a quest to the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. Now, when I say quest, I mean quest. However, in this situation, you don’t need a magic sword, shield, and flute. You need to be equipped with an MP3 player, sunglasses, and water. I cannot stress it enough how important carrying water is around here during the summer. If you don’t carry water and you are outside walking around for more than an hour, the thirst will hit you. You’re body will send a signal to your brain saying “Hey! If we don’t get any liquid here soon, we are going to dehydrate and collapse.” I’ve seen two people passed out on the street with paramedics since I’ve been here.

Another important thing about carrying your own water is that you won’t have to buy said water on the street. This is because if you buy on the street, you are going to be paying 3 bucks for a dollar bottle of water from some random person carrying water around in a cooler. Highway robbery, don’t you think? So, as a tip for you, invest in a water jug, preferably stainless steel because I don’t trust reusable plastic. Also, don’t expect that water to stay cold longer than 10 minutes. The second you walk out of the Metro and the sun begins beating on your container, no matter how much ice you put into that thing, it’s going to be gone and you’re water is going to pretty much be room temperature. However, room temperature water is still water and you’ll be happy you have it.

It gets hot here. I mean hot. We’ve had more 90 degree days here than I’ve probably experienced in my whole life in Pittsburgh. Not to mention that Pittsburgh usually has a lot of clouds so the sun is usually covered, which protects you somewhat. That does not happen much in DC. The sky, at least as long as I have been here, is usually free of clouds unless it’s forecast to rain. So there’s no escape from Mr. Sun and all its wonderful rays beating the life out of you. Anyway, let’s continue on with my epic adventure.

In order to get a better grip on the city, I try to walk places. That’s how I learn directions to places. So I got off the Metro at the Metro Center and walked to the Lincoln Memorial. On the way to the Lincoln Memorial, I stopped the World War II Memorial. It’s very nice. There is a giant fountain in the middle and each column has the name of a state on it. When you go, you can see quotes from many different people on the walls and weary travelers soaking their feet in the pool.

If you want to see how far that is, you can look it up on Google Maps. Needless to say, I was a bit pooped from that. However, once I got there, there were a lot of good photo ops around. That includes the goal of that first leg of the trip, Mr. Lincoln. I must also point out that the geese that hang out next to the reflecting pool are not scared of anyone. After making it to the memorial, I hung out on the stairs for while listening to some music from my mp3 player and gazing over my view. Once I felt recuperated enough, I began the trek over to the cemetery.

The cemetery isn’t that far away from the memorial; you just go behind it and cross the bridge that crosses the Potomac over to Arlington. What needs to be mentioned about the cemetery is that it is a giant hill. So if you want to get to see the Kennedys' graves along with the Tomb of the Unknowns, be prepared to hike. When I got to the top and saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, I decided to call it a day. Luckily, there is a Metro station at entrance of the cemetery so I was able to take the Blue Line back to Metro Center and transfer over to the Red Line so I could get back to the apartment and give my nice feet a rest.

Museum Expedition

2010-06-17T05:28:00.000-07:00

So I went on an expedition to see as many Smithsonian museums as possible in one day. I made it to the Museum of Natural History, Museum of American History, and the Air and Space Museum. Every time I think of the Air and Space Museum, I think of this Simpsons quote:

Marge: Well, I studied art, and this guy's got a real gift.
Warden: You kidding? Look (shows another painting) he painted a unicorn in outer space. I'm asking you: What's it breathing?
Homer: Air?
Warden: Ain't no air in space.
Homer: There's an air-in-space museum.

Haha, kills me every time. Moving on…

The first stop was the Museum of Natural History. It’s giant with tons of animals in it. I’ve always wondered if the animals in the museum were real and just stuffed or just completely fake. Either way, how do they get them in those cool action shots? Anyway, if I wanted to see animals, I’d prefer to see them live so I didn’t stay long in this Museum. Here are some pictures. The last one is the Hope Diamond. I thought it was bigger than that. Every time I hear about the Hope Diamond, I imagine one of those giant cartoonish perfectly cut diamonds sitting in the middle of a field of lasers. Nope, it’s just that tiny one right there. Bit of a disappointment really.

The next stop was the Air and Space Museum. I loved it there. It was chocked full of space shuttles, air planes, and information about outer space. It was crazy to see how far airplanes have come from the Wright brothers to stealth jets. A lot was also covered about astronauts and the space program. It’s just a shame we don’t have much to talk about as far as space exploration goes these days. Sure, there is the International Space Station but they aren’t doing anything fun up there. I want news of a warp drive, teleporter, or alien contact. Until then, space news is dead to me. Here are some pictures!

The last stop was the American History Museum. I think this was my favorite stop mostly because I’m a crazy pop culture fan. I mean, I walked around a corner and BOOM. They had a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume! With the first issue of the comic book, are you serious?! That’s just too awesome for words. But it didn’t stop there. They also had a Dumbo from the Dumbo ride in Disney, tons of war exhibits, tons of cool presidential exhibits, Fonzie’s jacket, and Dorothy’s ruby slippers. I could go on and on but I won’t. I’m sort of sorry this was the last museum I went too because it had the coolest stuff out of all three of them. One thing that was weird to me was a giant statue of George Washington looking like Zeus sitting on his throne on Mount Olympus. That just didn’t make sense to me. But overall, the American History Museum has been my favorite museum.

First Weekend

2010-06-11T07:25:00.000-07:00

I am living in the New Residential and Academic Facility. In case anyone wants to know what it looks like, I’ve taken a few pictures of the living room and the view from our balcony and windows. I didn’t take any pictures of the bedrooms because, as I said, we just moved in. I doubt anyone would want to be interested in seeing a room that looked like a couple suitcases exploded in it.

With my first weekend, I saw fit to try and get as many touristy things out of the way as possible. So, I spent my time visiting all the Smithsonian Museums and took a trip to a few monuments. Needless to say, this took a lot of walking. I think I got through a lot of my tourist list. I still have to get to the zoo, the aquarium, the Lincoln Memorial, and Arlington Cemetery. I’m sure there’s a few places I’m missing but I’ll remember them sooner or later.

This was Memorial Day weekend. There was a Memorial Day concert on Capitol Hill that my roommates and I went to. They had performers like Lionel Richie and Brad Paisley performing. It’s beginning to be a pattern that many of DC’s activities consist of sitting on stairs or grass. I may need to invest in a portable chair or a giant towel. Especially after experiencing the Memorial Day parade and not realizing exactly how hot stone stairs can get after getting pounded by the sun's radiation for hours. Speaking of the Memorial Day parade, I have some pictures from that as well. It was a pretty good parade. We didn’t stay for the whole thing. Mostly because it didn’t seem like there was going to be an end to it and we were all hungry.

Other than that, I spent a good amount of time just walking around the neighborhood trying to find out where things are. Took a trip to Union Station to see what was in there. There are a lot of nice stores and a giant food court. Also took a trip down H Street and found a good amount of shops and places to eat over that way as well. Nonetheless, I am sure I have only seen the tip of the iceberg as far as things to discovery. My quest continues.

Introduction

2010-06-02T08:58:00.000-07:00

Allow me to reintroduce myself, my name is HOV! Wait… that’s not right. HOV is one of Jay-Z’s nick names. I’m sorry. I occasionally think/wish I was Jay-Z ever since he married Beyonce. Kind of a weird coincidence that it started around that time isn’t it? I have no idea what the connection with that may be *cough* single ladies video *cough*. Usually, it’s other people that want to be me. Mostly ghosts. I tell them “Hey! Do I look like Whoopi Goldberg to you? Do I have no eyebrows, dreadlocks, and a weird attraction to Ted Danson? Do I sit in bars on the Starship Enterprise giving sage advice?” I have completely lost my train of thought, haven’t I? Let’s start over...

Hello, my name is Nathaniel. My friends call me Nate. So you can call me Nathaniel. Ha! You see what I did there? I’m just joking, you can call me Nate. I’m sure you guys are cool. Nathaniel is too formal and has too many syllables. Adds an extra 3 seconds to conversations every time you use it. Not efficient at all.

Moving along, let’s list a few of my stats: I was born and raised in Pittsburgh. I love traveling whenever I have the time and funds to do so. I’m extremely spontaneous and impulsive. I’m an MBA student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and did my undergraduate work at Penn State University. This summer, I will be working at the U.S. Small Business Administration. Welcome to my blog. I’m sure we’ll have tons of fun. I mean awesome amounts of fun. I’m talking so much fun that the weight of the fun causes it to collapse on itself creating a FUN BLACK HOLE. Do you realize how much fun that would take? Do you also realize that may be a bit of an oxymoron? Yea, wrap your head around those things.

So yea, here I am at DC for the summer. My first impression of the city is that this place is great. It is a nice change from living in Pittsburgh. I am staying in the brand new Residence and Academic Facility that just opened this summer. There is a nice new car smell everywhere you go in this place. Sorry there aren’t any pictures in this post but I promise, the next post will have some. I plan on bringing my camcorder/camera with me as many places as is legally allowed. I have a feeling that you’ll never know when something big will happen around here.

Now, some of you may be wondering why I chose the name “Distinguished Gentleman” as my blog title. I mean, clearly, it does define me extremely well, but that wasn’t the reason. I just wanted to title it in connection with the name of a movie that was shot in DC. Originally, I was going to title my blog “Mars Attacks 2: Independence Day” or “A Few Good Men say Bye Bye Birdie to True Lies” But I decided to go with Distinguished Gentleman because it killed two birds with one stone.

I think I’ve talked enough for this post. Once again, welcome to my blog, ya’ll come back now, ya hear?