...so I went to our nation's capital AGAIN and met up with Joe Shultz AGAIN... (April 4))

From Charlottesville I drove across Virginia to Maryland, the strangest shaped state in the union, in my opinion. I dropped my car at a friend's place in Baltimore and hopped on a train to Washington, DC. Parking in DC was not something I was excited about, hence leaving the car. Not to mention trains and public transportation on the east coast are prevalent and easy to use. More on that later. I was greeted at Union Station in DC by my jolly old friend, Joe Shultz. I have visited Joe in DC a handful of times over the past few years and it is of course always an enjoyable stay. We headed out to H Street for mussels and beer at Granville Moore's, a spot we have hit up several times in the past that never disappoints. We were joined by another OSU friend, Anne Knapke. It was fun to catch up and reminisce about the college days as well as hear about what we are all up to now and looking to in the future. Having been on the road for over two weeks now as I write this, I have had this conversation many times with many different people, and it has yet to get old. Most people say they are envious of the time I have to spend out traveling and visiting, and I certainly don't blame them. I also really enjoy hearing about what friends are up to or looking to do next. Taking a moment to think about all the people I have met along the way and where they all are in their lives really blows my mind sometimes. I'm just one person, and I know a lot of people who all have amazing and interesting lives...it's just incredible to me how that extrapolates out across the entire planet...so many people with so many different lives... Anyway, it was a nice night out. The next morning Joe and I grabbed a quick breakfast before he hopped in a cab and said, "Take me to the Senate!" I didn't take any pictures of Joe so I thought I'd put up a throwback shot from a few years ago of Joe enjoying a stogie on the California coast:

I then took a walk up to another friend's apartment, one Miss Tahira Rehmatullah. Tahira has had many nicknames over the years but for ease and appropriateness I will refer to her simply as "T." It had been about a year and a half since our paths crossed last, during which she had moved to DC from Brooklyn for a yearlong fellowship. We grabbed a cup of coffee and caught up for a bit at a place that shares a name with another friend of ours, David Tynan:

T was on her way out of town so I left her to finish up some work and pack up. I headed down to the DC Mall (not a place to shop for those of you who don't know) and decided to hit up the Air and Space Museum. It was very enjoyable despite also being attended by approximately 67 million junior high school students on spring break bus trips. I exercised patience since I was also once one of those students way back in 1995 or something. I really enjoyed the museum, especially learning more about the Wright Brothers. I have a huge sense of pride being from the same state as the Wright Brothers and also find it entertaining that they ran a bicycle shop before tackling flying. As I journey across the country trying to figure out what's next for me, I found this quote fairly appropriate. Perhaps it's a sign?

I went to meet Joe for a quick lunch at Union Station before heading out of town. He left me with a tough question to think about as I journeyed on..."So, how do you make this trip about what's next in your life and not just about visiting friends?" I didn't have a good answer for him then but hopefully those answers may present themselves out here on the road. Because for the most part, so far, it has been simply to visit friends. Before heading to the train station, I made a quick trip to visit the national Marine Corps Memorial, also known as the Iwo Jima statue. It's one of my favorite things to see in DC. On my walk from the Metro station to capital, I actually walked over US Route 50, which had I turned west at that moment, I could have trekked directly back to Cincinnati if the spirt so moved me. I headed onto the statue instead:

It was a nice place to sit for a few minutes, but then I had train places to be. As I rode on the train back to Baltimore, I kept thinking about what Joe had said...