D.C. Update #4...Final one
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
I never got to see the White House very well and get a really good picture...so I head out this morning, alone, to do this. So, as I'm standing here, waiting for the first leg of my last roundtrip Metro ride, I'm looking around at the people that do this every single day of the week. Business men & women, college students, commuters, military men & women, etc. People ranging anywhere from 16-17 to 65ish this particular morning. Just in a 20 foot radius of me, probably 10 different ethnicities. This is the first time I've ridden during "rush hour" period...we pack into the car, seats full, aisles full, not even standing room now. Nobody really pays much attention to anyone else around them. Everyone either has their face buried in a newspaper, or headphones on, or simply just keeping to themselves, maybe closing their eyes for just a few more seconds before getting to work or school or wherever they're going. Seriously, without exageration, it appears that about 50% of the local people have ipods or other mp3 players...it'd be amazing to know what they were all listening to. Not that having an mp3 player is odd or anything, cause I have on myself, and honestly, who doesn't have one these days. But if I had this sort of routine every day, there's no way I could not have one. This lifestyle and pace of everything really does intrigue me though...and is actually kinda appealing. I could totally live somewhere like this, where your daily travel is done via mass transit. I imagine that it wouldn't be far-fetched at all to say that more than half of the people you see around here don't even own a car. The Metro takes you anywhere you'd need to go...shopping, work, entertainment, etc. Maybe I'll move to D.C. , or somewhere similar...but I doubt it. But I'm totally diggin' the subway....don't know about the bus system though. That seems a little less appealing.
I'm now on the return trip of my last roundtrip Metro ride....1/10 the amount of people in here now, much more of a tourist crowd, a couple business people. This was a much more comfortable ride....now I gotta go pack.
Author: Jinx » Comments:
D.C. Update #3
Monday, July 24, 2006
Our last full day in D.C., and our agenda for the day....the National Zoo. Prior to the zoo itself though, of course...the Metro subway trip. We load into the subway car, and there's this african american woman sitting on one of the benches, with her elevator obviously not making it all the way to the top. She was sitting here, carrying on a conversation with someone across from her, but in reality, there was no one there. I didn't understand 95% of what she was saying...but I did catch something about black people not voting. Fortunately, she got off a couple stops later....her conversation continuing with herself and whomever else, on her way out. Ok, back to the zoo. Now, I personally have not been to such famous zoos like the San Diego Zoo and others...but this zoo was absolutely incredible. I've been to Tyler, Lufkin, Ft. Worth, Houston, etc...but I've never seen anything like this. Plus, one of the best parts....like all Smithsonian museums and locations (this zoo is part of the Smithsonian, by the way) it was free!!! So, we proceeded to spend 7-8 hours today at the zoo. And it wasn't like we lingered around everywhere...we were pretty much moving the whole time...there was just soooo much cool stuff to see and do. But now, my feet and legs are completely and totally dead....I'm beyond exhaustion.
So, we fly back to Houston tomorrow afternoon....I guess I didn't die in D.C. after all. Evacuations don't scare me! Bring on the "unattended, suspicious luggage" and the local crazy people....I'll survive.
Author: Jinx » Comments:
D.C. Update #2
Sunday, July 23, 2006
So after that first, eventful day, how could it possibly get any better? Let the onslaught of tourism begin!
Friday....
We begin Friday with the Metro tip to the Arlington Cemetary station, where we exit and proceed to...Arlington National Cemetary. Didn't see that one coming, did ya! We purchase our tour tickets for the day and begin with our tour of Arlington Cemetary. If you can use the word "impressive" to describe a cemetary, this place is really impressive. The atmosphere, the layout, the stories, the lives...it's really breath-taking when you soak it all in. JFK's gravesite and the eternal flame, Thurgood Marshall's gravesite (first African American U.S. Supreme Court Justice), graves of thousands and thousands and thousands of U.S. soldiers from every single war the U.S. has been involved in. Then you get to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.....wow. I actually got to see the last part of the changing of the guards here, and it was more than amazing. Look up some info on these guys if you get a chance. After we left the cemetary, we proceeded with our tour of the monuments and memorials around D.C. The Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, World War II Memorial, Washington Monument, etc. This is stuff you just gotta see before you die, trust me.
Saturday....
Saturday was Smithsonian day. We began by spending just a little time at the National Museum of the American Indian. We then proceeded to the National Air and Space Museum. Lots of cool aeronautical stuff here. We saw a planetarium show, and I got to do a flight simulator. Those fighter plane things take a little practice. Next was the Museum of Natural History. This is where the dinosaur and other prehistoric animal bones are. Also exhibits with animals around the world, an insect zoo, other bones exhibits, and gems & minerals exhibits. Pretty nifty little place. Back towards the hotel for dinner and rest time....
Sunday....
Wow, it's already Sunday...I'm tired. Back towards the Smithsonian area we go, and my first stop for the day is the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Besides all the main monuments and war memorials that you HAVE to see in D.C., this was something at the top of my "want to do" list. Why do other people's persecution intrigue us so? It was very touching, moving, sad, depressing....and in the end, almost happy. It's seriously impossible to imagine how a human being could do the things that the Nazis did. Words can even describe....inhumane, disgusting, atrocious, barbaric, vulgar, heartless, brutal, wicked....even these don't come close. But enough of that.....it was a really cool place. Next stop, National Archives. Another place that you have to see before you die. Got to see the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, Bill of Rights, some of the Louisiana Purchase, and other stuff. Very, very, very cool to see. We leave there and walk around a bit more, and head over a few blocks and end up going to the International Spy Museum. Another cool little place that has gotten very popular amongst tourists. Anything and everything you'd want to know about the spy life, how things happen in that kinda world, and espionage in general. We leave here, grab a bite to eat....and finally, back to the hotel for the evening.
There you have it....3 days in one post....you should feel privileged. I'm sure there can be one more update before heading back to The Great State, otherwise known as Texas.
Author: Jinx » Comments:
D.C. Update
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Seriously, can anyone think of a better experience to start off your first day in D.C., on your very first ever trip to D.C., than this....
We get in to D.C., plane ride went well, all our luggage made it, get checked in to our hotel, get settled....so we decide to head down to Union Station to walk around the stores and get something to eat. For those of you who don't know....Union Station used to be the train station, now converted into a mall and such, but still has an Amtrak station that runs through it. Anyways, so we take the Metro (subway) to Union Station, go in the building (which is beautiful), and decide to go eat first. So we take the escalators down into the food court area, all get our tummies full, and start to disperse to walk around and maybe shop a little. As we're coming back up the escalators to where the shops are, we see and hear a police officer and a mall security officer running around telling everyone to get out into the main hall....and I'm thinking, "Fantastic! I get to die in Washington D.C.!" So we move out into the main hall area, where some smaller shops are located, along with nice little restaurant. Amidst all this chaos, the resaurant, of course, doesn't want to disturb their customers....so they keep right along eating. So Union Station ends up being completely evacuated, we go outside and there are about 3-4 fire trucks, 2-3 Haz-mat trucks, plenty of police.....exciting, to say the least. None of the authorities will say exactly what's goin on, of course. We decide, for some reason, that it's probably best that we get the heck out of there. So we head back down and catch the subway and head back to the hotel. Shortly after we left, they weren't letting the Metro stop at that station because of the situation, so we got out just in time. So we see on the news later that night that it was a "suspicious, unattended piece of luggage" that was found. It was nothing. Just another day in D.C.
I guess God didn't want me to die in D.C. after all....not that day at least....and not the last 2 days either. I'm about to pass out, so I'll fill you in on the last 2 days tomorrow. But for now, you know how my first day of my first trip to D.C. went!
Author: Jinx » Comments:
Time for a vacation
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
So, the time has finally come....I get to go on vacation. We're heading out waaaaaaaaay too early in the morning to go to Washington D.C. This is my first visit to D.C., and am pretty excited about it. Being into photography and all, it should be a photographers dream place. So, anyways, maybe you'll all get lucky and get some posts from D.C.
Author: Jinx » Comments:
Camp is over...
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Not that I don't totally enjoy playing summer camps...or camps any other time of the year....but they are truly exhausting. Between playing guitar about 5 hours a day, staying up all hours of the night with the guys, waking up way too early for the morning assembly (seriously, who worships at 8:15 a.m.), breaking all these teenage/pre-teen girls' hearts....it really takes it's toll on you after 4-5 days. Speaking of breaking hearts....I think there was this girl that heard that Todd was married, and seriously just broke down crying...didn't leave her room for the rest of the week. Come on Todd, take it easy on 'em.
But seriously though, as I laid in my rock hard bed at night (they should really invest in some more comfortable beds), listening to some Journey (enter Steve Perry's voice in the background), I can't help but wonder what we actually give these kids. When the 4 of us got up there, played our instruments, sang some songs....do they really get what we're all about? Are we just a band that plays some praise & worship songs (known as "P&W" to some) in our free time during the summer? Or do they understand where our hearts are, and that we strive to be an influence of some sort in our own way? Hopefully so....
Also, I think this was the first time that I've done a camp playing lead guitar with a band, instead of leading worship. I've been playing guitar with Todd for a few months now, and really love doing what I'm doing now. So, just want to say thanks to Paul, Romack and Todd for the wonderful week at camp...it was great hanging out with you guys for too long every day, and fantastic to get to play with you a little too much. When's the next gig?!?!?!?!
Author: Jinx » Comments:
Final requests
Thursday, July 06, 2006
I was asked by someone a few weeks ago what song I would choose if I could pick a final song to listen to before I died. I know I don't have a whole heck of a lot of people reading my blog as of yet, but I thought I would pose this question to all interested as well. So, what would you choose if you had the chance to pick the last song to listen to before you died? Whether it's for a meaning behind the song (spiritual or otherwise), maybe just because you just like how it sounds, or whatever other random reason...
Author: Jinx » Comments:
