Tell You [a] Little Story

Cassie, Cassie's off-again boyfriend Shawn, Cassie's quiet and introverted and I-think-he-liked-me friend Nate, and me. To our nation's capital for an extended weekend. We arrived in Baltimore in true fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants fashion: with no plans for much of anything, including a place to stay. Strike that -- we did have a plan and that was that for the first night, we would sleep in the airport terminal. Oh yes, the airport. And the plan for after that was to descend upon some merciful members of our church, somewhere, somehow, in the greater DC area who wanted to house some BYU students with absolutely no advanced warning. I can't imagine who wouldn't jump at that chance! Cassie had on her the phone number of a Relief Society president who someone had told her might be able to hook us up with someone to take us in. We were students, remember, and poor, and I'm quite sure the thought of getting a hotel room never occurred to us. I had spent more money t...

I was 21, I had spent the previous summer in Africa and had come home and broken up with a guy. Nathan was his name, and potstickers were his game. (Because they're good.) My future husband, long the object of my suppressed affections, had just returned from a lengthy stint in Chile and promptly encouraged his friend James to pursue me, because he himself was most certainly not interested in Emily Godfrey; he had his sights elsewhere. I was crushed, but in a suppressed sort of way. I began to dig James, and we dated. James stayed in Phoenix while Steve and I went back to the motherland for school. This was January 1997. I was in Students for International Development on campus, and when my comrade from my Namibia trip, Cassie, suggested we go to a SID conference in DC, I decided to go along. There was a group of us going, they'd find us a place to stay, they said. And now, because I was eating homemade french fries and dodging my daughter's greasy kisses while trying ...

Thank you for all the suggestions of things to see in DC. I'm excited to try them all out. Amy suggested I ask her brother for ideas, so I did, and boy howdy, the man is thorough. I want something like this for every city I will ever visit. I am posting it for all to reference for future trips to our nation's capital. Thank you, Pepper! I've been a lot of places in the world, and Washington is my favorite city. It seems to have everything. I'll give you some suggestions based on my lifestyle and my interests. Let me know if you have specific questions about anything I leave off the list, or if you have a specific set of interests/hobbies you would like to cater to. I think the number one thing to do in Washington DC is attend oral arguments at the Supreme Court. It is a great experience for anyone - no matter the age, education level, or personal interest in constitutional law of the attendee. Unfortunately, oral arguments will not be in session in June; I only ment...