Dude….Choppers.

As many of you who have been reading the blog know, today was our second day in Virginia. After writing to you yesterday afternoon Uncle Sando took us into the “city” of Winchester. We met his Grandparents (Great Grand Uncle Sando on his mother’s side), and had a real nice chat. Then Sando drove us by some Civil War battlefields. There are signs all over the place commemorating battles and troop movements. It was really cool. Just by looking at the fields, you can easily imagine civil war troops trudging over the hills. Then we had a killer BBQ at Uncle Sando’s. To cap off the chill day we hung out with some of Sando’s buddies from back in the day. Good times, great oldies, and cool new friends.

I woke up this morning around about 1:30 (don’t judge me). Came downstairs to black coffee. Sando’s mother had told us that there were breakfast pizzas in the freezer. Intrigued, I got the box out. Apparently it was a breakfast pizza kit. I laid out my little frozen dough, and found the sauce packets. The sauce looked just like that fine cheese you got in the little cheese cracker packs as a kid. Mmmm. In all honesty it looked really nasty. But hey, I eat a lot of things that look less than edible. Piled the cheese and bacon on and baked it. It turned out to be pretty damn good! Made another one for myself and Gardner (Eric for those of you keeping score). We then decided that Zach would go back to the store to buy the guitar that he has fallen hopelessly head over heels for. It was agreed upon that while Uncle Sando drives him to get the guitar, Gardner and I would chill out in DC with the monuments. We left, only to return 10 minutes later due to car trouble. While Uncle Sando fired up the Exploder, the rest of us tried to remember the 1992 dream team. Took us a few minutes, but we did it! Not to toot our own horns, but pretty impressive for four Berklee students. Took off again, fueled by classic rock and the beautiful weather.

Uncle dropped us off by the Washington monument. We picked up some drinks (non alcoholic for the record) and headed over to the new WWII memorial, as we had never seen it before. I have to say we were both extremely impressed. We took a few pics that will be posted once we get a broadband connection. My favorite part was a wall of stars posted over a reflecting pool, with the inscription, “HERE WE MARK THE PRICE OF FREEDOM”. We then walked through the park towards the Lincoln memorial. I forgot how many flies chill down in our nation’s capital. A LOT. The Lincoln memorial was impressive as always. Gardner and I were struck by how many different nationalities were present in the room. People from all over the world intently read Lincoln’s words that are chiseled into the wall. Again, very cool. Next stop was the Vietnam memorial. Not much can be said about it, unless you have been there yourself. Next time you are in Washington you owe it to yourself to go. As always it was one of the most powerful things you will ever see…so simple and moving. Then we headed over towards the White House, and experienced the best moment of the trip thus far.

As we were walking behind the White House we saw one giant presidential helicopter swoop over us. Then we saw that the cops closed off the road behind the White House, so we had to walk around this huge fence to the other end of a field. As we walked around it we saw two more fly in, and one land right on the White House east lawn. Being dudes, we thought this was the coolest thing since Baywatch and the mute button. We were far off, so we couldn’t see who was getting out. A few guys in suits. I checked the news tonight and saw that Tony Blair was coming to the White House tonight for a news conference. I’m sure it was someone really important, due to the two helicopters protecting the one. There were snipers on every roof in the area. Then five minutes later, the chopper revved up the engines, and lifted off, pausing for a second, then flying straight over us. You have to see the pics tomorrow. So after getting over our excitement we headed over to the front of the White House, took some pics, chilled out in a park, and made some calls to family on our phones due to the restored reception of a city. The amazing thing about standing in front of the White House is that you think off all the decisions that have been made at that very place, and all the powerful leaders who shaped our modern world. We capped it off with a meal at McDonald’s, which is probably the most low-key branch of the franchise I have ever been too. We almost missed it. It is right by the White House. Inside they had portraits of all of the Presidents and First Ladies. Then we met up with Zach and Sando, and headed back to the Sando homestead. We stopped at a Sheetz for gas. I had previously thought that Wawa was the dominant force in the American convenience store kingdom. Sheetz hath taken the throne. Super clean, with great options, Sheetz comes out on top. And their iced tea is way better than Wawa. I said it. Sorry Jersey Dan. We then made our way back to Uncle Sando’s. We will be up bright and early to leave at 9:00 tomorrow, for our epic Frodo-worthy journey from the top of Virginia to the bottom of North Carolina. Should be good times. Now I must get some sleep. Take care, and look for some pictures late tomorrow night.

PS. Dude, it amazes me how cheap things are in the South. $1.59 for a 24 ouncer of Yuengling. Once again I felt like Donald Trump at the counter of the gas station.