Megan Eaves

i’m carrying a lot stuff. it’s really no exaggeration. i have a huge (45lb) rucksack, a guitar case filled with not only my guitar, but also all of my undergarments and socks. additionally, i have a smaller daypack, a shoulder bag, and a purse. altogether, i’m guessing it all weighs about 80 lbs. needless to say, that’s a lot of stuff for one girl to be toting across several cities and countries.

in fact, i had to tote it all all the way from BWI airport, on the shuttle bus, then the metro, and then a good 10 minute walk to meet my friend, kelly, a new mexico – D.C. convert. really – it must have been rather quite a spectacle watching me traipse through the department of labor campus (i was mildly lost on the way to kelly’s office) with all that stuff. there were bums sitting outside this homeless shelter and even they were looking at me funny. seriously – a hippie gypsy girl with a sticker-laden guitar case and a huge backpacker rucksack does not belong in downtown D.C. but i digress.

kelly’s office is literally across the mall from the capitol building, which made for easy access and some nice views from her 9th floor office. i took pictures. only being there one night, kelly figured she’d cart me around to all the monuments, and i was glad she did, because it didn’t even occur to me that i should see them at night. they really are much prettier at night, and we even stumbled through a rally for the ethiopian millenium on the washington monument lawn.

day two – me rushing around from place to place in the AM. i didn’t get inside the capitol (bummer, as i wanted to check out that spot in the rotunda where you can hear someone across the hall at a whisper), but i did meander through the library of congress for over an hour, deciding it was one of the most stunningly ornate buildings i’ve ever had the pleasure of being inside. i also got to wow the security guard with my plethora of bags – i was carrying 3 because kelly was in meetings and i couldn’t drop my stuff.

in the afternoon, kelly took me to eat at a restaurant on the roof of the washington hotel – it is an open-air veranda overlooking the white house and the washington monument. the weather couldn’t have been more perfect.

after that, we checked out an irish pub in chinatown (my lord, that is a posh chinatown. i have never before seen an ann taylor loft written in chinese. hmmm.) and i raced to the airport just in time for my flight to dublin.

photos:

washington dc