Weekend Recap

Despite the rain, my first weekend in D.C. was a lot of fun.  On Friday night, I tagged along with my roommates to a benefit/party in honor of two fellow peace corp volunteers who passed away during their time of service.  The party was at the Ghana Cafe, a west african-style hotspot in Dupont Circle.   Great music, good turnout and lots of dancing!

I stuck to the plan on Saturday and stayed inside the entire day, even though the rain ended by about 7 PM.  Hannah dropped quite a bit of rain and wind in our neighborhood, and some places lost power, but it really wasn't bad.  Our one front window did pop out though.  We didn't even realize it was broken until several hours of wondering why the downstairs was as humid and moist as a cloud - despite a functional central AC system.  Fortunately, the window landed on the couch so we were able to put it back together in one piece.  

Sunday was a fantastic day.  I woke up early to a clear blue sky and relatively low humidity, and decided to go for a run.  I live right off Pennsylvania Avenue, so I ran several blocks down and around the Capitol Building - which is beautiful. I kept going down past the Botanical Gardens, which are currently featuring some colorful and creative environmental displays in the front yard.  I continued down to and along the National Mall all the way to the Washington Monument and back.  Being able to throw on my running shoes and take off to enjoy a Sunday morning in our nation's capitol bypassing so many fantastic structures and landmarks is something I really love about where I live.  Taking the run was both soothing and exciting, so it might have to become a weekly ritual for me. 

I later ventured two blocks over to Eastern Market, a well-known flea market/farmers market in the city.  Eastern Market has been around since 1873, but the main building was unfortunately destroyed in a fire last year.  The market has moved outside and into a temporary building, so it's still quite large and fantastic.  Saturdays feature the market produce and Sundays have more arts and crafts.  I managed to restrain myself from buying several interesting pieces of jewelry and a purse, but did purchase some delicious fresh apples!