Tourists for a day

Since we’ve been back in DC, we’ve been so busy with taking care of life’s details that we haven’t had time for much else. But now the next packout has been planned, flights have been booked, some supplies have been purchased (although most of those have to wait until right before packout due to lack of storage space in our current apartment), and we’re on track to depart in 9 weeks. Whew! So we decided to take this past Saturday to actually do some things just for fun.

First, we had lunch at Founding Farmers. Holy cow – this is our new favorite restaraunt. You absolutely must try it if you are in Washington. As Shawn put it, this is how we want to eat all the time, if we only had the time/patience to prepare meals like this. Most of the ingredients come from local(-ish) farms and they make everything from scratch, even the drinks. Shawn had an amazing homemade ginger ale that was so refreshing. (I asked him for a taste and then drank a quarter of it.) We both had salads – the Spicy Ahi Tuna and North Dakota Spring – again, totally amazing. Who wouldn’t love a salad with a big hunk of fried brie in it? We have determined that we need to go back pretty much every day so that we can try every single thing on the menu. Honestly, there isn’t anything on there that I wouldn’t want to eat.

After oohing and aahing over our lunch, we headed to the International Spy Museum with a quick stop for the obligatory photo in front of the White House on the way. (As you can see, Shawn is modeling his newest accessory. Did I mention that he broke his hand last week? He tells me that the heat and humidity of the DC summer is even less pleasant with a cast.)

Anyway, the Spy Museum is huge. It’s a little pricy, particularly when most everything else in the city is free, but you get your money’s worth. Of course, after two years in Kyiv with several briefings on security, I was already pretty aware of all the general espionage info, but the historical stuff was interesting. The museum is put together well and has plenty of interactive areas and videos to keep you interested. You even get a cover at the beginning and are tested on your story a few times along the way.

Hopefully we can fit in some more tourism over the next several weeks. I got to just about everything the last time we were here, but I’m still surprised at what Shawn hasn’t seen yet. So I’ll have to make sure we get to some of my favorites soon.