We decided to head out of town after work and drive as far as we could before bunking down for the night. After 3.5 hours, we made a stop in Nashville at a restaurant called Zulema's Taqueria. The eatery had classic tacos such as carne asado and carnitas, but they also had a nice, local twist with a Nashville Hot chicken one too. The Wife loved their sweet fried plantains. After finishing the side that came with her meal, she ordered two more to go to munch on in the car.
We had made it almost to the other end of the state before deciding to bunker down for the night. We stopped at the Best Western Sevierville which is a few miles east of Knoxville. As far as we could tell, the only thing around that area are a bunch of outlet malls. For less than $100, the room was perfectly fine.
*****
Thursday, October 4, 2018
*****
We were back on the road bright and early in the morning. We drove for the next five hours until we reached the Shenandoah National Park. We still had our America the Beautiful pass left over from the summer, so we got in for free. The park's establishment in 1935 was marred by controversy. In order to obtain enough land for the park, the government trampled over the rights of individuals in an abuse of eminent domain. The Commonwealth of Virginia evicted over 2,800 people off of their legally-owned land, some of which had been held in their families for generations. Some residents took the government to court. The litigation was even brought up to the Supreme Court, but the justices refused to hear the case. When stubborn families insisted on staying on their land, the authorities cracked down hard. On some occasions, police handcuffed and arrested pregnant women and elderly residents and dragged them off their property. The authorities would even demolish or burn down their houses as these residents helplessly watched on so that they would know that there would be no homes to go back to. Many of these resettled citizens would remain bitter at the government for the remainder of their lives.
We only had a few hours to spend in Shenandoah, so we decided that the most efficient way to see the most in such a limited time was to drive along the Skyline Drive. This 105 mile road stretches north to south along the length of the park. Located on the mountain ridge, there were great views of the surrounding landscape.
Part of the Appalachian Trail passes through the Shenandoah National Park. We visited the part closest to the Skyline Drive and "hiked" the twenty feet to the trail. Are we section hikers now?
After traversing about half of the Skyline Drive, we felt that we got a good introduction to the Shenandoah region. We exited the park and headed northeast.
As we reached the suburbs of Northern Virginia, the traffic got worse and worse. There is a huge Asian population in the area, so we decided to stop at a Korean BBQ restaurant named Meokja Meokja. We were vaguely familiar with Korean BBQ from the small restaurants back home, but it was a little more intimidating being at a restaurant that only serves this style of food. The friendly waitstaff put us at ease. Our server even interjected frequently to make sure we were properly cooking our meat.
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| A smorgasbord of fatty chunks of meat sizzling on the grill |
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| Angry egg (gyerin jjim) |
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| Corn cheese |
*****
Friday, October 5, 2018
*****
The Wife and I have visited the nation's capital several times, and we have always remembered that the traffic was always terrible. Instead of driving into Washington D.C, we decided to try and take the Metro into the city. We drove to the closest subway station at the Vienna/Fairfax-GMU and parked in the multi-level garage. We then proceeded to take the subway for what seemed to be eternity until we reached the Capitol-South station where we exited. We grabbed a late breakfast a few blocks away at the Firehook Bakery. The pastries smelled so good, so we ended up ordering plenty of food.
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| Ham and Swiss croissant |
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| Quiche Lorraine |
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| Chocolate croissant |
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| Lemon bar and fruit tart |
Afterwards, we walked a couple of blocks over to the U.S. Supreme Court Building. The national news had been having a field day covering the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the country's highest court and the allegations of sexual misconduct by him during his high school days. Judging by the many signs plastered around the street corners, Kavanaugh doesn't seem very popular among the locals.
We were expecting to see some heated, vociferous protests around the courthouse. However, we were disappointed to find only a sedate atmosphere of news outlets lolling around and only a couple of disinterested protesters. Since there was so little going on, we took the time to take our family photos in front of the building.
After 15 minutes, things got more exciting as a throng of protesters paraded by holding up signs that varied from clever, professional jobs to some low-rent slogans written on cardboard. Overall, it was a pretty peaceful protests, and D.C.'s finest didn't need to intervene (the following day, several celebrity protesters were arrested).
Entry is free, so we headed inside the Supreme Court building. Just like every other federal building that we would enter on the National Mall, we had to go through metal detectors and security. The court was not in session that day, but there were other official proceedings taking place. We spent a couple of minutes perusing the displays regarding the histories of the previous justices and admiring the building's architecture.
We walked next door to the Library of Congress. Established in 1800, it is the largest library in the world--until Amazon eventually surpasses it. We weren't there to check out any books, but to marvel at this beautiful Art Deco-style building. We opted for a self-guided tour.
There were many small exhibits relating to old maps...
...indigenous and Mesoamerican culture...
...and the history of "America's past-time."
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| My "baseball card" is worth as much as those that I collected in the 1980's--nothing. |
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| There's no crying in the Library of Congress |
Thomas Jefferson's private library is also on display. He sold his 6,487 volume collection to Congress for $23,950 after theirs was destroyed by the British in 1814. Presumably, his African-American porn collection was not included.
The reading rooms offer visitors access to the actual books in the Library of Congress. However, a reader identification card must be obtained first.
We exited the Library of Congress and walked over to the U.S. Capitol building. We waited outside in a long queue for 20 minutes to get through security. Once inside, we cursed ourselves for not realizing that there is a quick underground tunnel that connects the Library of Congress and the Capitol. The line for that was minuscule.
Unless they have official business, visitors are required to go on a guided tour. The website recommends signing up for a tour in advance, but these were all taken when we had checked the previous week. However, we easily went up to the tour desk and were added onto one that was leaving right away. We were first taken to the Rotunda where important American citizens were honored upon their death. Only a little more than a month ago, Senator John McCain's funeral was held here.
Within the Capitol, each state is allowed a statue of two famous people (often former Presidents) to be housed inside. The most distinguished people are situated in the Rotunda, while the lesser folks are relegated to halls and lesser rooms. I was glad to see that statues of one of our state's representatives as well as my namesake made the cut for the Rotunda.
Besides statues, the Rotunda was also adorned with large paintings and base reliefs of important events in U.S. history. The fresco at the top of the dome shows George Washington ascending to Heaven with Liberty and Victory. How odd.
Other stops on the tour included an old auditorium where Congress used to meet. Plaques commemorated the desk locations of former distinguished representatives.
In the Capitol's multi-columned Crypt is a star located in the center of the room. The different points show the directions where the major streets of Washington D.C. are laid out.
After completion of the tour, we left the Capitol building and walked down the stretch of the National Mall. The space was bustling with tourists and semi-trucks. Apparently, truck drivers were demonstrating to raise awareness for transportation safety.
We took a small detour towards the Jefferson Monument, but a vast ocean prevented us from actually going inside.
There were also monuments dedicated to the soldiers that had fought in America's major wars. As has been the case for the last half century, the one for the Korean War was all but forgotten. Because of my family's history, the Vietnam Memorial has always been a poignant symbol of sacrifice by young men that I can never thank enough.
We climbed the crowded steps of the Lincoln Memorial where we got an amazing view of the National Mall. Overhead a helicopter that looked a lot like Marine One buzzed on by.
We were tired from our long day at the National Mall, so we headed north to the closest subway station. Since it is a small detour from our route, we stopped along a small blocked-off road with a close (yet far) view of the White House. Only a few minutes later, D.C. police closed the road and kicked all the tourists out.
We headed back to Falls Church and retrieved our car from the parking garage. Once we calculated all the costs, we came to the conclusion that we probably spent more money and time taking the subway than just driving into the city and parking. Plus, the traffic didn't look that bad on the weekend.
Back at our hotel, we rendezvoused with The Mother and The Big Sister who had just arrived from the airport. We cleaned up and attended the rehearsal dinner. Since my family is spread all throughout the country (and world), it had been years since I had last seen several of my cousins, aunts, and uncles. Time has changed people in so many ways. I'm sure they must be thinking the same of me--"Damn, that boy has gotten fat!"
*****
Saturday, October 6, 2018
*****
The Big Brother and his family had arrived late the previous night. The Mother made sure that all of our families got together for breakfast down at the hotel restaurant. It was a typical safe and non-stimulating buffet. Afterwards, we decided to go back to the National Mall, but this time to visit some of the Smithsonian Museums. We had learned our lesson from the previous day, and we drove our car instead of taking the subway. Traffic wasn't bad at all and we had no problems finding parking at a garage a few blocks from the museums.
After taking our obligatory photos in front of the major D.C. landmarks, we entered the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. I remember as a kid that the Smithsonian museums were immense and incredible. I could spend days looking at all the exhibits. Now that I'm older and have "been around the block" a little more, I swear the museums must have shrunken. They don't seem nearly as impressive as they used to. I still did find the exhibits to be very nice, but just not as awe-inspiring as I had in my youth. Watching The Kids, I was disheartened to see that they also showed only a mild interest in the museum. There was no spark of naive wonderment. Perhaps their generation is overstimulated already with cable television and the Internet.
There were exhibits on minerals and geology including the famous Hope Diamond...
...mummies and artifacts from Ancient Egypt...
...skeletons and preserved bodies of animals and fish including this coelacanth that was once thought to be extinct...
...and displays and fossils of our human ancestors.
In under two hours, we finished the natural history museum and entered the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Inside was a hodge-podge of various artifacts of all things Americana.
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| Clara Barton's American Red Cross Wagon. |
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| An old friend--the Apple II computer. |
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| A cannonball rests in the wreckage of the USS Philadelphia, a gunboat sunk in Lake Champlain in 1776. |
There was also a large collection of the First Lady's inaugural dresses as well as items noting the silly trends from the last several years.
After leaving that museum, we still had time to stop at the National Archives which houses the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, two documents that I had never had the chance to see before. The tight security in the building deterred visitors from taking photographs or pulling a Ben Gates job on these priceless historical items.
We drove back to our hotel, and got ready for dinner as The Mother was treating the extended family to a dinner at the Sea Pearl Restaurant and Lounge. Since it was located in a very crowded shopping center, it took us about 20 minutes of driving around to find a place to park that ended up being several blocks away. The menu had sushi and Asian fusion dishes including chili crab pasta, Chilean sea bass with miso, and a fisherman's stew with a lemongrass and coconut milk twist. The food was good but I shutter to think about the amount of money The Mother dropped on that meal.
We ended up talking with some of my first and second cousins whom I had not met before as they had only immigrated to the U.S. a few years before. I guess I never realized how big of an extended family I have.
*****
Sunday, October 7, 2018
*****
Since it was the day of the wedding, we really had nothing planned. The Wife and The Big Sister had appointments at Sephora for makeovers. The Kids hung out at the hotel with their first cousins. When it was time for lunch, we were eager to try some KFC--Korean fried chicken. We drove over to Bon Chon Chicken, a leading KFC franchise. We ordered a mix of wings and drumsticks in spicy and soy garlic sauce. Simply said, we were in a Heaven, albeit a very greasy one.
Back at the hotel, we got ready for the wedding. It was a nice ceremony and it seemed like my extended family was having a good time. I was just relieved that my tuxedo jacket from my wedding still fit, even after 15 years.
My cousin, The Photographer (The Bride's brother) has a photography studio, so he provided plenty of fancy wedding equipment and an army of photographers.
Although The Groom and his family were Caucasian, the majority of the wedding party and guests were Asian-American. I had never been to a Vietnamese-American wedding reception before, so many of the nuances were a little surprising. First, there were a troupe of people who performed a lion dance. Then they served the food which was mainly Vietnamese. In retrospect, I really wish I had the option of serving jellyfish at my own wedding banquet. The Photographer's wife emcee'd the event and was the main wedding singer. Guests also came up and sang. The Wife and I were perplexed, not understanding if this was a karaoke event or if this was all pre-planned. Instead of Western music, everything was in Vietnamese and completely foreign to us.
The Girl had a great time, running around and dancing with some of her cousins and their friends. Since there were no other males of The Boy's age, he just hung out with us. Therefore, I made him dance with his mother and grandmother. He looked awkward.
The Big Sister, The Big Brother and his family turned in early as they all had flights to catch. In our middle-age, we no longer had the stamina to party all night long, so we called it a night as well. Eventually, The Girl joined us back in the room when the wedding reception finally wound down.
We planned on getting an early start to the drive back home as we had a 13 hour drive to make the next morning. Our rest was disturbed at 2 AM when the hotel's fire alarms went off. We groggily made our way down the 11 flights of stairs until we were outside. Firefighters soon arrived and declared it to be a false alarm. At least we could take the elevators back up and not have to walk back up those stairs.
The next morning, we loaded up all our luggage into our car, and made another long drive back home to Tennessee. With school and work responsibilities the next day, we were just eager to get home and didn't make any further sight-seeing stops. Altogether, it was a nice trip to see the treasures of our American capital as well as reacquaint ourselves with my immediate and extended family here in the U.S.
