Mission #4: Farragut North (Red Line) April 24th

This blog is WAY overdue - acutally it's been mostly done since the actual mission day but the website would constantly freeze when trying to upload the last pictures. So..... it was deleted and we've started again. Fingers crossed, here goes.....

On Easter Monday, we ventured on a mission to Farragut North, a stop on the Red Line. Our adventure started when Brady tried to get arrested by the Transit Police for jumping the toll gate in the station. He wasn't trying to get a free ride, he just thought he moved too slowly and the gate closed. It turns out that his Metro ticket had been de-magnetized and didn't swipe properly. So...valuable lesson learned.... don't put your ticket in the same pocket as your cell! Once we made it out of the station, Brady got out his "magic phone" and brought up the navigation feature to help us figure out where we should begin.

We came to a shopping center (I use the term loosely) which had a couple of stores, some offices and the Las Vegas Visitor Center!!! Sadly for us though, it wasn't open so we couldn't plan our next getaway!

Next we came to the National Geographic Society. There are exhibits inside, but they all cost money so we decided to just walk around the outside and look at some of the photos. We learned all about volcanoes....and it didn't cost us a thing! In the Nat Geo courtyard there were beautiful azaleas blooming and a little family of ducks swimming around. This family is being protected by National Geographic so please don't get within 10 feet....or the Mama might abandon the babies! (or so the sign says).

Moving on from the courtyard we looked across the street to see the "Summer School". Wow - who knew they had a school specifically designated for kids who need to repeat Algebra? We had to check this out!

It turns out that it was the "SumNer School" named after Charles Sumner. He was a Senator and Abolitionist. He started the school as the first public school for black children after the Civil War. It's now a museum.

We went inside and looked around the street level exhibit at the artwork done by students in DC public schools. Some of it was amazing! There was a very nice lady security guard who told us there are exhibits on the 3 upper floors of the museum and that we just needed to sign in and then we would be free to explore upstairs. Brady Wolcott +1 signed the book and then she showed us to the elevator.

We rode to the second floor and looked around a bit. The museum contains mostly memorabilia from all of the DC public schools. It was interesting to see the different class pictures on display and what each school excelled in (sports, drama, music, etc). We spotted a door marked "stairs" and decided to take it up to the 3rd floor and get in shape on the way. Of course, once we went through the door, we noticed a sign on the inside that basically stated: "this door to remain locked, no entrance to the museum". TERRIFIC! Guess what? The sign was accurate - all the doors, to all the other floors, were locked. So we were trapped in the stairwell! (Y'think maybe that sign should've been on the other side of the door?) Thankfully, at the ground level, there was another door that exited to the back of the building outside. So....we made it out of the stairs! Brady suggested that we just go back inside - Joy refused! How embarrassing! Of course, the nice security lady might still be looking for Brady Wolcott +1 lost somewhere in the building!

After that grand time, we came upon St. Matthews Cathedral. It was a very nice looking building on the outside, so we decided to check out the inside. The time was about 12:10pm. Wouldn't you know it....mass in progress(aka: no pictures)! We sat for a few minutes but when they started reciting and kneeling, it was time to go! It was very sad because the architecture and painting inside were absolutely gorgeous. We might have to sneak back in there on another mission.

Right by the church was the Embassy of Australia. There were also a couple of other ones too including the Embassy of the Philippines! We, of course, had to take a picture!

After attending Mass, we decided it was finally time for lunch. As always, Brady used his magic phone again to find us a neighborhood specialty. The "Best Sandwich Place" was nestled inside an office building right next to a now barren Borders Bookstore. The sandwiches were really good. Brady had smoked turkey w/ bacon and Joy ate chicken parmesan (with sun-dried tomatoes and bean sprouts) Chips and Coke rounded out the meal. It was all yummy!

Our final stop was a novelty store called Chocolate Moose. It contained all kinds of gifts, toys, cards, games and of course CHOCOLATE.

Brady's favorite was this eye-popping pig! We also bought an old favorite - Tiddly Winks. We're still enjoying the friendly family competition!

Hopefully we're back on track to complete more missions this summer so stay tuned for those adventures! Don't forget to share you adventures with us too!

Mission #3: Mount Vernon Square/7th Street/DC Convention Center. April 9, 2011

Today's mission kept us a little bit closer to home. We picked the Mount Vernon Square/Convention Center Metro stop on the Green line. YAY - we never had to change trains! It was only about a 25 minute ride.

Upon arriving in the city we started wandering around the neighborhood. We were immediately attracted to a large gold domed building.

This was the House of Prayer for All People Church. According to the historical information marker on the sidewalk, it once had 3,000,000 members in 14 states.....? The best part is the church's "saint's paradise" cafeteria. Too bad we weren't hungry yet!

After our church tour (and there are alot of churches in this neighborhood), we headed back toward the Convention Center for a stroll around the 3 blocks it covers. We tried to get breakfast at Chatman's Divine Bakery & Cafe but it wasn't opening until 11:00. However, we met Debra - the owner, and promised we'd be back later! Instead we got a mediocre muffin and worse hot chocolate (but groovy atmosphere) at the First Cup Cafe on 9th Street. Maybe it should've been called the "first and only cup". It would be a great place to sit and read a book though (books are provided by the cafe). Mount Vernon Square and the Historical Society of D.C. was next. This building was once the Andrew Carnegie Library. It's FREE and at least today was not crowded at all. It had two exhibits: Cherry Blossom Art (so-so) and Choosing to Participate (an excellent exhibit about social justice). We learned all about the Little Rock Nine, Jewish Racism in Billings MT and standing up against hate crimes.

As we left Mount Vernon Square, we passed the NPR building and then a yellow sculpture caught our eye 2 blocks away so we headed towards it. It was cool, but even cooler was our first experience in an inner-city Safeway. Strangely, it looked just like a suburbian Safeway. It did not live up to our expectations.

As we left Safeway, we ran into Stan. An elderly gentleman trying to transport 4 cases of water. We decided to give him a hand by each carrying a case "just up the road" to his home. Up to road became about 8 LONG CITY blocks! With backs breaking and arms shaking, we finally made it to his apartment. He wasn't much of a talker but I think we made a friend for life! We got in a Random Act of Kindness and a workout all at once! Good times!

Leaving Stan's we spotted the Hoagie Hut and our mouths started watering but alas, it was boarded up (and graffitied). That was OK though because we had promised Debra we would come back. We made our way back to the cafe and it was DIVINE! (pulled pork, beans, potato salad and SWEET TEA! - yum)

Finally, before heading home, we had to check out the convention center (after all, that was the name of the metro stop). We looked around a bit but the place is humongous and there's really not much to do unless you're at a convention. We were jealous of all the people spending their Saturday sitting in rooms looking at powerpoints about various medical conditions and experimental biology (NOT!) Personally, we'd rather spend our Saturday together on a Mission: Metro.

THE END - see ya' next week!

Mission #2: Vienna-Fairfax-GMU. Orange Line April 2, 2011

Our second Mission Metro was to Vienna-Fairfax at the far, far, far end of the Orange Line. Although we were warned that this station could be "dangerous", the only threat we faced was falling onto Interstate 66.

We got to Vienna after about an hour on the train, were met by swarms of people heading the other way to see Cherry Blossoms (more on that later) and ate our granola bars in the parking lot in preparation for all there is to see and do in Vienna-Fairfax-GMU. Sadly, there's not much to see OR do in Vienna-Fairfax-GMU but we did find the Pan-Am shopping plaza just a short 20 minute walk. (It would have been a 15 minute walk if we hadn't "short-cutted" through an apartment complex! We did find a fun little playground in said apartment complex.

The Pan-Am shopping plaza offers an abundance of Asian cuisine as well as video editing, dental care and dance costumage. Our favorite store was MICROCENTER, where all of your electronics needs are met. We did buy a keyboard duster and some cheap earbuds....and they had free candy for 'customer appreciation day'.

Rather than dining on Asian cuisine, no offense to all of our asian friends, we chose to go American at the Pan-Am Family Restaurant (run by Greeks). The french toast was awesome, as was the omelet. The service was great and the place was packed! It seemed to be the local hangout for large groups of old men (so Brady felt right at home). If you ever get hungry at the corner of Nutley St and Lee Hwy.....give it a try! Tell 'em Brady & Joy sent ya'!

After breakfast, which was by this time lunch, we headed back toward the train and tried to do some Random Acts of Kindness by feeding parking meters. What the video doesn't show is that we soon realized all the meters were expired and you probably don't even have to pay on Saturdays.

Finally we made it back to the Vienna Metro Station along with 40,000 (a rough guestimate) other Metro riders eager to see Cherry Blossoms and the Nats. We spent 80% of the hour and 15 minute ride home standing. Now we know how cattle feel...minus the flies.

Overall it was another great Mission. I'm sure there's actually tons to do in Vienna and Fairfax (just none of it's too close to the Metro). But when you're with someone you love everywhere is a great adventure. By the way....the highlight of Joy's day was the talking crosswalk signs. It doesn't take much.

Mission 1: Wheaton (Red Line) March 26, 2011

Today was our first Mission Metro Adventure. We came up with this idea thinking it would be spring but alas, today it was only 30 degrees when we left home. The Wheaton stop is one of the farthest from our "home" at Branch Avenue on the Green line. Probably, including transfer, an hour train ride.

Neither of us had ever been to Wheaton before so we had low expectations. The Wheaton stop is underground and if you're afraid of super high and steep escalators.....avoid at all costs! This was by far the longest escalator either of us had ever seen. Approximately a 3 minute ride from bottom to top.

Our first stop, after being lost in the Metro parking garage, was the infamous Wheaton Plaza. The Plaza is home to JCPenney, Macy's, a closed Target and of course Candy World. Here we bought licorice laces which sustained us for hours to come! A pretty basic mall, probably just like the one in your neighborhood!


Next we stumbled into an "International Market" (aka big rummage sale in mall parking lot). However, none of the vendors spoke English so it did have an international flair! From the mall parking lot we headed towards "The Triangle" (located between Veirs Mill Rd, Georgia Ave and University Blvd/Rte 193). This is the real Wheaton: a plethora of international shops, restaurants and businesses. Here you can find all things Latino but also everything from Filipino to Ethiopian. At the Filipino store we found the spring roll wrappers that have eluded us for months and enjoyed sausage and meatball subs from the Italian deli (Marchone's).

Of course for you music lovers, the metro is mere steps away from Chuck Levine's Washington Music Center - heaven on earth! It kind of reminded us of the music store scene in The Blues Brothers movie where Ray Charles starts playing the old piano and by the end everyone is dancing in the street!



There are some parks and gardens close by too but since it was freezing today we decided to save that for another Metro Mission!

Mission: Metro - the plan

The plan: We designed a metro playing card for each stop in the rail system. Who knew there are 85 Metro stops? Each Saturday morning Brady and I will get up, pick a card at random and proceed to travel via the subway from our "home stop" (Branch Ave - green line) to that days random destination. When we come up out of the station, we'll see for the first time what exciting things are in store for us! Adventure awaits for sure!

This blog is dedicated to everyone who likes to get out there and live life unscripted. We love DC, we love riding Metro and we love each other so..... here goes, it's gonna be great! We hope this encourages you to get out and explore YOUR world. Share your adventures too!