After a very relaxing few weeks in Canada, we had a brutal 3 AM wake up call to head to the Vancouver airport for our flight. We were flying to Washington DC to attend my friend Karen’s wedding. We met in middle school in Beijing and lived together in DC the summer she met her now husband Chris. The two of them had even come out to IU to visit me when we were still in college. There were a few other friends on the invite list that I hadn’t seen since high school, so I was really excited for a reunion!
The airport was a madhouse, even at 4 am. We weren’t able to check in online as they needed to verify our passports, and the line for the check in kiosk took so long. When we finally got to the kiosk, it wouldn’t register our passports so we had to wait in line again to manually check in. We eventually got our boarding passes and went through security which also took forever, because our souvenir olive oil (which was under the 100 ml limit!) we had bought for my family in Italy was flagged.
We then had to pass through US immigration – I breezed through with my global entry card but Saz was interrogated by the immigration offical about her intentions in coming to the US. The epidemic of illegal Canadian immigrants MUST be stopped!!! BUILD THE WALL!!!!
We headed to the airport lounge to grab a quick breakfast, and then boarded our first flight to Minneapolis. It was relatively uneventful, except for the man sitting next to me stinky farting through the whole 2 hour flight. After 2 hours of being trapped in the pungent gas chamber, we finally landed in Minneapolis. My credit card gives me Priority Pass access to lounges and restaurants in many airports, so we used our priority pass credit to order lunch at the PGA Lounge during our 2 hour layover.
Full and happy, we boarded our second flight to DC. We arrived in DC just around golden hour, so the decent into DCA airport was beautiful. We called an Uber to take us to our Airbnb, and Saz took in the iconic DC sites.
Our Airbnb was a basement suite in a residential neighbourhood, and really cute and spacious. We were getting hungry, so we dropped our bags and walked to a neighbourhood market to buy some dinner. The owner was really friendly and started chatting with us, telling us about the mission and concept of his store. He said that as with many other areas of the US, DC struggles with food deserts. Him and his wife opened this neighbourhood market in a food desert to help provide healthy and affordable options to residents of the area. They go around asking residents what they want/need, and help source those materials for the local community! They also had a hot bar where they would make delicious fresh pizzas, deli sandwiches, and subs. It was so inspiring to hear how passionate they were about helping their community, so definitely check out Aurora Market if you’re ever in DC!
The next day, we had a full day of exploring and sightseeing to do! Saz had never been to DC before, so we took the metro to the White House. Her first impression? “Wait why is it so small? It looks way bigger on TV. I like the Scandal version better.” There was a crazy man yelling into a megaphone outside the White House, ranting about how abortion is murder, gays should’t exist, and Hilary Clinton eats babies. Home sweet home!
We did a lap around the White House, and Saz said “What’s that tall Egyptian looking thing?” “You mean the Washington Monument?” I’m starting to think the immigration officer was right for giving her a hard time!
We walked through the National Mall, stopping through the WWII monument, reflecting pool, and onwards into the Lincoln Memorial.
Saz again with the USA slander: “Wait I thought he would be way bigger.” That’s it, time to call CBP to deport her back to Canada!!!!
DC finally redeemed itself in her eyes when we arrived at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. Not only was entry free, but the museum was massive and the exhibits were amazing. We spent the whole afternoon wandering from exhibit to exhibit learning about mammals, oceans, dinosaurs, early humans, mummies etc. There were so many other Smithsonian Museums that we unfortunately didn’t have time to go to, but it’s on the list for next time we go back!
Our last stop before heading home was the Capitol Building. “This one actually looks how it’s supposed to look” Thanks Saz, I’ll make sure to let Congress know.
After a jam packed day of sightseeing, we picked up dinner at Chipotle and took the metro home. We had an early night because the wedding was tomorrow!
We were awoken the next morning to knocking at the door – my friend Ayaka from HS had arrived! I hadn’t seen her since high school, so we spent the whole morning catching up.
We all got ready together in the afternoon, and then hopped in an Uber to the wedding venue, the National Arboretum. We met up with some more of my HS friends – Jerilyn and her fiancé Ananth, and Kevin and his wife Bex. I also caught up with Karen’s older sister Renee.
Our whole ISB group was sat at the same table for dinner, so we continued the shenanigans. The food was absolutely delicious – I got the fish and Saz had the braised beef. We listened to the speeches from both sides of the family (Karen’s dad gave an iconic Asian dad speech), and then it was time to DANCE!
We tore up the dance floor, as did Chris’ extremely drunk Filipino uncle, who had apparently been chugging tequila all night. Chris’ Filipino family was huge, and they were having a blast. The DJ did a great job of playing bangers, and we had a fun few hours ripping up the dance floor.
Right after the DJ played the last song and the wedding was wrapping up, it started to drizzle! The timing was perfect, and we made moves to go with Karen to the afterparty. Kevin and his wife drove us to the bar hosting the afterparty, which was EXCLUSIVELY playing Taylor Swift music (deep cuts too, Illicit Affairs has no business being played in a bar but we’re not complaining). Immediate green flag.
We stayed at the bar for about an hour, and the bartender announced closing time. We said our goodbyes to Karen and Chris and headed home. It was an beautiful night filled with love, friendship, and fun. It’s so special that we were all able to get together, 10 years after graduation, and celebrate our friend!
It poured rain all night and all day for the next week, once again showing how lucky they had gotten with their wedding. They must’ve done something right!
The next morning, we packed up our bags, said bye to Ayaka, and headed to the bus station. Our next stop was The Big Apple – off to Manhattan to visit my cousin Melody!