Trip to Washington D.C.

I have to say I enjoy traveling for work. Part of the reason is that I don't have to do it too often. So when the opportunity arises I am eager for it. On Sunday, October 26th I boarded a plane to Washington D.C. to attend a two day conference for work.
The conference was held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Pentagon City. With the three hour time difference it was after 5:00 p.m. by the time we arrived at the hotel. I was traveling with one of my coworkers as well as the many conference attendees who were from my larger organization.

That evening a group of about 14 of us walked from the hotel through the Fashion Center Mall which is attached to the hotel, then outside to an Italian restaurant.

Monday I woke at 6 am and went to the fitness center. I worked out on an elliptical but the real reason I was at the fitness center was the sauna and steam room. I haven't been in either for many years and I love them both.

We had breakfast at the conference as well as lunch, both catered by the hotel. Also snacks in the afternoon. The conference was very good. It was about Global Trade Control Regulations and lots of discussion on International Business. We had speakers from a few government agencies as well as from the UK and Canada Embassies. There is a lot to learn so I was happy to be attending.

Monday night I had made reservations and arranged for our staff to have a team dinner at Morton's Steak House. Some of us walked the mile to the restaurant and a few took a taxi. We had a lot of fun. We have a new work group which combines four different groups. This gave us a chance to all meet. I did meet my new manager on Monday. She has been my manager for 3 weeks, but is located in California.

Tuesday morning, same routine at the fitness center and the last day of the conference. Tuesday after the conference Glenda and I joined a tour bus that did D.C. at night. It was a lot of fun. We stopped at many of the monuments. It was dark and a little bit cold but very enjoyable. We saw the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Viet Nam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, FDR Memorial and Iwo Jima and the Washington Monument from the distance.

On Wednesday we had breakfast at the hotel, checked out, leaving our luggage and took the subway from Arlington across the river to D.C. I'll see if I can remember all we did that day before catching our flight at 5:30 p.m. to go home.

We got off the subway and did some walking till we found the International Spy Museum. It was so cool. This is not part of the Smithsonian museums so it was the only one we paid admission too. http://www.spymuseum.org/ They have a gift shop and the museum is quite big. It's laid out really good with so much to see. I would have to say the highlight for me was a chance to crawl through duct work and look down at the people visiting the museum. Just like they do in the movies.

We went to an Art Museum, then walked over near the White House. Then we visited the National Archives, the Natural History Museum, ate lunch at the Indian Museum, and visited the Smithsonian Castle which was the original building and where the body of James Smithson lays in a crypt.

From there we found the subway, got back to the hotel, caught a taxi and made it to the airport in time. It was a long flight home, but I was sitting with a nice group, good company. We had three babies in our area and they were very good.

Here is a link to my pictures which I have posted on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1068406&l=1d9d7&id=747090221