As I write this, Greg and I are sitting in the 30th Street train station in Philadelphia on our way to New York City. Philadelphia is the middle leg of our mini tour of the Eastern Seaboard (DC, Philly, NYC). You see, Greg and I decided that before we become strangers in  a strange land, we would like to see a little more of our own lovely country.  We call this our planes, trains and automobiles trip.

The start of this trip revolved around that most sacred and (probably) dying American tradition: the road trip. To our delight, several days before we were scheduled to leave, gas prices fell to a measly $3.89 per gallon so we grabbed our friend Katie Cprek, hopped in a rental car and headed East toward Washington D.C.

So far that’s the good news; the bad news is that driving to D.C. involves the state of Ohio. Ohio sucks.  After stopping near the Michigan/Ohio border—which we affectionately termed the DMZ—to pick up some Michigan-themed provisions for Ellen (Faygo pop, Vernors), we decided not to stop again until we reached Pennsylvania. Woody Hayes once vowed never to buy gas in the state of Michigan. He said he would rather push his vehicle across the state line than leave us any of his money—we return that sentiment.

After a few hours, we finally saw signs for the “last exit in Ohio” and as we crossed the border into Pennsylvania, we all exhaled (out of relief and also because we had been holding our breath to avoid the distinctive smell of manure) and gave a little celebratory cheer. Good riddance, Ohio.

After Ohio, our drive was much more interesting and enjoyable. We drove through Pennsylvania Dutch Country and the Allegheny Mountains before finally reaching the DC Beltway. All in all we covered five states before abandoning our rental car and hopping in Ellen’s Jeep. In addition to Ellen, our old friend Connie Chang also came to retrieve us. She had been en route to Germany for a year when Lufthansa decided to go on strike, stranding her in Georgetown for a few days. Hopefully she has made it by now. You can check out her blog, if you like.

Since we all had been to Washington D.C. before—most recently in February—this time we spent less time sightseeing and more time just enjoying the city and the company. We were pretty exhausted from 9 hours in a car so Friday night we got Thai takeout and hunkered down in Ellen’s apartment. On Saturday, Ellen took us around to all of her favorite DC haunts: the Renwick gallery where she works on weekends, the Smithsonian’s new sculpture garden, Kramerbooks restaurant cafe/ bookstore near Dupont circle, and a little place called Yogato that serves real frozen yogurt—yum.  In the afternoon, the storm clouds rolled in and we were grateful we stayed in the city for the day. But on Sunday there were no clouds to speak of so we clamored into the jeep and made the drive into Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia for some good clean fun tubing and getting sunburnt on the Potomac.

Okay, so it wasn’t all good and clean. The river in Harper’s Ferry is surrounded by a national park. National Park rules strictly prohibit alcohol within their grounds, but apparently these laws do no apply to the river itself. Thus, so long as you are on the river…anything goes, including filling a very large cooler with your beverage of choice and tying it to your tube. Classy.

Our final day in DC was spent visiting our friends Kurt, Amy, and Dennis in College Park, MD, while Ellen studied for her Indonesian exam and Katie met up with some old flag friends. Later that night we met up again for a picnic and a movie (The Apartment) on the National Mall. The movie was great, but the atmosphere was better. You see, it turns out that as we arrived in DC on Friday, Congress was just letting out for the month of August. Without  all the suits, the whole DC population seems like an under-25 crowd. We felt like hippies at a peace rally—more 1968 than 2008—sitting amongst hundreds of other students, interns, and recent college graduates with big political dreams. It was a great way to end a great weekend and while the city isn’t new to us, each time we come back it always manages to show us a different side of itself. No, DC never disappoints.

[Photos coming soon, check back later]