liquidjourneys

[liquidjourneys]

A whole lot of walking (metro journey #??)

Way sooner than anticipated Monday morning began. I had little to no sleep the night before and I had not prepared myself for the oncoming day. Exhausted, my brothers and I got up and began the morning late, once again, therefore we had to rush to meet the group. We hopped on the MARC train and took it to Union Station. We enjoy our short ride and meet up with the group at the lobby. Arriving to our smaller group, we had quite a few people missing on this journey go around, we began. Our first stop was Ebenezer’s Coffee House. The Coffee House began in 1908 when Ernestine Reuter was granted a permit to build a one-level diner at 201 F Street NE. The estimated cost for the construction of the building was $2,000. The coffee house originally served “butter and eggs” to the Union Station travelers before food sales was available on the trains. After years of neglect, National Community Church purchased 201 F Street NE on February 7, 2002. Construction began December 2004 and the doors opened March 15, 2006.The coffee house is owned and operated by National Community Church and all profits go towards the community outreach projects, locally and internationally. Pretty cool right? After we milled around for a little I bought a lemon muffin then the group headed onto the next place. 

The second stop was the postal museum. Some of the architect reminded me of the capitol building and a few other buildings we have seen in the previous journeys. There were so many things I did not know about the postal system. The first room we walked into had stamps littered all around the room. Each one had a plaque with the history about and it’s era in near proximity. Really cool to see the stamps that had history that connected to mine. In the next room there was a station you could build your own stamps and they even had bins filled with stamps you could take. The downstairs area is where most of the history was held. It showed the history of postal crimes and postal services.

 After the museum we headed to the sculpture garden. It was quick walk through the garden and the stop after that, David’s Tent.

 Finishing with those quick stops we headed to the Museum of Natural History. The first thing we saw, once inside the museum was the Hope Diamond stone. It was quite large… maybe the size of a toddlers hand. Being one of the most famous stones in the world it was insured for almost 250 million dollars. The whole section dedicated to the stones, jewels, and minerals was by far my favorite.

 Finished with that section we headed to the insect section. Gross! I had the heebeejeebies the whole time! Last stop in the museum was the Budha exhibit. We looked around and watched a short documentary then left for the next place.

 Our last stop was the Old Postal Tower. It took us a minute to figure out how to get in but once we finally made it in we were set. It was a little bit of an excursion to get to the top but we did it. What a view! Despite my fear of heights I stayed up there longer than I thought I would. A solid 2 minutes… I was quite proud of myself. I decided to go back down to the bottom and wait for the group there. 

After that we were finished! Braving the cold my brothers and I hopped on the next train home.

LINKS-

Ebenezer’s Coffee House

https://ebenezerscoffeehouse.com/story

Postal Museum

https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibits/index.html

Sculpture Garden

https://www.nga.gov/visit/sculpture-garden.html

David’s Tent

http://www.davidstentdc.org/

National Museum of Natural Museum

https://naturalhistory.si.edu/

The Old Postal Tower

https://www.nps.gov/nama/learn/historyculture/old-post-office-tower.htm

Very yummy Lunch we had

http://www.olliestrolleydc.com/

[liquidjourneys]

Too Cold (metro journey #tres)

Wow, what a day! This metro journey was an experience.. I had seen the doc for this journey and was not prepared for all the walking! In addition to all the walking it was supposed to be cold. I am not made for the cold, only sun rays and warm weather. Getting up that morning was not so bad. I threw on some sneakers, a jacket, and an excessively big scarf.

 Mentally preparing myself for the cold day ahead, we head out the door to the metro station. Our meeting spot for this journey was Kaldi’s Social House. 

Getting to Silver Spring was easy but finding our meeting spot was a different story. Fact: Tianna Gomez has no sense of direction. Somehow, I had been the one to turn on the GPS and try to get us to the destination. Thinking we were going the right direction I had us walk across a big street. Quite quickly I realized that our little arrow was not following the blue brick road that leads to our emerald city. The crisp air bit at my cheeks as we started to head in the right direction. Walking into Kaldi’s warm air nipped at my cold cheeks.

 Once everyone arrived we headed out to officially start the day. We walked to each of our stops, checked it out, then got our group photos.

Although we were quite quick, I had not prepared myself  for all the walking that had to be done. After doing all of the stops except one we stopped for lunch. Lunch was the best part of the day! We had walked past a Whole Foods a couple of times and even stopped for bathroom breaks. There wasn’t anything else that really sparked my interest for lunch and I knew I could grab something. Another $15 later, I had a fruit parfait and two drinks. 

I sat with a few people at Chik-fil-a and ate what I had. As we were eating Gillian and I realized that there was a TJ Maxx and Forever21 across the street. Scarfing down my food and walking out the door all at the same time we crossed the intersection and walked into the shopping mall. TJ Maxx is by far one of my favorite stores and could easily spend hours in there but I only had about 20 minutes. We did a quick once through TJ Maxx and Rainbow then we headed back to meet up with the group for our last stop of the day. Our last stop was ice skating. I had always wanted to try ice skating but never had the chance. I had high hopes that it would be like roller skating but I knew that it was only a dream. Everyone who was skating grabbed their skates and started doing them up. Finishing up the laces I stood up to start walking to the rink. I immediately saw my life flash before my eyes. Walking to the counter was a whole flop in itself. I used to the counter to hold myself up as I tried to walk the miles to the actual rink. After what felt like decades I made it to the opening of the rink. Lifting my right foot I cautiously placed it on the ice. Immediately my foot came from underneath me and for the second time within the hour I had seen my life flash before my eyes. In the end I held onto the wall for most of my four times around. Eva and Alyssa were so diligent in trying to coax me off the wall, that every once in awhile I would get the hang of it and skate for a few seconds on my own. Regretfully, those moments were very short lived. When I realized that while ice skating was fun I lacked the skills. I called it quits and my brothers and I headed home!

Juice(s) of the day:

Lunch was probably the best part of this journey! For my drinks I picked up a smoothie and a light juice. The smoothie was a probiotic mango and chia mix. If it says mango then I am all for it. It was a little thick but quite good! I would give 9/10 just don’t forget what a probiotic drink does! After that I tried the BluePrint Organic drink. I had been wanting to try this brand for so long and finally getting it from Whole Foods was really exciting. I grabbed the pineapple, apple, and mint blend. It was so refreshing! Pineapple flavor was very evident but the mint almost had a ginger tang to it. There was a burst of flavor with the first sip. While I did like it it wasn’t an all time favorite. I would give a 8/10 and would recommend a try! I had still had some left on the way home from the metro station and had had my dad try some. He was a HUGE fan of the organic juice but was quick to tell me that the smoothie tasted like plant roots. I was a little confused because I was not aware we ate roots like that.

LINKS-

Kaldi’s Social House

https://www.kaldissocial.com/

Shopping space

http://petrierichardson.com/retail-and-specialty-leasing/ellsworth-place/

The whole foods I fell in love with

https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/silverspring

Most of the art pieces we saw

https://www.silverspringdowntown.com/public-art-walk

Ice skating

http://www.silverspringiceskating.com/

[liquidjourneys]

Art & Stuff (metro journey #dos)

The day started out early, again. This journey centered around art. Hirshhorn Museum and The National Gallery of Art were our only stops for this journey. I have always loved art museums/galleries. The galleries always have such a serene and calm feeling. Jaiden, my brother, and I had volunteered to be the leaders for this journey; I had hope that this journey would go off without a hitch. I was very sorely mistaken. The meeting time was supposed to 9:00 AM but most of did not get together until 9:15. The majority of us had made it together but we were still missing two metro children. While we waited we strolled around the outside of the Hirshhorn and looked at some of the sculptures.

 Once everybody was together we decided to do our man-on-the-street interviews until our tour of the museum. Our goal with each interview was to see how many U.S. citizens would pass the citizenship test with an A! We would find out who would be deported or pass the test. I was extremely nervous but what an experience!  Each group was to have at least 4 people in the group and each person do 2 interviews. Sadly, my group was missing a person... that meant 2 of us had to do an extra interview. I crossed my fingers in hopes that Alyssa and Max would just volunteer to do the extra ones. Alyssa volunteered, which meant there was one more interview that was not accounted for. I was going to tell Max let’s shoot for it but instead just volunteered because I knew I would like it if somebody would have done that for me. We did our interviews and around 11:40 we were done! The worst part of the day was out of the way-- I breathed for the first time that morning. Since the public tour did not start until 12:30 we decided to browse the museum aforehand. Hirshhorn Museum's founding donor was Joseph Hirshhorn. Hirshhorn moved from Latvia to the Williamsburg part of Brooklyn, New York as a child. He was number 12 of 13 being raised by his single mother. When he was older he became an active collector of paintings, sculptures, drawing, and mixed media pieces. His gift of all this art was the reason the museum was named after him. The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden has been open to the public since October 4, 1974. Inside the building the layout is quite unique. Noticeably, the building is round with the center missing. It made me hungry for donuts seeing it that early in the morning! On the bottom level the floors, walls, and ceiling were covered in big phrases and questions. The bottom floor was definitely my favorite. 

The second floor had an exhibit called Trace which was done by Chinese contemporary artist and activist, Ai Weiwei. Most of our journey had been based around Weiwei. When it came time for the tour we asked our guide to focus mostly on him. Our guide took us all around the second floor and pointed out a few things we missed the first time around. 

The research we did before hand was a lot of the facts the guide was telling us. It was great that we already knew some of the facts but were able to expand on them. She also pointed out a very naked Ai Weiwei with a pillow covering his, as the guide so eloquently put it, nether region. 

Once we finished the tour we headed out for lunch. This time around we had not figured out what we were going to eat ahead of time (not that that made a difference last time). We found some food trucks and decided this was lunch!

 The trucks seemed to line a street and a half. The group started at the top and as we went down the line people broke off and picked their lunch stop! Going down the street then back up, I finally decided on fish and fries. I had not eaten since the poptart I shoved down my throat that morning so I did not even see the name of the truck I picked. On the way to the National Gallery of Art the group stopped for popsicles.

 As we’re coming upon the gallery I remember that there is no food allowed. I could not eat the popsicle fast enough. I started gulping it down in whole pieces, which ended in teeth freezes and me choking. Kimberly was kind enough to sit with me while I almost died. The group had long gone ahead to the underground cafe.

 As Kimberly and I were headed to the rest of the group we took a minor detour to see some of the art. 

The overwhelming sense of calm flooded over me as just the two of us were walking around. After glimpsing around we figured it was time to meet up with the group. The aftermath of the interviews was for each group to create a chart to see which interviewees would be deported. We found that none of the people that my group and I interviewed would pass the test. We hung around the cafe for a little bit then decided to head towards the Calder Exhibit. We came to the conclusion that art can be anything. While a lot of the art was exquisite and I am sure very expensive some of the pieces looked like baby mobiles. 

After we took our group photo some of us headed out to the balcony to see some of the other sculptures. 

Once we got a few pictures we split up and all headed home!

Juice (of sorts) of the day:

I had given up on finding a cool juice/drink for this journey, I was a little sad. To my excitement Kimberly saved the day! At the end of the line of food trucks stood The Orange Cow. In all of its purple and orange glory a man handed me a popsicle-- of sorts. My juice would come in solid form this journey. The popsicle was cucumber-watermelon flavor. An eclectic flavor for such an ordinary girl like myself. The no stick popsicle tasted like summer. The popsicle had summer written all over it with its light pink color and refreshing taste. It was like drinking a flavored water but better and it looked cuter.  I would give a 9/10 and would definitely recommend if you happen to find the truck!

LINKS-

The Orange Cow (dessert-esque food truck!)

https://roaminghunger.com/the-orange-cow/

Visit the Hirshhorn Museum

https://hirshhorn.si.edu/collection/visit/

Learn more about Ai Weiwei

http://www.npr.org/2017/06/27/534597240/-they-love-freedom-ai-weiwei-on-his-lego-portraits-of-fellow-activists

Ai Weiwei instagram

https://www.instagram.com/aiww/?hl=en

Ai Weiwei twitter

https://twitter.com/aiww?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Learn about a few of the people in the lego portraits:

Edward Snowden

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/09/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-surveillance

Shaker Aamer

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/31/world/shaker-aamer-released-guantanamo-bay-cuba.html

Roza Tuletaeva

http://protectionline.org/2012/04/29/roza-tuletaeva-human-rights-defender-subjected-to-torture-in-prison/

Visit the National Gallery of Art (HIGHLY recommend)

https://www.nga.gov/visit.html

The subway map (which wasn’t that bad!!)

https://www.wmata.com/schedules/maps/index.cfm?t=maps-rail-wrapper

And schedule

https://www.wmata.com/schedules/timetables/index.cfm

[liquidjourneys]

Down To The City We Go (metro journey #uno)

It was an early morning. Maybe, no actually it was too early. I’m not sure if I was even conscious when I rolled out of bed and plodded to the bathroom.

 Next thing I know my brothers and I are on the train. Less than 5 stops and we would be at our destination! We decided to take the MARC train, since it’s the closest to the house. We hop on the train with all the early morning work travelers. Our stop was the last stop- Union Station, Washington D.C.! The architecture of the station felt very Romanesque mixed with early 20s.

 There was also a gazillion stores and eateries, not to mention I noticed a quaint MAC and H&M. That made me very happy. I got lost in a daydream about all the shopping that could happen and almost ran into a fellow train rider. The first thing we had to do was meet up with the rest of the group. My brothers and I were the second group to arrive so we met up with Zion and Caleb on the way to the meeting spot. We decided to meet at the freedom bell right outside the front doors of the station. For some strange, odd reason my brain told me that I wouldn’t need a picture of just the freedom bell... so I didn’t take one. But I did learn some cool information about it.

While were waiting for the rest of the group I took some random pictures (also blamed them on sleep deprivation). The meeting time was 9 but around 9:10 all the metro children, minus one, had made it. 

We did the first thing on our list which was to take a picture in front of the bell. We huddled around and I vaguely remember telling everyone to squeeze close to each other and act like we liked each other. Since it was the first time really being together it was a little awkward. We were all smiling and talking but I think it felt more like talking to a random person and not having any clue what the conversation was about.

 The awkwardness only lasted for a split second then dissipated. We had four stops for the day. The plan was to go to the supreme court, capitol building, library of congress, and capitol books. Doing everything in that order. We made it the supreme court and as we’re waiting in line I noticed a line of people standing at the bottom of the stairs.

 Each person had orange tape on their mouths with the word life written in bold black letters. I automatically assumed they were protesting. I knew that I wanted to know but was a little nervous to ask. Instead I watched from afar while we continued waiting in line. As I watched, like a creeper I might add, I noticed another group of people who seemed to be on a tour had crowded around the protesters. It looked as though they were arguing. I took notice of a woman who seemed to be the spokesperson for the tour group. After a couple of minutes the woman, with the group following, seemed to leave in a haste. I was quick to get to the red headed girl before she placed fresh tape across her mouth. I said hello and asked her what her and the lady were talking about. That was my question but what I really wanted to know was what they were doing. She graciously told me that she was explaining to the lady that they were having a silent prayer. The group was praying for the court and the decisions they were going to make. They were also praying for the ending of abortion. The other group who had been talking to the silent prayers did not agree with what they were praying for. We had a nice conversation and I was not hesitant to tell them how inspiring they were. I was in awe that they were so fearless with their faith. That really touched my heart and it was on my mind the rest of the day. I asked for a piece of tape and put it on my backpack to support them. Going back to wait in line, we realized that by time we actually got to front we would be late to our tour of the capitol building. So we headed out and planned to come back when we were finished with the capitol.

 At the beginning of the tour we watched a video giving us some information about the building. The tour was fast but very enjoyable. Jay, our tour guide, was awesome! He was cracking jokes and smiling the whole time.

 After the tour we took an underground tunnel from the capitol to the library of congress. The floor we came up to was gorgeous. It’s architecture was based on the Paris Opera House. Think very extravagant and over the top. There was beautiful murals placed all over the walls and artifacts scattered around the level.

 For me, one of the coolest artifacts was the Gutenberg Bible because I was also able to see the Bible in Mainz, Germany. 

After the library we headed back to the supreme court and looked around. They had some really awesome and very detailed displays. We found a theater room that played a short movie about the court building. Three people dozed off in the beginning of the movie and slept through the whole thing. Which tells you how interesting it was… or not. After that we had one more stop but first, lunch! Prior to the journey we had agreed on going to district taco but we changed our minds once the time came to eat. Instead we decided to go to Good Stuff Eatery. The burgers there are great but I had already been there so I wanted to try something new. On the walk to go eat we passed a bunch of cute cafes! Me, being the cafe enthusiast that I am, decided to try something new. I picked the closest cafe to the burger place, Pret A Manger. $15 later and I have a sandwich and two bottles of juice. None of the food I bought was worth $15. The woman who checked me out told me to keep the receipt in case I didn’t like it. As I was eating I was wondering if she was serious because I did not want to eat this sandwich. I ate it as quick as I could then opened my juice to wash it down. That was not good either. I wallowed in sadness for a good five minutes. Nevertheless, we finished lunch then went to our last stop. A bookstore called Capitol Books. 

That was an adventure all on it’s own. Once we arrived there we walked up the steep steps to enter. As a hand reached for the door and tugs the door didn’t open. The store, that we had so hastily walked to, was closed. We stand outside and try to figure out if we should leave or wait for a few minutes. We take a couple pictures then the doors open and an elderly man walks out. The elderly man was the owner, we said our thank yous as we shimmied past him to get inside. The bookstore was one of the types you read about in books or see in movies. There was stacks upon stacks of books all wall to wall. Pile upon pile resting on each other. It held a very antique feel. We spent about 20 minutes looking around and picking out books. After the bookstore we were finished! My brothers and I headed to metro and took it all the way home!

Juice(s) of the day:

I’m a sucker for juice in cute bottles. So in honor of my habit I grabbed a tangerine and honey cold pressed juice. It was a light orange color not completely opaque. I had high hopes that it was going to be a very light and sweet, a sort of tea flavor. I was sorely mistaken. The so called “tangerine and honey” juice tasted like bottled orange juice. I hate orange juice with a fiery passion. I don’t think I’ve ever been so let down in my life. That’s not the worst part, I had also grabbed another juice- ginger and apple. Now I know I don’t like ginger anything but I still get it all the time in hopes that this will be the moment I like it. This juice was slightly smaller in size so I had a little less room to be let down. Once I gulped down the “tangerine and honey” juice I opened the other. I took a sip and immediately cringed. I was definitely going to cry. How could juice be so spicy! There was not even a hint of apple! My tongue and throat were on FIRE. I let out a few coughs and prayed that I wouldn’t die on the spot. I did not like either of those drinks and I DO NOT recommend them if you don't like orange juice or ginger. I would give a 2/10 for both of them.

LINKS-

Cool information I found out about the freedom bell

http://www.freedomtrain.org/american-freedom-train-consist-041-childrens-bell.htm

The MARC transit map

https://mta.maryland.gov/content/transit-maps

and schedule (which saved our lives... my brothers and I almost went the complete opposite direction of our house if I had not double checked the map and schedule)

https://mta.maryland.gov/content/baltimorelink-schedules

Visiting the Supreme Court

https://www.supremecourt.gov/visiting/visiting.aspx

Good Stuff Eatery menu (which I do recommend if you like burgers)

http://www.goodstuffeatery.com/locations/capitol-hill

Pret A Manger menu (where I ate)

https://www.pret.com/en-us/our-menu