July 4th Weekend

For the 4th of July long weekend, Sam and I visited some friends in the Washington, D.C. area. I was very excited to visit the Pullmanns since we hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving. We also got to see another college friend, Tom, whom we hadn't seen since graduation over a year ago.

Saturday, Sam, Joy and I went to Baltimore to enjoy the absolutely gorgeous weather. The inner harbor was a very nice pedestrian shopping and sight-seeing area, which rivals Pier 39 and Fishermans' Wharf in San Francisco.

We took the opportunity to visit the National Aquarium. Despite the crowds (at least according to us country folk), I thought there were decent displays and a good variety of species. I really enjoyed the ray and turtle tank. Sam visited the jelly fish exhibit while Joy and I had snacks and water. I don't think I really missed much, but I don't like jelly fish one bit even after swimming through a swarm unharmed.
We finished the day by meeting Nathan after work for dinner in downtown Rockville, MD. We went to the Taste of Saigon, a French-inspired, Vietnamese restaurant. The food was good and the waiter was very friendly. Best of all, it was actually run by Vietnamese. You could kind of say the restaurant was a real American dream come true. Fitting or cliche for the July 4th weekend? Either way, I would definitely go back.

The next day being Independence Day we strategically avoided the capitol and headed for a local park to go swimming. We packed off in our swimsuits and arrived only to find that there was no swimming. Not to let our drive to the park be a total waste, we walked around the reservoir and found wild red raspberries. The Pullmanns made a tasty BBQ dinner for ourselves and Tom. We even had illegal fire works (i.e. sparklers) purchased in Ohio.

To top off the weekend, we came home with a free coffee table from Nathan's workplace at a moving company.

Thanks for your hospitality, Nathan and Joy.