Cross-Continent Trip (May 17, 1997)

The Atlantic

The six-hour flight had no other incidents (thank god! :)). When we got off in Boston, Sudong greeted us. It was well past 10 p.m., I think, when we landed.

After that, we headed back to Sudong's place because he had all his stuff for the trip there. Sudong had this box full of ramen as well as couple of suitcases and other things. And Yeo-Girl and I had our luggage and other stuff. At first, I didn't think we could stuff everything into the car, honestly. After a few minutes of moving things around, I was beginning to get tired. I suggested that maybe we should leave some of the foods, but Sudong said that's the most important items. Surprisingly we were able to stuff everything in after we threw away boxes and "compressed" a few items. :)

When we finally drove off in the Taurus, it was already past the midnight. Sudong suggested since this is a coast-to-coast trip, we should start off from the shores. So, we drove to a near-by beach (I forgot the name). There were hardly any lights and the beach was very dark. As a token, we took some of the Atlantic ocean into a bottle so that we can carry it all the way back to the Pacific.

So this was how our nine-day trip began. The first stop: The Big Apple!

The Calm Morning

Me, Yeo-Girl and Sudong with the Lady Liberty in the background

When we drove into Manhattan, the skies were just beginning to get brighter. Sudong and I've been to New York, so we didn't plan to spend much time in the City. So we decided to just go to the Battery Park and let Yeo-Girl see the Statue of Liberty.

Me and Yeo-Girl in the Big Apple (in front of a Korean restaurant)

We were getting hungry (it was about time). So we decided to fill up our bellies before we leave New York. We assumed that there must be a lot of Korean restaurants here and we decided to look for one.

So we drove around and found a place. It was a bit early for the lunch hour, so there weren't that many customers there. I forgot the name of the place, but it was a pretty good place. I think we had GalBiTang or something like that.

So, we had our first meal on the road. It seems the morning fog was beginning to fade away. We saw the World Trade Center and the Empire State Building... passing by in our Taurus. :b

So, we left the City even before it began to got busy. We were now heading toward the inner lands, away from the Atlantic, on I-95. Next stop: District of Columbia.

The Capital

I've been to Washington, D.C. once before. It was around 1984, more than a decade ago with my parents. At the time, I wasn't into museums and stuff and I hated every moment I spent there. I was dragged from the museums to museums and I think I gave my parents some real hard time. :)

Well, this time it was a little different. I kind of like walking around and looking at buildings, arts, and etc. I think we got there around 2 p.m. or something. We spend some time looking for a parking and finally decided to pay for the parking.

Okay... It was a very nice day. I was actually glad to get out of the cramped space of the car and have a chance to walk around. The weather was just amazing. Clear blue sky... a little bit windy, maybe. We started walking toward the Capitol building, thinking it would be very nice to walk from there to the Lincoln Monument.

The fine art museum in D.C.

The Capitol Building... The fountain in front of it... It didn't say much to me. Except for its size, maybe, it wasn't even impressive. Well, I am just not into politics. :) There were quite a few people, I guess, because of the long weekends. From there we started down the strip (?) leading to the Washington Monument. The strip of grass and walkways... now that's impressive.

I didn't notice before (maybe I was too young to remember), but it seemed that there were a lot more street souvenir vendors along the strip. I thought it was kind of annoying. They were selling mostly cheap T-shirts and stuff. Which left me with an impression that although D.C. had nice architectures, histories and stuff, it felt more like a visiting town, rather than a staying/living one. I mean even the sales tax is outrageous.

The Washington Monument

From the Washington Monument, you can see the building at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue mostly obscured by the trees. It's actually interesting to look at the White House from that angle. It reminded me a lot of those shots that often appear in the movies.

Anyway, from there we headed toward the Lincoln Monument. Between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Monument, there is this long strip of ponds. If you've seen Forest Gump, you might remember. I love it. Actually the view from the Lincoln Monument is really cool.

While we were walking along the ponds, we saw a lot of people (some were large groups) picnicking and playing volleyballs. People were enjoying the perfect May D.C. weather and having fun.

By the time we got to the Lincoln Monument, I was pretty tired (I think the others were too). It was a long walk and spending most of my time sitting in the cubicle didn't help either. After resting a bit and enjoying the view, we headed toward the White House.

The tour of the White House came to my mind, but I was too tired and didn't think we had that much time. Instead, we just walked around the fences. From the front fences, if you look closely, you can see armed (I assume) guards on the roof of the building. They don't stand out, but you can spot them nonetheless.

So that was it. Half a day at the District of Columbia. As I mentioned earlier, the plan changed and we headed northwest.

The Gloomy City

It was getting late and we were getting hungry. Since we were in the neighborhood, we decided to visit the Carnegie Mellon University. Or rather to see what the surrounding area was like and hopefully find a place to eat something.

I don't know if it was because it was dark, but I thought the area was a dump. Looked somewhat dangerous and cheesy. It was kind of late so most of the places had their kitchens closed. So we just went into this I-never-heard-of fast-food restaurant and took care of our hungry bellies.

We got out fast. Our next stop was Chicago. Sudong and I took turns driving.