So here it is: our trip to Washington.

I was a little nervous about the trip, as it was my and Matt’s first vacation together. I worried that we’d get sick of each other or get into an argument or something. Fortunately, that turned out not to be the case.

(By the way, Matt took tons of photos, which I’m sure he’ll share soon. I can’t wait to see the numerous pictures of the pandas we saw all over the city.)

Thursday

We left my apartment on Thursday morning at around 7:30. We took the PATH to Newark Penn Station and then got on board the Amtrak to Washington. It was a crowded train with nowhere to sit, so we had to sit together on the floor. Matt told me we should have gotten on in Manhattan. Fortunately, lots of people got off at Trenton, and we snagged a couple of seats together.

We arrived at Union Station, via Amtrak, just before noon. From there, we switched to the Metro and bought week-long unlimited Metro passes. The D.C. Metro stations are great: clean and spacious, with indirect lighting (“a gay man’s dream,” Matt said), and ample notice, via digital signs and blinking lights, of when a train’s about to arrive. No need to stand at the edge and stare down the track. New York could learn a few things from the D.C. Metro. Of course, the Metro’s only 25 years old, while the NYC subway system has just turned 100.

We took the Metro to Dupont Circle and walked over to the Tabard Inn, where it was too early to check in, so we dropped off our luggage and headed off to do some sightseeing. We wound up in front of the headquarters of the Human Rights Campaign; Matt took my picture in front of the familiar logo. Then we walked down to Lafayette Square Park, directly across Pennsylvania Avenue from the North Portico of the White House. From there we walked down to the National Mall, stopping to get some hot dogs from a street cart.

Once on the Mall, we visited the first museum of our trip — the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (where we picked up one of these. I’d been to the American History museum a long time ago, and as a history buff, I love it, but I’d forgotten most of what I’d seen before. Among my favorite items were the Altair and the top hat that Lincoln wore to the theater when he was assassinated. (Check out the history museum’s amazing HistoryWired site, a labyrinth of links that lets you explore a few hundred objects in the museum’s collection.)

After a few hours exploring the museum, we walked through the outdoor Sculpture Garden of the National Gallery, then back to the Mall and strolled down to the Capitol Building. It was around 5:30 pm, so it was already closed. We circled around behind it and wound up at the Supreme Court, which was also closed. Nevertheless, I walked up the front steps and made my own little pilgrimage. Being a lawyer, it was a somewhat moving experience for me, thinking about all the Supreme Court cases I’d read and imagining all the historic decisions that have been made inside that building.

We walked north, past the Senate office buildings, where we saw the young movers and shakers walking to Union Station after finishing their workdays. We joined the crowd and wound up inside the train station again, where we could look at up at the vast ceiling.

Next we made our way back to the Tabard Inn, where we checked in. Exquisite — huge king-size bed, no TV to distract from our sightseeing, a European-style bathroom with a showerhead but no curtain separating it from everything else. After settling in, we went over to Dupont Circle to meet my UVA friend Jason for dinner at Pesce. Strangely, it turned out that Matt had known Jason at IU.

After dinner, Matt and I went back to our room, where we hit the hay and prepared ourselves for our first full day in the city.

Friday

I was woken up by a big Matt-shaped puppy. Matt was perched next to me on the bed, saying, excitedly, “Wake up! Wake up!” He looked amazingly cute, but I murmured something and tried to go back to sleep. He was persistent. He’d already showered, even. So I got myself together and we went downstairs for our first morning of complementary breakfast at the hotel. I had delicious crusty blueberry scones. Someone had left a New York Times behind, so I read a review of “The Frogs,” which had opened the night before. (Unsurprisingly, it was a bad review.)

We left the hotel and took the Metro out to Arlington National Cemetery. First we visited the John F. Kennedy gravesite. JFK and Jackie are buried right next to each other. It was a moving experience.

Next we saw the Robert F. Kennedy gravesite, which is a solitary white wooden cross at the base of a hill. Having read a biography of RFK last summer, I greatly admire him, and it was another moving experience.

Next we made the long walk to the Tomb of the Unknowns, where a ceremony seemed to be taking place beyond the usual changing of the guard. A limousine was nearby, so someone must have been visiting, but we’re not sure who.

We left Arlington and went back to downtown Washington so we could visit the memorials near the Mall. We thought about walking across the Memorial Bridge to get there, but it was blazing hot, so instead we took the Metro. We still had to walk past GW and the State Department to get to the Mall, but the scenery was more interesting.

We spent several hours visiting most of the memorials: the Lincoln Memorial (but the Reflecting Pool, which Jenny ran through in “Forrest Gump,” was bone dry); the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (half of which was closed due to a relighting project, ruining the entire effect of visiting the site); the Korean War Veterans Memorial; the FDR Memorial; and then around the Tidal Basin to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial (which was another big experience for me, as I’m a ‘Hoo).

By that point we were hot and exhausted after a couple of hours of walking miles through the beating sun. We walked back in the direction of the Mall, arriving at the Holocaust museum, where we were told that you need to get there early in order to get tickets to visit. So we had a late lunch at the nearby museum cafeteria and then continued on back to the Mall.

It was starting to rain, so we decided to go to the National Gallery of Art, particularly the West Building, which contains traditional paintings and sculpture. We had to get there quickly, as I was having post-lunch stomach problems, so I ran in while Matt checked his bag. We reunited in the main hall, where we saw a man get down on one knee and propose to his fiancée, who covered her mouth in surprise for a few moments before saying, “Yes!” Several of us applauded. I’d never actually witnessed a marriage proposal before; it was pretty neat.

It was at this museum that I realized that Matt and I have different art-museum speeds. I like to make my way through a museum slowly, stopping to read the informational plaques and peacefully contemplate particular works of art. Matt prefers to go through quickly without stopping to look at things — a bit too quickly for my taste, but on the other hand, I was glad he made me pick up the pace a bit, or else we wouldn’t have seen as much over our few days in Washington. I at least got to see lots of paintings of the Hudson River School, one of my favorite painting styles.

Once we left the National Gallery, the sun was out again, so we visited the brand-new World War II Memorial. It was disappointing; it’s lifeless and banal, and the towers representing the Atlantic and Pacific look like they’ve been truncated. (Read a review by Paul Goldberger; see also the Washington Post coverage and review, and here and here.) After looking around, we did what everyone else was doing — sat by the wading pool, took off our socks and shoes, and soaked our weary feet in the cool water. We sat there for a while and then went to look up our grandfathers in the nearby WWII veteran database. We couldn’t find them — they must not have been registered — but we did help an elderly man find himself. He was thrilled, and the computer even brought up a photo of him, which he told us had been taken in Hawaii. Very cool.

Eventually we got back to the Tabard Inn, where we’d made dinner reservations for that night. It wound up being a delicious meal. After dinner, we met up with my old friend Jim, with whom I sang in the Virginia Glee Club at UVA. I hadn’t seen him in five years, and it was wonderful to catch up. The three of us went out for drinks at a restaurant whose name I can’t remember, but it was right next to a place called the Duplex Diner. We sat outdoors, drank Stellas, and watched the gay men walk by. Jim told us all about the gay D.C. scene (and shared rumors about two very-highly-placed Bush officials). Afterwards, we walked around a bit, and Jim pointed out a couple of the bars. We said goodbye to him in front of the Tabard. It was great to see him, and I hope it’s not five years until the next time.

Saturday

This time it was my turn to wake up first and act like a puppy dog. I dragged Matt awake, we showered and dressed and went down for breakfast (this time I had the granola), and then we took the Metro over to the U.S. Holocaust Museum in order to get tickets for that day’s admission. It was a dark, gloomy day — we were glad we’d done the outside stuff the day before — and we got on a long line for our tickets. The tickets are stamped with a time on them; you can’t enter the museum that day until the time printed on your ticket. Fortunately, ours said 10:15, which was the present time, so we could go right in.

I’m not sure what I thought of the museum. It was very moving — at least two exhibits in particular. A few weeks prior, however, we’d visited the Museum of Jewish Heritage / A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York, and I think the New York museum is overall a more effective experience. Because it focuses more deeply on Jewish life pre-Holocaust before examining the Holocaust itself, you get a better feeling for what was lost and destroyed. It’s also much less crowded, and unlike the Washington museum, there are no group tours to avoid. The Washington museum is still incredibly impressive, though, and definitely worth visiting. I think that if I hadn’t recently visited the New York museum, it would have been more a fresher, more powerful experience.

Afterwards, we walked outside to clear our minds and decide what to do next. We walked down to the Washington Monument and realized that despite construction all over the grounds, it was open. But tickets were required in advance. So we continued on down to the west side of the mall in order to visit something that was high on my list.

The Library of Congress consists of three buildings. We went to the main building, the Thomas Jefferson Building, which contains the Main Reading Room. We had to latch onto a group tour in order to see that room, and we could see it only from a plexiglass-enclosed balcony. (Those who wish to enter the room itself must obtain a reader’s card.)

Besides the reading room, though, the rest of the Jefferson Building (at least the area open to the public) is magnificently ornate. We also saw several exhibitions: political cartoons By Ann Telnaes, a decidedly liberal cartoonist; an exhibit on Brown v. Board of Education; a collection of American cultural treasures; an exhibit on Bob Hope, including a database of jokes; and an exhibit on the Gershwins. Whew! We were there for much longer than we’d expected, and I found everything fascinating.

After leaving the Library of Congress, we walked back to the Mall, stopping along the way to pick up snacks; my lunch was a big soft pretzel from a cart. Why stop to eat when there’s so much to see? We then headed over to the Hirshhorn, the Smithsonian’s museum of modern art. Once again I tried to keep up with Matt’s speed-touring abilities. Fortunately, Matt prefers modern art to the old classical stuff; I like it all, although I never remember that I like modern art until I actually see it. It was a refreshing change from everything from the prior day’s visit to the august National Gallery. Modern art is endlessly inventive and fun. And as the museum is small, we got through it in just under an hour.

By then my feet were killing me. We were to meet Jeff and Thom for dinner later that night, so we had a few hours to kill. The guard at the Hirshhorn had told us that the Natural History Museum was open until 7:30, so we walked across the Mall, only to find out that it was closing early that night for a special event. The guard there told us that the Air and Space Museum was still open, so we crossed the Mall again, but that was closed. Gaaah.

We decided to go find a Metro station we hadn’t used yet. I wanted to see the Reagan Building (I was interested in seeing its architecture in person), so we we decided that we’d walk past it and then go to the closest Metro station from there back to the Tabard Inn. But it turned into a longer detour.

We walked back to the north side of the mall and into the Federal Triangle, where the Reagan Building was located. First we stopped at the Navy Memorial and sat for a while, resting our feet. Then we walked past the FBI Building and the Justice Department. Visions of David Duchovny danced in my head.

We continued along Pennsylvania Avenue — the processional route of most presidential inaugurations and funerals — and eventually we wound up at the Old Post Office Pavilion, where we took a glass elevator to the very top of the Clock Tower, which provides the second-highest vantage point in D.C. (the Washington Monument is the highest). Two of the four walls were encased in glass, but two were open to the air, although those were guarded by a mesh of thick vertical wires. I loved the view, but Matt couldn’t take it for very long and made us leave. So we went to the food court on the ground floor and split a cookie and a smoothie.

We left the Old Post Office and continued on to the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. We didn’t go inside, but the exterior architecture is majestic. We walked past Daniel Patrick Moynihan Place and through Woodrow Wilson Plaza (which was beautiful in its own right), then went down to the Metro station to head back to the hotel and get ready for dinner with Thom and Jeff.

We hung out in our room for a while, reading the Washington Post and the Blade, and then we went to Dupont Circle to meet Thom and Jeff. We wound up having dinner nearby at a Middle Eastern restaurant called Levante’s. We sat outdoors and hoped it wouldn’t rain. It didn’t, so we had a nice meal and got to catch up; we’d first met Thom and Jeff when they visited New York back in February.

Afterwards, we parted ways. Matt and I went back to the hotel to get a good night’s sleep before our whirlwind final day in Washington.

Sunday

On Sunday morning, neither of us wanted to get up. But there was a lot we wanted to see, so we managed. At breakfast, I had the one item I hadn’t yet tried: hot oatmeal with brown sugar. It was delicious, and on top of that, someone at the next table had left behind most of the Sunday New York Times. Heavenly. So we took it, did a little skimming, and then went back up to the room to pack, say goodbye to the room, and check out. Fortunately, we were able to leave our luggage at the hotel for the day before heading out to see stuff.

When we emerged from the Metro Station near the Smithsonian it was raining. Our first stop was the Castle, the Smithsonian’s gothic home base and information center. We examined a scale model of Washington and saw some exhibits, one of which was in a beautiful, grand room with arched ceilings that could have served as a dining hall in a Harry Potter movie.

Our next stop was the National Air and Space Museum. I’d been there a long time ago, but I’d forgotten how awesome the front gallery is; it’s huge, and it contains, among other things, the Spirit of St. Louis, Sputnik, and the Friendship 7 (in which John Glenn first orbited the Earth). I won’t go into everything we saw at the museum; it was an overwhelming amount of stuff. In fact, we rushed through the second half of the museum because it was crowded with kids, we were hungry, and our minds were a bit dizzy from everything.

We had lunch there. The Air and Space Museum has a food court — featuring McDonald’s. That kind of disgusted me, because here’s this museum filled with families and kids and the most visible food in the food court is McDonald’s? I haven’t touched the stuff since I saw Super Size Me. So we managed to find the less-visible second floor of the food court, where we got chicken salad on croissants. We sat at a table overlooking the lower level. I saw a sea of McDonald’s logos below us, on drinks, fries and burgers. No wonder our country’s so obese. I repeated my disgust.

And then Matt reminded me that croissants are made with tons of butter.

Anyway, we left the crowded Air and Space Museum and made our way back down to the Capitol area in order to visit the Conservatory at the U.S. Botanic Garden for a much-needed change of pace. I found myself marvelling at the sheer amount, variety and beauty of plant life in this world; there’s so much out there that I don’t know. I found myself waxing philosophical about what an amazing place Earth is. How could there be all this stuff that I’ve never even seen before? It almost makes one believe in God.

From there, we crossed the mall and visited the East Building of the National Gallery of Art (having visited the West Building a couple of days earlier). Very different from the West Building, it’s filled with modern art, like the Hirshhorn. It was thoroughly enjoyable, although slightly exhausting; a couple of the exhibits were very popular and crowded, and my insufficient sleep from the previous night was finally catching up to me.

But we had one more museum we wanted to visit. We headed over to the National Museum of Natural History.

We were both wiped out, but we wanted to get through it. First we hit the mammals exhibit. Then we saw the dinosaurs and learned about the evolution of reptiles. Then we went upstairs and saw the Hope Diamond, which was smaller than I’d expected, and moved on to a collection of famous gems, which was mobbed and slow-moving. From there, we saw tons more gems and meteorites. Next we saw mummies, and then the insect zoo. Ick.

I could barely stand by that point. It was after 5:00 p.m., and we decided it was time to get our luggage from the Tabard Inn and head to Union Station for our 7:30 train. We took the Metro to Dupont Circle, picked up our bags from the Tabard Inn, and then took the Metro from Dupont Circle to Union Station. I tried to convince Matt that it wasn’t necesary to determine the exact track number of our train, since we still had an hour to kill. We went down to the food court and had dinner at Johnny Rockets — I hadn’t eaten at one of those in a long time). Matt convinced me that we needed two orders of fries and onion rings, not just one. After eating, we headed up to the lobby. I talked to my brother and my mom on the phone. A line began forming to get on the train. We got on line, worried that we wouldn’t get seats. Our worrying continued when we boarded the train and saw how crowded it was, but thankfully we managed to get two seats together. I’d never been happier to sit down in my life; I looked forward to three hours of uninterrupted relaxation, sleeping, newspaper-reading, and crossword-doing (that Sunday New York Times we’d found at breakfast would come in handy).

The trip back was uneventful — until we reached Philadelphia. There were learned that there’d been a fatality involving a train further along the route. So we wound up not moving for a while. Then we moved onto the next stop, where we had to stop for another long period of time, as all of the passengers of the prior train got on board. All together, we were delayed for an extra hour.

Matt fell asleep against my shoulder. I didn’t care that the train was stopped; I was happy as a clam, with my boyfriend’s head on my shoulder and the Times Magazine in my lap.

Eventually we started moving again, and the rest of the trip went smoothly.

So, it was a wonderful trip. We saw tons of museums — everything from ants to airplanes, artworks to American artifacts — and many memorials. My thirsty mind soaked it all up. We got to see old friends and new ones, and we had some delicious meals.

Most importantly, Matt and I had a great time together. This trip only reinforced my feelings for him. At one point last week, Matt said, “Hopefully this will only be the first of many vacations we’ll take together.”

I couldn’t have said it any better.