More museum talk.

After a good night's sleep, we were ready for another full day of all things DC. First on the docket was a previously arranged tour of the Capitol building. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and hilarious and my little political science-loving heart was aflutter with passion for the democratic process after watching a short video on the legislative branch. That optimism was quickly crushed by my unrelenting cynicism as we passed the door to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan's office...

We were taken into the Rotunda and the National Statuary Hall to admire the incredible statues of "prominent citizens." Fun fact: Each state is represented by two statues that depict notable people from its history. States are allowed to switch them out, but the statues must depict someone who is dead. Ohio currently has Thomas Edison and James A. Garfield. I could have spent much more time in both rooms because the details are absolutely incredible. But the tour kept moving and my belly started rumbling.

After a quick peek at the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress, we made our way to We, the Pizza for lunch. Spike Mendelsohn, who was on season four of Top Chef, started this place and I cannot recommend it highly enough. It was the perfect, quick stop for lunch and I'm honestly still dreaming about the BBQ and buffalo chicken slices I had. My word.

Next, we made our way to the National Air and Space Museum to nerd out about space. Somehow, I'd never been to this museum and I was impressed by the notable items they had on display. Highlights included:

• The Spirit of St. Louis, the plane flown by Charles Lindbergh on the first solo transatlantic flight
• The Bell X-1, the plane flown by Chuck Yeager to break the sound barrier
• Several items and a 1903 flyer from the Wright Brothers
• A moon rock you can touch
• Several planes from WWII

I especially loved the WWII-era planes because my Grandad served as a bomber pilot (he flew B-17s) for the Army Air Force during the war. With the limited amount of time we spent in the museum, we barely scratched the surface, so I know I'll be making a return trip in the future. Does it blow anyone else's mind that all of these museums are free?!

Wright flyer.

Spirit of St. Louis.

Bell X-1.

Spitfire from WWII with painting of B-17 on the wall.

We had a little time to kill before our next appointment, so we made a quick stop at the National Museum of Natural History...and when I say quick, I mean quick. We booked it straight to the Hope Diamond and the dinosaurs, stopping in a few other exhibits along the way, before heading over to the new National Museum of African American History and Culture.

The museum opened in September 2016, so tickets are still a hot commodity (as in, people are actually scalping FREE tickets and selling them on the street). By the time I looked into them, they were already gone for the days of our trip. However, they put some same-day tickets online at 6:30 AM each day. We set our alarm on Friday morning in hopes of nabbing some, but they were literally gone in seconds. We tried again on Saturday morning and got a couple, but they were for one of the last timed entry slots. This turned out to be a shame because you could honestly spend a week in this museum.

We were completely blown away by the detail and depth of this place. You start underground and work your way up through time, tracking the African American experience from the 1400s and the slave trade to the Revolution through the Civil War to Jim Crow. As you weave your way to the main floor, it covers the Civil Rights Movement and events in the last couple decades, including the election of President Obama. Lesser-known stories were told alongside the well-publicized ones, which was the perfect way to personalize the museum. With the museum closing soon, we were forced to rush through the pop culture exhibits upstairs (a floor dedicated to music, movies, and TV and another floor dedicated to sports).

It's almost impossible to pick highlights from the museum since it is so well curated, but my personal favorites were:

• Emmett Till's casket
• Pieces of stained glass from the Birmingham church bombing
• Oprah Winfrey's set
• Memorabilia, instruments, and outfits from musicians and athletes, including Mohammed Ali's Olympic torch from the 1996 Olympics

We happened to visit the museum on the day that Heather Heyer was killed in Charlottesville during a counter-protest against white nationalists and it served as a heartbreaking reminder that although much progress has been made toward racial equality, there is still so much more that needs to be done. The museum itself was an emotional experience for me, but also one that left me with a feeling of hope, unity, and context - something I desperately needed that day.

Our final stop of the day was to the White House, where we saw a man dressed as Silent Bob and a guy holding up a sign that placed blame on Trump for the day's violent events. When he saw me taking a picture of him, the gentleman with the sign covered his face and we shared a nod of agreement. What a world we live in.

After a short break in the hotel room and another big thunderstorm, we ventured down to Bistrot du Coin for a romantic French dinner. The steak and frites were delicious, but nothing says ROMANCE to me like a couple scoops of gelato.

Last DC post coming tomorrow...

Super American, no?

The morning after we ventured through the Seven Kingdoms, we woke up early for a scheduled appointment at Washington National Cathedral. I had never seen the cathedral before and I was immediately blown away by its size, detail, and grandeur. It reminded me of many of the impressive Gothic churches I've seen in Europe and the interior was absolutely breathtaking. Everywhere you looked there was an incredible stained glass window or gorgeous sculpture to admire. One of those aforementioned windows even has a piece of moon rock embedded into it.

Though I absolutely loved the architecture, history, and gardens, the purpose of our visit was actually to see a couple special people. Wheat's grandparents (on his dad's side) are interred in a private columbarium in the basement of the cathedral. So, we scheduled an appointment with someone who led us downstairs and into a private room to see their resting place. I never had the opportunity to meet them, so it was an honor to finally visit some of the people who helped make Wheat the incredible man he is today.

Surprisingly, Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan are interred about ten feet away from his grandparents in the same room! Oh, and President Woodrow Wilson is buried upstairs. Some pretty good company, eh?

Woodrow Wilson's tomb.

After a couple hours of wandering around the cathedral, we made our way to Georgetown for lunch. This was also my first visit to the area and let's just say - it COULD NOT be more charming. We strolled along the main drag, checking out the restaurants and shops before settling on Old Glory BBQ for lunch. More importantly, I made Wheat wait in line with me at Georgetown Cupcake...because duh. This place is featured prominently on TLC's DC Cupcakes and with good reason. There were so many tempting options to choose from, but we eventually went with mermaid vanilla and strawberry lemonade. So delicious.

We enjoyed our cupcakes in Francis Scott Key Memorial Park before heading to the infamous Exorcist steps. Guys, let me explain something really quick. I'm a horror movie fanatic. Simply seeing (and walking down) the ridiculously steep stairs that are featured during the climax of The Exorcist threw me into ultra geek mode. Okay, that might be my default mode, but still. The power of Christ compelled me to take unlimited pictures.

Although our feet were already threatening to close up shop (Pro tip: Don't wear Old Navy $1 flip-flops while touring around Washington DC), we forged ahead and stopped at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. We were mostly killing time before our scheduled visit to the Holocaust Museum, but highlights included:

• The enormous, tattered flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star-Spangled Banner
• A replica of Julia Child's kitchen!
• Some of Thomas Edison's light bulbs
• A First Ladies exhibit that included several inaugural ball gowns
• The top hat worn by Abraham Lincoln when he was shot
• A damaged filing cabinet from the Watergate Hotel

Though we had both been before, we decided to visit the Holocaust Memorial Museum because it is so well done and we thought it might be interesting after having seen Dachau last year. Sure enough, it was just as emotional and sobering as my first visit. When you arrive, you are given an identification card for someone who spent time in a concentration camp. As you go through the museum, you learn more about that person and, ultimately, their fate. We were happy to find that both of our people actually survived the Holocaust, but the pictures, videos, and displays throughout the museum were overwhelming, especially the musty room filled with the shoes of those in the camps.

In an effort to lift our spirits after the museum, we decided to do a quick blitz through all the memorials and monuments on the National Mall. Pro tip: There is no such thing as a "quick blitz" through the National Mall. However, we did our best and only missed the FDR Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, and Vietnam Veterans Memorial. By the time we gave up, we had dragged ourselves from the Washington Monument to the World War II Memorial, past the reflecting pool to the Lincoln Memorial, over to the Korean War Veterans Memorial, and finally to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. This was my first visit to the MLK Memorial and it set the stage beautifully for our museum experience the next day.

As we limped our way into the hotel, the sky burst open into a massive thunderstorm and we took that as a sign to take it easy for the rest of the night. We ordered some Greek food delivery and promised to pack better shoes for our next trip.

He drinks and I know things.

As a belated celebration for Wheat's birthday, we spent an extended weekend in Washington D.C. Why did we choose our nation's capital as the site for our trip? A couple reasons: 1. Southwest occasionally kills it with their prices for IND-DCA, 2. We had never been there together, and 3. I desperately wanted to go to the Game of Thrones pop-up bar before it closes on August 27. Shh.

So, we took a half-day on Thursday and jetted off to D.C. After checking in at our hotel (the Churchill Hotel near Embassy Row and Dupont Circle), we stopped for a quick dinner at a nearby British pub and sports bar, Across the Pond. The food was decent, but more importantly, our waiter instructed us to "follow our bliss" and said he'd "be there to support us, no matter what we did." Shouldn't there be more people like that in the world?

After dinner, we walked straight to the Game of Thrones bar...only to find an extremely long line that stretched almost the entire length of the block...on a Thursday night. Yikes. Fortunately, there was plenty of people-watching to do while we waited, including a few costumes (hello, Dothrakis!) and a manager who monitored the line wearing a 'Lord Commander' shirt. After an hour and 15 minutes, we finally reached the bouncer, who was fittingly wearing a 'Night's Watch' shirt.

Peep the 'Night's Watch' shirt on the bouncer.

The first room we entered was The North and, despite the crowd and Wheat's borderline claustrophobia, the wait instantly felt justified. A gigantic weirwood tree, with a face and an inconspicuous three-eyed raven hiding in its branches, served as the room's centerpiece behind the bar. Red leaves filled the ceiling and windows while bartenders, mostly dressed in costume, rang handbells and led patrons in a repetitive "SHAME!" chant whenever someone ordered that aptly named drink. NERD HEAVEN.

As we ventured beyond Winterfell, we found ourselves in a room with Daenerys' three dragons - two painted onto the wall and the third emerging from it. Occasionally, the dragon would blow smoke and fake fire, which illuminated the masks of the Sons of the Harpy also hanging on the wall. The next room was The House of Black and White, which was notable for its enormous Hall of Faces. Fun fact: The faces are actual molds of the bar's employees, family, and friends.

In full disclosure, we spent the bulk of our time inside waiting in yet another line to sit on the Iron Throne. Usually, the bouncers take reservations for these pictures at the door (as time is limited) and text you when it's your turn, but since it was getting late and it was very crowded, they had already stopped taking names for the night. However, my Instagram simply doesn't take no for an answer, so we decided to wait near the line and our patience and persistence eventually paid off. The Night's Watch let us hop in without a reservation and it's a good thing, too. The Seven Kingdoms deserve a girl in glasses as their ruler.

The final room was the Red Keep, which featured the Armory and all of the house banners. Here, you could also pose as a flayed man because what's a Game of Thrones bar without some gore? This room is where we actually ordered our overpriced drinks. Wheat went with The Imp's Delight, which had a cola flavor, and I opted with the pineapple-flavored Dracarys, which came with a little plastic dragon you could keep as a souvenir. I named him Drogon, of course. Several of the other drinks came in themed glassware, like The North Remembers, which was served in a drinking horn, or Lady Mormont, which came in a bear cup. I really wanted to order the Dothraquiri (because that name slays me), but couldn't get myself to order a drink with banana flavoring.

Aside from the overwhelming crowd, the bar was an absolute blast. The ambience was magical (the soundtrack was playing, including "The Rains of Castamere"), the decor and attention to detail was perfect, and it was awesome to feel a sense of camaraderie with fellow fans who were just as excited as us to be there. As you meandered through the rooms, you overheard little bits of spirited conversation as people theorized about the rest of the season and raved about various episodes. And I gotta say - it's easy to overlook an overpriced drink and a long line when you feel like a part of something special.