Baltimore, The National Counterterrorism Center, and My Biggest Regrets

 Having come to D.C. on more than one occasion, the historical sentiments no longer strike me so heavily. Once you’ve done the night tour enough times, you feel that you could almost lead the tour yourself. Anymore, I have more of an appreciation towards the cities surrounding D.C. Although I would have enjoyed going to Philadelphia, Virginia Beach, or New York, we have a limited amount of time here.

Nonetheless, I did get to see Baltimore and Annapolis. Since Andy “Kandy Rupin” Krupin already wrote his blog about Annapolis (which was pretty great, aside from the two and a half hours it took to find a beach), I’ll refrain from talking more about it. Baltimore, though, was top notch. Since I’ve never seen the Wire, I have no preconceptions about the city. While I really enjoyed Customs and Border Protection, I was most excited to see the city and the harbor. The harbor, while very much American historically, had a very foreign vibe. If I had enough money, I would buy Riptides for their crab dip and spend all day on the harbor. My only complaint is that we didn’t get to visit the city longer.

I also thoroughly enjoyed our exploration out to the NCTC. The weather on Friday was particularly cool for Washington area weather, and Mclean was quite beautiful. The NCTC itself was also quite interesting; we WAIPers got to see alfk;lkflkdsja;lsdkjffjd;sl as;dlkf;laksjd;flkaj;sldkjf;alskdjf;lkdsj;laksjd;lfkjds;lakjsdlkfjdksla;sldkjfldksja;lskdjfkdsl; fjdkl;a a;alskdjfdksja;lsdkjfldsja;lsdjfkdlsja;lskdjf;dlksja;lsdkjfdks;aa;sldkjfdksla;It was great!

Lastly, with WAIP’s ending only a week away, it’s important that I list my regrets: particularly, food regrets (I regret nothing else, including all of the experiences I’ve had and the people I’ve met). I regret the fact that I’ve never gone to Boqueria for unlimited Brunch. I still haven’t been to Founding Farmers. I’ve only been to Ted’s Bulletin for a pop-tart, and I want a full meal. I have yet to purchase a late night crepe and I haven’t had Georgetown cupcakes (although I’ve frequented Crumbs). Ollie’s Trolley seemed pretty cool, and I haven’t partaken in Ben’s Chili Bowl. Literally every place in Dupont is good, and I’ve been up there like once. Andy told me Matchbox was pretty good, and that’s been hanging over my head. I’ve run by H Street plenty of times, and I haven’t been to eat there once. Also (slightly unrelated), aside from Ebenezers, which kicks us out on Sundays for religious hour, I haven’t found one good place for a latte. Point being: if and when I get a job and make money, hopefully here in D.C., I will be eating everything I see.

-Robert McCarthy