The Cold Blows in from Northern Ohio . . . .

This past weekend, the parents came to town, and brought the frigid Ohio cold with them.  I stayed with them in Old Town Alexandria, where we were only a few blocks from a quaint strip of restaurants and shops.  Friday night I enjoyed fish and chips at O'Connell's Irish pub and saw Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close at the local theater, a movie I would recommend only to those who can stand 129 minutes of depression.

Saturday, we met up with one of my mom's sorority sisters from BGSU and explored the International Spy Museum.

Upon arrival, I assumed the identity of an Italian woman sent to Vietnam to retrieve a package.  I completed my mission and didn't lose my cover when questioned by security.  Here I am at a phone booth receiving instructions:

At the museum, I saw the most innovative spy gadgets, such as a coat with a camera hidden inside a button and even a listening device hidden in fake dog feces.  However, the most interesting part for me was seeing the cryptography exhibits.  Last quarter, I took a class called Code Making and Code Breaking, where I learned about many things that were displayed in the museum.  I was excited to see that the museum had one of the German Enigma machines and an exhibit about Bletchley Park, which we studied thoroughly.  I would highly recommend the Spy Museum to anyone visiting DC, since it keeps your interest the whole way through and is not exhaustively long.   

After driving around to the National Mall and White House (and neglecting to get out of the car due to the frigid temperature) we drove out to Annapolis, MD to see the downtown area and the Naval Academy.  I was very impressed by the campus, especially the Cathedral.  The area around Main Street and the marina were quite charming.  We drove past the Maryland State House and other government buildings before heading towards the Chesapeake Bay.

At the time I wasn't sure where we were headed, and all of a sudden saw ocean on either side of me.  We were on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, that spans 4.3 miles, and gets as high as 183 feet above the water.  Our journey ended at the Harris Crab House, my first legitimate Maryland crab house overlooking the bay.  My dad and I split the Lobster bucket, and I was astounded when this came out of the kitchen:

This was without a doubt one of the best meals I've had here in DC and I'm glad I got the chance to go out and see everything I did this past weekend.  Thanks mom and dad for making it a memorable weekend!

JS