Lessons from DC

I spent last weekend in Washington DC visiting my brother who's interning out there for the summer. (Please keep your Monica jokes to yourself.) I've been a few times now and I've realized that DC's a pretty cool city. It's one of those places where you go and when you spot a particular monument or building, you think how cool it is to actually see it in person. Anyway, here are some of the things I learned from my most recent trip to our nation's capital.

1. DC is hot. REALLY hot.
If you've ever wondered what hell feels like, try going to DC in the middle of summer. You'll get a pretty good idea. We landed on Saturday morning and as it so happened, the region was in the midst of a horrible heat wave which had started about, oh, two months earlier. In the shelter of our hotel room, I looked up on weather.com the day's temperature: "102 degrees." This news was then proceeded by one little add-on: "Feels like 107." That would be the humidity in action. Awesome. Needless to say, I'm never taking 65 degree Bay Area summers for granted ever again.

My advice to you, friends? Do not visit Washington DC between the months of June and September. Oh, and the winters can get pretty rough too, so avoid the months of November through February. So basically, there are more or less four months in the entire year that are acceptable for going to DC. Keep that in mind.

2. In spite of the heat, DC is a fun city!
There isn't any place quite like DC. Like I said before, history is everywhere in the city. Whether it's the monuments or the memorials or the White House, there's so much to see. There's also the Capitol, the National Gallery of Art, and don't forget all the Smithsonians. But the best part of all these places? Nearly all of them are FREE. Hollerrrr. And in addition to all the National Mall attractions, there's also fun neighborhoods like Georgetown and Dupont Circle, and taking time to walk along the Potomac River. Anyway, you get the point. There's a lot to do.

3. Okay, even though the National Mall is cool...
There is no freaking place to eat around that area. Trust me. I went searching and nearly starved to death in the process. What the hell, dude? There's not even like a McDonalds or something. This has to be some conspiracy by Congress to force you to overpay to eat at the Capitol cafeteria. Forget the economy; Michael Moore needs to investigate the downtown DC restaurant shortage.

4. Kevin Durant is from DC!
Okay, I didn't actually learn this while I was there, but my brother texted me a few days after I had left and told me that Kevin Durant was going to be coming to the Capitol to give a talk on sports nutrition or something of that nature. I sort of joked that my brother should get me KD's autograph, but he said that he actually would during the autograph/photo session! The next day, I get this photo sent to me:


YESSSSS. I already loved the Durantula before this, but he's now officially my favorite non-Warrior basketball player. (In case you're wondering, Steph Curry is my favorite.) My brother also told Durant to win MVP for him. KD laughed and said, "We'll see." So if he wins MVP, just know that my brother inspired him. It certainly wasn't all the extra hard work he puts in, or his winning mentality, or his desire to keep getting better. No. It was my brother.

5. Last lesson: Seriously, DC is hot.
On our last day there, it was only 90. You know it's hot when you start saying stuff like, "It was ONLY 90."

With all due respect to Joe DiMaggio, I'd like to thank the good Lord for making me a Californian.