Washington DC Archives - Page 7 of 7

A trip to Virginia Wine Country

October 19, 2017

The outdoor areas of Quattro Goombas Winery in Middleburg, Virginia

My knowledge of wine is limited, so when people say that they are going to “wine country,” I assume that they are headed to Napa or Europe. Apparently Virginia has a wine country as well, which we explored on a recent day trip to Middleburg, VA.

Our first stop was Quattro Goomba’s — a winery about 40 miles away from Washington D.C.

Quattro Goomba’s also has a brewery. That is where we spent most of our time because: beer > wine (particularly on muggy weekends.)

A sampler flight at Quattro Goombas Brewery in Middleburg, Virginia

The outdoor areas of Quattro Goombas Winery in Middleburg, Virginia

The main hall of Quattro Goombas Brewery in Middleburg, Virginia

Kids playing in the outdoor areas of Quattro Goombas Winery in Middleburg, Virginia

Beer among the children

Quattro Goomba’s is a very family-friendly place that bans tour buses. There are large open spaces with dogs and children running around.

It’s nothing

October 10, 2017

Lightning above the Trinity River in Dallas

It is July and I am in still in Dallas. I dial my insurance company’s nurse hotline on the way home from work and regret my decision within a few minutes —

“Sir, you need to pull over right now and call 911,” the nurse says.

“What?” I ask. (I can’t believe what I’m hearing.)

“You need to pull over your car and call an ambulance,” she repeats. “Based on the information you have given me, my professional medical opinion is that you are having a stroke.”

The numbness has been going on for about a month now.

It starts in my neck – immediately under my right jaw. It then spreads to the right side of my face – lower lip, then upper lip. Then to my cheek – and sometimes to the back of my head.

art / dogs / Washington DC

The rusty things in the dog park

October 5, 2017

These rusty sculptures are one of the strangest examples of public art that I have encountered recently.

Ingrid in a piece of sculpture art.

The sculptures are in a park near my apartment and the dogs seem to like them. The huge pieces change shape depending on your vantage point and often look like oversized rolls of pennies.

Festivals and Events

The H Street Festival

September 26, 2017

I haven’t been good about going to monuments or museums, but festivals are another story.

Michael and I recently went to the H Street Festival, which is Washington’s version of Grand Old Day. The festival spanned about a dozen blocks and had plenty of food, crafts, dancing and dogs.

A dog and festival goers at the H-Street Festival.

A recycling-themed car at the H Street Festival.

Dancing at the H Street Festival in Washington D.C.

The crowd at the H Street Festival in Washington D.C.

Miami / Washington DC

My mom’s unexpected hurricane vacation

September 14, 2017

It is 10 p.m. and I have been trolling airline websites for almost an hour.

Hurricane Irma is crawling toward Miami and all of the flights are sold out.

There’s one seat left for an American Airlines flight. I quickly enter my payment information and hit purchase.

The system then tells me that the flight is sold out.

This situation repeats five times before I realize that American falsely claims to have a seat left for all of its sold-out flights. I move on to several other websites.

After a few more failed attempts, a purchase finally goes through and I call my mother.

LLM / Washington DC

You’ll get the job

September 10, 2017

The outside of Union Station in Washington D.C.

I’m at Union Station and incredibly sweaty.

I have made this mistake several times already — I try to take the metro while wearing a suit and end up grossly sweaty by the time I make it near campus.

Every time I promise myself that I will just take an Uber next time I wear a suit. And every time I foolishly try to take the train again — “It’s not that warm,” I tell myself. Wrongly.

dogs / Washington DC

Dog update

September 9, 2017

Ingrid posing in front of street art in Washington D.C.

The dogs are adjusting to life in Washington D.C. pretty well.

Dallas was very dog-friendly in terms of parks and poop-stations, but 100 degree days made it difficult to take anything but brief dog walks after 7 a.m.

Chinatown

September 8, 2017

Washington D.C.’s Chinatown is a place that I will get to know well this semester — in addition to being the site of the closest subway stations to school, I am also externing at a law firm in the heart of Chinatown.

Washington DC

Union Station

September 7, 2017

One of the nation’s busiest train stations is only a few blocks from the law school.

Union Station is a historic train station and shopping mall. The dramatic architecture and statues around the building give it a casino-like quality, but it’s usually a much cheaper visit.

A palm room inside of Union Station in Washington D.C.

Fashion / Washington DC

The Walgreens fans

September 5, 2017

One of the first things that I noticed on the Washington D.C. subway (besides the terrible air conditioning) was a man wearing a hat with a “W” on it.

I figured he worked for Walgreens.

Museums and Monuments

Jefferson Memorial from a distance

September 4, 2017

The Thomas Jefferson Memorial from across the Tidal Basin.

I recently went to the Jefferson Memorial — it was my first time visiting a memorial up close since moving to Washington D.C.

It was a very brief trip. I only saw the memorial at a distance because I came across it on a dog walk and there are plenty of signs indicating that dogs are not allowed inside.

Washington DC

Figuring out the D.C. Metro

August 30, 2017

Becoming a subway rider was one of my biggest adjustments as a new D.C. resident.

I was a bus and bike commuter back in Minnesota, but quickly ditched public transit in Dallas. The roadway congestion in D.C. can get pretty gross during the week, so it was time to return to public transit.

Getting a card for the D.C. subway is relatively straight-forward, but there were a few surprises:

LLM / Washington DC

First Impressions of Washington D.C.

August 29, 2017

Gunter at the Washington Monument in D.C.

We’ve been in Washington D.C. for about two weeks and it’s fabulous.

Classes started and I am already well-acquainted with the law library.

The LL.M. program is going to be challenging, but it’s also a luxury to focus on nothing but tax law for two semesters. My J.D. program felt like a hodgepodge of different topics at times, whereas my LL.M. classes are clearly interrelated and cover much deeper material. We’ll see how I feel in a few weeks.

Buildings along the National Mall in Washington D.C.

Washington D.C. is beautiful and dense. The lack of tall skyscrapers for landmarks makes it difficult to navigate at times. I’ll eventually figure out the grid system.

The streets are very diverse and busy without being crowded. There are tourists with cameras, people wearing suits, baseball jerseys, children running on the subway, and very aggressive panhandlers.

Many areas of town are busy late into the night, but there’s always the looming threat of getting mugged — so I guess it’s like any other large American city, just with more museums than most.

Washington DC

The road to D.C.

August 20, 2017

A drag queen performing at Play nightclub in Nashville.

It is 2 a.m. and I am clutching a heaving labradoodle’s mouth shut on the side of a mountain somewhere in Tennessee.

We are halfway to Washington D.C. and my dog picks the most dangerous part of the trip to get car sick.

Ingrid quickly vomits over the dashboard and gear shift, so I put my hazard lights on and pull over. Semi-trucks zoom by as I use leftover Starbucks napkins to clean the car. Ingrid stares at the dark forest behind me, where some serial killer or black bear is surely lurking.

About 30 minutes later, I pull into an isolated gas station to refuel and buy proper cleaning supplies for the vomit. A young clerk with a neck tattoo is pretending to sweep in front of the gas station convenience store while eying a car parked nearby. A couple is sitting in the front of the car, having a full-blown screaming match with the windows down. It’s about 3 a.m.

The woman apparently breaks up with the man and gets out of the car while screaming uncharitable things about the man’s mother. He then peels out of the gas station lot without her.

She sits on the ground in front of the station and lights a cigarette.

Inside the convenience store, the clerk helps me search for wet wipes. Apparently they don’t sell any.

Our search is interrupted by a pair of new customers who enter the store. The man is a tall blonde with a pockmarked face and very few teeth. His clothes are dirty and his shirt is full of holes. The woman is large and squat with wild curly blonde hair. Her clothes are filthy and she isn’t wearing shoes.

She barks at the clerk about cigarette specials.

I quickly pay and exit.

I finish refueling and I am almost done cleaning up the dog vomit when the cops arrive. The clerk pretends to sweep outside of the store again while watching an officer quiz the newly-single woman who was abandoned in front of the gas station. She’s explaining to the cop that she doesn’t have any drugs as I get in my car and continue driving to D.C.

Packing our stuff to leave Dallas.

Leaving Dallas

Our trip to Washington D.C. started the previous day in Dallas. We got up early on Saturday morning, crammed our cars, and threw out everything else that wouldnt fit.

Several people from our apartment complex hauled away our discarded belongings almost immediately after we set them by the dumpsters. This made me feel a little less guilty about failing to make donation arrangements.

LLM / Washington DC

Jansen goes to Washington

August 9, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossoms by Ashton Bingham

After almost two years in Dallas, I’m getting ready for a new adventure — this time in Washington D.C.!

Michael is transferring to the Thomson Reuters office in D.C., meanwhile I have been accepted into the Taxation LL.M. program at Georgetown University Law Center. (The LL.M. is a 1-year tax law program with post-graduation job applications starting this month.)