Category: washington DC

SED2011 – Science Hangover: A Visit to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the National Air and Space Museum

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Saturday was an unbelievable day of adventure and science at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. While I might have had some bumps in the road to get there, persistence lead to success and I made it… only a couple of hours late. And clearly this entry will not be about food, and I’m not an astrophysicist, and I have a terrible memory, so any information in here may be wrong, or out of order. I joined up with the rest of the NASATweeps at the Smithsonian National Museum of Space and Aviation, and while I’ve been there before, this visit was extra special. Not just because it was a NASAtweetup (though that part was really cool), but because of the additional information we received on our customized tour from various experts at the Smithsonian. I missed the IMAX 3D show of The Sun, but following the tweets while everyone was watching, made it sound like a really exciting IMAX, made possible by STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) Satellites developed/built in one of the Goddard Space Flight Center clean rooms (which we would look at later). I joined up with the Green Team (arguably the best) at the mars mapping discussion station, and took a look at some of the images taken with the HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera on the NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Then it was time to move on and head outside to the Observatory area, where they had several telescopes pointed at the sun so we…

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A real visit to Washington, DC. – Day one

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It’s been a long time coming, but I finally visited Washington, DC. Back in November during VeganMofo I planned out a little trip for myself, and I actually used some of my own advice while I was there, but DC is rather easy to wander, and once you get to the National Mall, there is something to do at every turn. Guess what though, I’m not going to talk much about food, so you can skip to the very bottom if that’s all you want to hear about! It was a long long day of exploring the educational sites around the area. I got in extra early on Monday morning, and most of the sights (especially the ones at the various Smithsonian museums) are closed. I walked over to Union Station (2 Massachusetts Ave NE Washington, DC or get out at Union Station on the Red Line Metro) which is both a sight in and of itself, and a good place to drop off luggage if you aren’t checking into a hotel. There is a baggage service (for a fee, in my case I paid 20$ for a medium sized bag for the day) near Gate A on the Amtrak Concourse. It’s a beautiful station, and always buzzing, so it’s worth a visit. Next stop was the Capitol Building, or rather, standing outside of it. It was about 7 am at this point, so everything was still closed, but I kept walking toward the Washington Memorial. If there is anything…

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Vegan MoFo: 30 Days of Vegan Travel – Day Ate – Washington, DC – Looking for The American Experience

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This last summer I met a girl from France, while I was in San Francisco. She was au pairing in Washington, DC and we got to talking about travelling. She told me that the museums in DC were free. See, this is why I love hostels, I never would have met this random girl over breakfast, and learned this delightful piece of information. For whatever reason, this blew my mind. It didn’t make any sense. Free museums? And why hadn’t I been there already? Anyway, ever since that moment, I’ve been plotting to go to DC so I can satisfy my hunger for both delicious vegan food and delicious free information. How can I go wrong? That’s right, I can’t. After a very depressing search for flights, bus rides, train rides, etc, I know it will be a while before I head over there, and it will probably coincide with some kind of NYC/Buffalo bus trip, because taking a flight out of Canada can really stink. Resources VegDc – The Vegetarian Guide to Washington, DC and surrounding area. Yelp Search The Smithsonian Institute Another MoFo’er ACTUALLY in DC A Blogger’s Vegan Visitor Guide to DC (from 2008, still good info though) Transit The Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority. A day pass for the MetroRail is $9 and a weekly pass (there is no day pass) for the MetroBus is $15. They don’t seem to be cross functional passes. Each bus trip is $1.70, but the fare is good for 2 hours.…

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