Election 2016

Seeing how we most likely will never again live in Washington, DC for another election, Brian had an excellent idea back in October- to get an overnight babysitter and go into the city on election night to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the city, go to some old timey bars and listen to the crowds roar as the results come in...

Our (adult) babysitter came after school, I headed into the city, grabbing Brian from the Pentagon along the way, and off we go!

We stayed at the W, and they could not have spoiled us anymore than they did. From the complimentary election cupcakes at check in- 

To the bottle of chilled champagne and strawberry dipping plate in our room when we arrived-

The above was an apology to Brian, who complained after getting a last minute email that the rooftop bar would be closed for a private event on election night. Brian sent a reply, asking to be added to the guest list for the event- to which they denied of course. But good for him for complaining, the champagne and strawberries were a nice apology. The last time that we stayed here, the rooftop bar was closed for renovations...

Our room overlooked the city, so we enjoyed (my new favorite) bottle of wine, watched the passerby's and listened to the talking heads begin election coverage- 

Check out this photo, doesn't HE look like a politician on a poster that you would vote for? 

First stop of the night- the brand spankin' new Trump Hotel. (We just had to...)

And while we aren't so sure he can be our next great president, we are for sure that the man knows how to build beautiful, luxury hotels. The place was gorgeous inside- 

We both tried his own label wine (he does own a winery here in Virginia oddly enough) and it was crummy. And the place was packed with obnoxious supporters. Not saying that all his supporters are obnoxious, just saying that all of them that were there that night were.  

So after one glass of wine, and some fantastic people watching, we were ready to roll. And thrilled that they had complimentary bottles of water (with this own label) to go! It's the little things people.

 Next up was the Quill Bar at the Jefferson Inn, a place that we had been before and loved. It was a much more diverse crowd, full of DC's best thinkers, not drinkers. We had a bite to eat and grabbed a table outside- it was a gorgeous night.

 Then we headed to DC's oldest restaurant- Old Ebbit's Grill, which is just a stones throw from the White House. We had a great, albeit late, dinner and went on to Churchkey- which was filled with people that I'd assume wrote in Bernie Sanders as their presidential hopeful. It was here that Brian had the best beer of his life, and I decided I wanted sleep-

 When we got back to The W, we questioned why we even bothered going out? The lobby was hopping with fun music, election night coverage and just an overall great vibe.

The portraits that hang in the lobby there of past presidents are amazing-

 Up we go to jump into bed, have that champagne and some strawberries. It is now after midnight and it seems as though Trump is taking the lead.... At 3am Brian wakes up and checks his phone, says a hell of a lot of cuss words and goes back to sleep.  I know who won. YIKES!

 It was so awesome to wake up Wednesday morning and be able to lay in bed- now work, no kids- and listen to all the morning talk shows cover the election results. We watched everything- network news, cable news, even Fox news- just to get different perspectives. Then we decided to roll out of bed and go to our favorite breakfast place in the city- Founding Farmers.

The weather had been fantastic the week leading up to election night. But the day after, it was cloudy and rainy. So gloomy, so glum. As we walked around the city, it was as though there was a sadness in the air. I commented to Brian that I would have imagined that it was a similar feeling to the day that JFK was shot. Seriously, it was that odd. We shared a car with a 20-something girl on our way to breakfast. After about 5 minutes together, she looked over and blurted out "can you believe this?" It was as if she was going to burst with anxiety if another minute passed and she didn't say anything.

And of course, walking by the White House the next morning was a bit disheartening....

Especially when we saw these construction fences and signs up everywhere, plus lots of extra security-

And finally, we made it to the rooftop bar!

We got home Wednesday afternoon just in time for me to make it to the school to turn into Robotics coach/mom. Such a fun night out with the most amazing political science major/junkie I know!