My weekend in Washington D.C. was everything I had hoped for (and more!). Highlights were visiting the Smithsonian museums of Natural History & American History, seeing the Washington and Lincoln Memorials, touring the Arlington Cemetery, visiting the National Zoo and the Holocaust Museum, and finishing with the 4th of July celebration on the National Mall. You can see my video of the fireworks – they were pretty spectacular! You can also view the rehearsal clips from the performance given on Capitol Hill (Crowd and Song). I will have many wonderful memories of this trip…including watching 30 Seconds to Mars perform (again!) and eating at Zed’s, a fabulous Ethiopian restaurant. I found Washington, D.C. to be a friendly, warm city, and the locals I talked to were very proud of their hometown. You can see my few (and quite unimpressive!) pictures from the trip here. It was a relaxing and refreshing trip, and I felt very calm and zen-like most of my visit. I enjoyed figuring out the subway system, and got lots of much-needed walking exercise in. To cap it off, I was bumped up to first-class on the ride home–these are times when living is very easy.