After 20+ hours in a car total and 3 days in our nations capital, I learned many things.
1. Ohio does not believe in snow removal.
== while driving to D.C., lanes would randomly disappear which was incredibly not safe. I feel it made me a better driver. The stark contrast between Indiana's eastern part of 70 East to Ohio's was incredible.
2. I will never EVER drive to D.C. again. While it saved me about 80 dollars to drive, when you have a person who is unwilling to drive now that you're on the road blatantly sucks. I ended up with stiff legs and a sore back. I also grew to hate the friend I was with... kind of.
3. Modern (Abstract) Art is still not art. I'm sorry, but hanging a white board on the wall is not art. Hanging two pieces of felt on the wall is also not are. Another example- using colored pencils of random colors to draw swirlies on the wall- not art. Modern art does not take as much talent as the old painters. I will never grow an appreciation for that crap.
4. Goya's paintings are much better than his etchings. I saw three of his pieces in the National Gallery of Art. They were gorgeous and very well painted. I wish we could write about those. they're much more pleasing to the eye.
5. D.C. is out to get your money. I stayed in my friend's dorm room. She's an intern and stays at a young women's Christian home. To sleep on her floor for a couple nights was expensive at 10 bucks a pop. Although, it was cheaper than the hotels in the downtown DC area which run at 450 bucks a night. I spent 5 bucks for the worst iced tea of my life. My suggestion- stick to Starbucks- at least you know you'll be paying a lot for it.
6. Paris's/London's Metro is much better than Washington's. Why? It has more stops near top destinations.
7. Whoever designed D.C.'s interstate was definately an IU graduate. It was awful. One interstate just magically ended in the middle of a tunnel. seriously? And mapquest directions have never lead me wrong before... but street that were supposed to exist definately didn't.

My trip was a lot of fun. I saw the Washington Monument (well, who can't in DC), the capital, the Library of Congress, the World War II memorial, Lincoln's from afar, the Air and Space Museum, the Natural Museum of history, the Hirshorn Museum, the National Gallery of Art (both the West/East galleries and sculpture garden), the most boring China Town ever, and several parts of DC I didn't mean to go into.