I'm home.

Boy, what a trip. Let me give you the best recap my tired and hungry memory can give right now:

*Train from Selma to Washington, with astronomical delays

*Dinner at Union Station's food court (one of the best)

*Check into the Washington Suites

*International Spy Museum

*Lunch at a Mongolian restaurant in Chinatown recommended by my Dad's friend Ed, who claims that Chinatown has been reduced to "Chinablock"

*The recovery of a 25-year-old tape of a strange phone call my Dad received while working at The Fayetteville Observer

*National Portrait Gallery (Stephen Colbert included)

*World War II Memorial

*Lincoln Memorial

*Dinner at Pentagon City Mall's food court (not as good as US)

*Catching a glimpse of the Iraq War 5th Anniversary Protest

*Museum of the American Indian (great cafe)

*Hirshorn Museum

*Natural History Museum

*National Geographic Society

*Dinner at a cafe/convenience store hybrid located within a Metro station (I promise that if I ever remember what it's called, I'll link to it)

And the last event calls for a bit of elaboration, to say the least:

On the train back home, there were a few delays, one causing a stop mere feet from the platform at Wilson, one stop away from Selma, where we were to get off. The train stops short of Selma's platform, and as we were in the last car with the PA turned off for no reason, we assumed this wasn't the actual stop. A minute later, we realize that we're screwed. After Dad went to talk to a few people, Amtrak agrees to spring for a cab to take us from Raleigh back to Selma to get the car. The staff at Raleigh has to call a cab twice, and when cabbie #2 shows up mere minutes ahead of cabbie #1, cabbie #1 gets mad. Join the club, dude. Two hours later, I'm writing this post.