Comes with the territory...

Whoever designed the DC grid system should be shot. Seriously, what were they thinking??

I woke up this morning with the intention of visiting Capitol Hill Baptist, hoping to find a church that was similar to the one I loved so much in Raleigh. After downloading directions, I booked it to catch the 10:16 metro to Union Station. I arrived there at 10:30 (with the service starting at 10:45) which should have given me just enough time to walk to church.

What came next is as follows:

- Implicitly followed directions, and realized something was wrong when I ended up at another metro stop.

- Cursed the DC layout as I stood sweating in the 90 degree weather, trying to figure out where I went wrong

- Looked at the metro map to get my bearings, but could not locate First St. NE nor A street anywhere.

- Refused to let this get the better of me and let my good sense of direction be insulted; set off in the direction I thought I needed to go.

- Passed a Starbucks and grabbed an iced green tea to prevent death by dehydration, continued on my quest.

Hot, tired and confused, but not beat

- It was now 11:30, 45 minutes after the service started. Since I had long ago given up hope of making it in time for any part of the service, I stopped to take a picture of this darling 4th of July picnic layout -

- Moving on, I arrived at A and 5th, where the church was supposed to be, but was nowhere to be seen. Oh, my bad, it must be the OTHER A street, 3 blocks over. Seriously, so stupid.

- Finally, an hour after setting out from the station, I FOUND IT. (see??)

At this point, I was just laughing at the absurdity of it all. Me, wandering around aimlessly trying to find my way in this new city was not something I was expecting. My pride in my sense of direction definitely got knocked down a bit...however, I satisfied my need to prove that I could find it, and will hopefully make a less adventurous trip next week.

* * * * *

As if that weren't enough, as I waited for the metro, I had a balding, middle-aged man with tall white socks come up to me and start asking me random questions. Trying to be polite and yet always on my guard in the city, I talked with him about the 4th until he said, "you're cool, do you have a boyfriend?". Taken off-guard and not knowing what to say, I replied, "I don't think I need to answer that". It turns out he was autistic, and after telling me this, he apologized and went on his way. I felt bad, but I guess it's better to be safe and a little rude.

After this, I made my way to Books-a-Million, got the newest Real Simple, and munched on this delicious salad from Sweet Greens.

My morning turned out quite differently than I expected, but I guess it's all part of moving to a new place and learning to get around. I am quite enjoying myself :)