Last weekend I visited Washington DC for the first time. Yes, it took me this long to visit a place that has been only 4-5 hours driving distance from my home in NY and now NC.
We had a great time and what it brought up for me was the idea of expectations and how they effect our perception. You see, I had very little expectation of what it would be like to visit DC. Contrary to the “planner” in me, I had a short list of what sites I wanted to see but beyond that I did not do much research or have an itinerary.
Sure I imagined what The Mall and Arlington would look like and had a map of the area, and of course photos of DC are everywhere, but I did not spend too much time thinking about it.
What was so wonderful about having little expectations? For me it was being suprised by the beauty of the architecture, gardens we found without looking, delicious food we encountered whenever we were hungry (even the soft pretzels I missed from NYC) and the overall feeling of being in such an historic place!
Here are some of my favorite photos…