hot...hot

D.C. is a great place to visit...so many places to visit...countless ethnic cuisines...provided you can withstand the heat.

i think the next time i come, it'll be in april or october.

it is just so hot outside. we got off the plane around 6:00 and are sweating it out in our pants. i know we probably should've worn shorts but we did get on the plane early this morning and sometimes those planes can be downright cold.

we had a couple hours for our layover in Milwaukee. had some pizza and breadsticks at the Pizza Hut on the concourse and waited it out in the adjoining bar, armed with this month's Discovery magazine...which was really cool. there was an article about one of the nation's foremost mycologists. it basically outlined his mere existence as the 'top mushroom' guy. you'd think that his life was just teeny slivers of mushrooms on a slide, under a microscope. really though, it isn't. he gets many calls a year from hospitals, asking for advice on patients who have come in, sick from a mushroom he/she probably shouldn't have toyed with in the first place.

i love mushrooms. i once bought a book on 'em during a survey in the mountains. we were coming across so many specimens in open fields, under foliage, in fallen tree trunks. i wanted to know what they were and if they were edible. unfortunately, this book was perhaps too vast in its mycological analysis; i should've looked for a Colorado mushroom book ;) it was too daunting to collect some, look through the book, and find out that the mushroom was either very tasty with a bit of oil and garlic or it was deadly poisonous. there are many lookalike mushrooms that can only be singled out with a spore print of the gills. and sometimes the difference between palatable and sick to yer stomach is a dark residue or white residue. and who has time to deal with that?

so...i stick to store bought mushrooms. one of these days though...

anyway, it's hot here in the nation's capital.

as i mentioned, we're staying at the Channel Inn, which is right off the Washington Channel, not far from the Potomac River. the room is pretty average...nothing that you couldn't get at a Super 8 or Motel 6. the only plus is that we get a balcony and a view of the boats on the pier, as the super sweaty walkers/joggers pass by on the parallel sidewalk.

one thing that this hotel may lack though, is a proximity to places to eat. the hotel restaurant, Pier 7 specializes in seafood, but other than that and a seafood buffet up the street, there ain't much. we did make our way to a 'Margaritaville-type' place on the water and had mediocre food, but a great view of the channel and the spectacular views of the lightning across the water, towards the landing planes at Reagan National.

tomorrow, we head to the National Mall for some sightseeing and maybe lunch at a Thai restaurant before the concert. tonight, though, we're gonna hang out in the room, watch some telly, and crank up the A/C.