Adventurenet.net

Sunday August 11th, 2024

8:53 am

Today is my last day in Washington D.C. The train back to NYC departs from here at around 5pm.

I’m not sure what time my checkout at this hotel is and so I have four options for dealing with my big backpack.

1. Take it with me
   – This is a terrible idea, my feet hurt from so much walking yesterday.
2. Leave it in the room
   – I could head back just before checkout time to pick up the bag, but if a bus is late, this could be a problem.
3. Use a bag locker
   – I wasn’t able to find a traditional bag locker, but while looking through an app I could see that there were options nearby. It appears that hotels are the services that are offering the storage service.
4. Check it at my hotel
   – I did ask in advance if I could bring my bag in early and they said “Yes.” I did not see if this would also work for the day after. I might as well ask the front desk. It would be nice to have the bag and the hotel sorted so that I have less concerns to manage

Great news! The hotel did check my bag for me and it is a free service included with my stay.

Nice.

Off to the morning bus stop again!

It was late again, and it was free again.

Today’s adventure is visiting ARTECHOUSE DC.

This is the only item that I booked in advance.

While looking for events happening during my time in Washington DC I saw an exhibit titled “ISEKAI: Blooming Parallel Worlds”

I love Isekai.

I love LitRPG.

I love Game Lit.

These are stories where a person is sucked into a magical world and cannot return, often via video games.

I wanted to keep the experience a surprise and so I limited my research.

If you say “Isekai.” I’ll reply “Take my money!”

ARCTECHOUSE DC got my money.

Note: They have two other locations including here in NYC.

My partner Lauri mentioned the swastikas around DC and I had forgotten until this walk.

I arrived at the location at 9:35 am, but the business opened at 9:45 and my scheduled time is 10am.

The city is fairly empty as the politicians are away and this has made things less crowded and easier to navigate.

I could use some caffeine, but all of the nearby restaurants are closed.

One appears to be open, but while I am looking at their sign trying to decide if I can get a quick coffee, an employee notices me and tells me they do not open until 10.

I find a quick coffee across the street, which I am able to finish before my Isekai experience.

There is a three minute intro video that briefly explains the location and the experience.

Thanks to this being the earliest reservation of the day and also being a slow time in the city, there are only two other guests who have booked this time slot.

We have the place to ourselves.

And it is awesome.

The main room is def where it’s at.

It’s a little bit hard to walk as the project on the floor is moving below which makes it feel like I’m walking faster than I am.

The main video room transports the audience from one location to the next on a roughly twenty minute loop with the occasional character appearing for a brief moment.

It is time to explore the side rooms.

There is one area where you are placed into manga on the wall.

I was lucky to receive an explanationof the first spot where you can shoot lasers out of your hands.

Heck. I didn’t get a picture of that. Only video.

It was awesome.

In the second spot I couldn’t figure out what was supposed to happen on the wall, but the petals blooming from where I walked were delightful.

They also have a demo of a robot arm that can draw.

Then there’s a room with a rhythm game.

It can be played with a two button controller or a microphone.

There is another room with a NES controller that allows you to explore virtual worlds.

A delightful event.

If I were to go again I would spend more time in the main room flying through magical worlds.

Also; they have a bar.

It wasn’t open when I was there and I wouldn’t have wanted to drink that early in the day, but later in the day, this would be a nice experience.

This is a nice part of town.

One thing that I did not expect in Washington D.C. was the gardens.

I am being directed by the map software on my phone to cut through these, but I am easily distracted by unique plant life.

And there is a lot to see here.

Hanging trumpet flowers?

Amazing.

Look at these flowers!

And these!

This looks like a little tree on a big tree!

And this flower ball before it opens!

Here’s what it looks like after.

Plenty of spots to relax.

I love to explore areas like this.

I often think of the effort that is put into arranging for small, nice places like gardens or walking paths around buildings.

It sometimes feels like they do not get enough appreciation, but I appreciate them.

Oh, the Capitol building.

And the monument of Washington.

Smithsonian museum.

These last three pictures were taken from the same spot.

Time to visit the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Elephant!

This place was very busy.

So many types of birds!

And one small door.

It felt weird taking a selfie with a small door in the corner near a security guard.

Trust me. That’s a small door behind me. You can see the hinges.

Okay, this book is fascinating.

The display goes through the steps that were taken to fund the excursion to write the various chapters of this book.

This particular owner waited until all volumes were complete before binding it.

They could determine the owner based on the coat of arms on the book.

Note: I want to make my own coat of arms, but it turns out this is like $2,000 to do on the low end. Closer to $5,000 for the full experience.

This topic is shelved for now.

Though I could design one while saving up…

Giant crystal.

Fascinating sea life.

Giant shark above the cafeteria.

Jurassic Park bugs trapped in amber.

I just like this artwork on the wall.

A nice visit.

Time for a quick bite.

Well, unless I see birds bathing at the park.

I can take a brief pause to watch this.

Bird on the right “Shake shake shake.”

“Ahhhhh!”

Nearby there is a 5-star rated hotdog joint behind one of the buildings in a quiet area.

A nice place to relax with a nice meal.

Back to Smithsonians.

I’m walking through another part of that garden to get to the history museum.

It’s the same garden I walked through earlier, but a different part.

Delightful.

My feet are starting to hurt. I might have a blister.

I need to find a way to pace myself to avoid wear & tear on my feet.

Or maybe I should walk more so that I don’t tire out as easily when I go on these treks.

Off to the other popular Smithsonian museum.

The American history one.

There’s a tour happening here.

They can’t kick me out for sitting nearby and listening right?

There were kids trying to find all of the animals in this dollhouse when I stopped for a short visit.

Thermostats.

Clocks.

Be seeing you.

A spot where you can answer questions and possibly have your answer shared with museum goers.

They never fixed school lunches? They were terrible in the 80s & 90s as well.

(Well, they were unpopular with most folks. I liked them.)

Okay, I’m officially beat.

I need to find a place to sit down for a while. Off to drink or grub.

Ohh, jazz sax man.

Got a few bucks from me. Thank you street musicians for making the day brighter.

Back to the walk. A coffee shop would be a good place to relax for a bit.

Oh, this place has coffee & gelato.

Together.

This is both delicious & horrifying.

That is to say it’s so strongly bitter, but with sweetness and so getting the perfect bite is delightful.

Hard to describe.

It’s been a good day (there’s my isekai postcard on the counter in this picture).

It is time to prepare for the train ride home.

I went back to the hotel to grab my backpack which took loner that I would like to admit, but I went and had a small meal at the train station.

A nice deep dish pizza and had a wonderful conversation with my server.

It was a good trip back to NYC.

But then I had to struggle to find my train, which is pretty normal.

Made it.

Glad to be home.

I love this city.