Take Me Home, Country Roads

Moment: Sunday, May 4th, 2025 at 6:47 PM

Our AirBnb host: "Sorry, my son made dinner and put way too much Caesar dressing on your salads."

Us: "That's literally the complete opposite of a problem."

My best friend Chloe and I took a trip from Austin to the Mid-Atlantic, which was truly a study in contrasts. We started with the fast-paced, high-security energy of Washington D.C. and ended on the quiet, winding roads of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was a journey that took us from the literal halls of power to places where the honor system is still the only law of the land.

Washington D.C.: Spies, Scripts, and Secret Passports

We hit the ground running in D.C. and stayed in a historic brownstone near the U Street Corridor. It was the perfect home base because it was vibrant and busy with the Metro just a few blocks away. Our time in the capital was a masterclass in American history. We managed to snag a tour of the White House, which is always a surreal experience, and visited the Capitol. The highlight there was actually getting to sit in on a House of Representatives session. Watching the gears of government turn in person makes everything you see on the news feel a lot more tangible.

Of course, we also had to hit the classics. As a huge fan of Night at the Museum, I was basically in heaven at the Museum of Natural History. I kept half-expecting the exhibits to start moving once the sun went down. We also trekked over to the National Air and Space Museum to see the giants of aviation. Between the moon rocks and the massive fossils, we definitely hit our steps for the day.

For a change of pace, we visited Ford’s Theatre. They still have the presidential booth decorated with a portrait of George Washington, exactly as it was draped the night Lincoln was assassinated. Watching a performance of Sister Act in such a heavy and storied room felt like a vibrant collision of the past and the present.

We kept the interactive theme going at the International Spy Museum, which was founded by the people behind the Argo mission. Upon entry, they assigned us alter egos and gave us a digital mission to track, turning the afternoon into a high-stakes game.

One of my favorite moments was at the Library of Congress. Beyond the jaw-dropping architecture, I actually went through the process of getting my own library card. There is something special about having an official credential from the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution.

We also timed our trip perfectly to catch the Around the World Embassy Tour. They gave us real passports to collect stamps as we navigated the world. We visited Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Cameroon, South Korea, and Costa Rica, enjoying local performances and food at every stop. India was closed, but I made sure to take a picture outside the Turkish embassy. I grew up at a school with many Turkish teachers, so seeing the building felt like a full-circle moment—a perfect foreshadowing of my actual trip to Istanbul later that December.

The Museum of the Bible: Bibles, Breakthroughs, and Backstory

The Museum of the Bible was far more than just rows of old manuscripts. They had fascinating and immersive installations on C.S. Lewis and the history of biblical names. They even had a bit of modern tech history on display consisting of the actual first iPhone to ever download the YouVersion app.

One of the most unique experiences there was the "All Creation Sings" exhibit. It is a 180-degree immersive show that explores the intersection of nature and scripture. The visuals are stunning, using high-definition cinematography of the desert, the ocean, and the forest to show how the natural world reflects themes of worship.

As someone who grew up watching Drive Thru History, seeing their exhibit was a massive nostalgia hit. However, the most moving part of the museum was the World of Languages room. They have a Bible for every translated language on earth, but the most striking part was what was missing. For the languages still without a translation, they have placeholders or in-progress markers. It felt incredibly small-world to look at those placeholders and realize we actually knew some of the people working on those specific language projects. It turned a global statistics exhibit into something deeply personal.

The Blue Ridge Parkway: Training, Trails, and Total Trust

After our time in the city, we headed to Maryland to visit family. This part of the trip had a deeper purpose as I taught a human trafficking training at their church in Clarksburg. It was a meaningful opportunity to share that important work with the community there before we transitioned into the outdoor portion of our adventure.

We picked up a rental car and headed for the hills. Being born in West Virginia, I’ve spent my life hearing people belt out Country Roads the second they find out where I am from. Even though that song is the West Virginia anthem, the Shenandoah River it mentions winds right through the valley where we were staying in Elkton, Virginia.

We spent our days in Shenandoah National Park and traded the hum of the Metro for the quiet of the trails. After spotting a groundhog near one of the overlooks, we headed to the Park Ranger’s office to officially log the sighting in their records. It took me right back to the good ol' days of biology class. It reminded me of the time Chloe and I identified an invasive plant species and reported it to the county authorities. There is a specific kind of satisfaction in knowing your observation is part of the official record of the land, even if it's probably just going to get thrown out at the end of the day lol.

The final leg was a slow and scenic drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway toward Roanoke and Fancy Gap. The further south we drove, the more the pace of life seemed to shift from minutes to seasons.

The most small-town moment of the entire trip happened at a local pottery shop we went to because Chloe collects handmade pottery. The place was completely unattended with no staff, no cameras, and no registers. It was just shelves of handmade ceramics and a sign asking you to leave your payment in a box. It was a total honor system. We both joked that a shop like that would not last thirty minutes in Austin without being cleared out, but out there in the mountains, it was just a normal Tuesday. It was a beautiful reminder of the trust that still exists in these quiet pockets of the country.

By the time we reached Raleigh to catch our flight back to Texas, our lungs were full of mountain air and our heads were full of history. We had seen the seats of global power, the silent beauty of the Shenandoah, and a community that still trusts a stranger with a piece of art. It was exactly the reset we needed.