This is from the perspective of my travel companion, Sameer Hinduja. Thanks Pap! I added the links. Enjoy...

This is a review of our trip to the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences meeting in Washington, DC during the first week of April, 2001. Justin and I drove out together on Wednesday - the day before Justin was kind enough to install a CD player into my car so we could listen to tunes during the 9.5 hour drive each way…Well, I couldn't sleep the night before, as usual whenever I have something important that I cannot miss in the morning, so I just lay there and spent the time praying for my family and friends, and eventually the hours passed and so I got out of bed around 5am on Wednesday morning, loaded up my car, and headed over to Patch's place at 6am. We hit the road by about 6:20am, and were on our way. The drive went by very smoothly - I think we stopped three times for gas and food, and we were blessed with little traffic throughout. We passed through Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia.Our time passed by listening to a wide assortment of 80s music, like Monster Ballads, and various other compilations from that wonderful decade. Oh, the memories came rushing back upon hearing such classics as When I See You Smile by Bad English, Is This Love by Whitesnake, When I'm With You by Sheriff, When I Look Into Your Eyes by Firehouse…and I recalled listening to Casey Kasem's Top 40 every Sunday morning and singing along with these hits while I was growing up…and I remembered each girl in elementary and middle school I had a puppydog crush on, and which girl I could associate which song with…man, 80s music will forever rock. We racked our brain for a while on one-hit wonder-type bands and came up with so many from that era as well. Furthermore, we listened to some ska to keep us awake during the long and boring drive. Along the way, I saw a car with some Christian music stickers - such as Switchfoot, BUCK, Plankeye, and Joy Electric - and I was stoked and kept trying to pull beside them and hold up a sign that said, "Jesus Rocks" or something, but Justin wouldn't cooperate in making me a sign, and plus that car was absolutely flying. I was going pretty darn fast myself, but they were booking it. Interestingly, we were to meet two of our colleagues - Sean and Jeff - when we got to DC, and they had left about the same time that morning, and Patch and I just *knew* that we would see them sometime on the road….and sure enough, about halfway through the drive, probably somewhere in Pennsylvania, near the Allegheny Mountain Tunnel, we saw a dark Civic with a Michigan license plate in front of us, and I was like get out of town, that's Sean and Jeff! So, we pulled off at the next exit, said hey, ate a small snack, and hit the road again.

Well, to fast forward to DC, we arrived in town about 3pm, traffic was already bumpin', and we spent about 30 minutes in the middle of it, finally broke free and crossed the Potomac and headed into the city. Then, we left the city, and headed out to Arlington, which is where Rita (Sean's sister) lives. She was kind enough to allow us to crash at her place for the few days that we were there - and we were extremely appreciative of her hospitality. We had arrived earlier than anticipated and had a few hours to burn, so he stopped by the Arlington Cemetary.

Wow, what a breathtaking sight to behold - thousands and thousands of brilliant tombstones neatly arranged in rows and columns across a massive expanse of grass and hills. Some were tall and grandiose, and others were small and humble - but beneath each one there was a great and respected human being who served the United States of America in a proud and honorable manner. Over 245,000 servicemen and their family members are laid to rest on the 612 acres of the cemetery. We saw the graves of John F. Kennedy and his wife and family, as well as where a few other important figures were buried. We also saw the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, guarded 24-7 by a sentinel of the Third U.S. Infantry, containing the remains of thousands upon thousands of unidentified individuals who died fighting for our country. Servicemen from World War I, II, Korea, and Vietnam rest in crypts underneath the slabs of stone - the tomb area - in front of this amphitheater where we are allowed to stand and watch in admiration and awe. On a long mat on top of the tomb, the aforementioned sentinel paces 21 steps, pauses for 21 seconds, and then turns, paces 21 steps, pauses for 21 seconds, and then turns again. It is a remarkable demonstration of reverence, to say the least. There is a sarcophagus of a World War I soldier entombed there in 1921 behind the long mat, and the inscription upon it reads, "Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God". Classes from middle and high schools visiting the tomb bring wreaths that they had made and would present them as a token of their appreciation and respect for the personal sacrifice of the unknown soldiers. It was a powerfully moving experience.

We located Rita's place at about 6:00pm…realized that Sean and Jeff were not going to turn up anytime soon, and that Rita wasn't going to be home until 8pm, so we headed over to the local Subway. The restaurant, not the transportation system (which we did experience later on that week). Patch ordered his Seafood and Crab standard meal, and I enjoyed a nice BLT sub (yummm, bacon…). We then devised a game plan as to how we were going to spend the next three or so hours. We decided to head back to the city and check out the sites.

We proceeded to Downtown D. C. We spent a good half an hour trying to find a legal place to leave my vehicle, and also realized that I stink at parallel parking (and we learned in November 2000's trip to San Francisco that I am horrendously incapable of reading a map). Well, I finally found a spot a mile or so away from the Washington Monument, and so we left the car and headed in its direction. It is an incredibly large structure and I'm not sure if it tapers as it approaches the top or if it just looks like that since we are viewing it from the ground and looking up at it. We took a couple of pictures, and then also checked out the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Monument. Both were very impressive - I had been to DC with my family in 1993 or so, and was still too young to fully appreciate the magnificence of the sites, but this time around I truly grasped the import of each individual's role in impacting and positively influencing America. We wanted to get amazing pictures of the Washington Monument hitting the reflecting pond in front of Old Abe, so we were basically running around, trying to race the sun's descent across the horizon as nighttime was imminent. Everyone must have thought we were nuts. We got some great pictures of both Patch and I, though, so it was worth it.

Another thing that was great was seeing so many people outside, engaged in recreational activities. There was such a throng of individuals out in the grassy plains surrounding the monuments and in the downtown area, of all ages and shapes and sizes and from all walks of life. Some were running, some were trying to fly kites, others were playing ultimate frisbee, or catch with a baseball or football, and it was so terrific to see all these people enjoying the spring weather and having an absolute blast at it. Oh, and also - the cherry blossoms that bloom this time of the year in DC - they are so picturesque - with their soft pink color and their fragrant richness. Apparently they are renowned and tourists come specifically at this time of the year to experience their utter beauty. They are such gorgeous flowers, I have to say…they really grab your attention and remind you of the splendor of God's creation.

After our jaunt around the monuments, we decided to head back to the car…and drove back to Rita's place. Sean and Jeff were still nowhere to be seen, and so we hung out in the apartment parking lot for a bit…and finally received a call stating that they had arrived. So…we went inside…talked a bit with Rita and Meghan, another colleague who had met up with Sean and Jeff earlier that evening, and just settled in. A little while later, we saw Rita lacing up her athletic shoes, and so I was like whoa, dude you're going for a run? (I have got to stop saying "dude"), and she was like, yep, and so Patch and I were able to get our running groove on that night…it must have been about 10pm but we went for a nice excursion on this hilly area that looked out over downtown DC. It was a cool, crisp night, and refreshing to breathe in the night air. We only went for about 30 minutes, and were pretty wiped out from our day of driving and then sightseeing, and so we headed back in and fell asleep very soon after that.

Thursday morning greeted us with an amazing sunrise over DC. Patch had to present his research, and so we headed to the conference hotel via the extremely well-maintained subway system, and basically popped a squat in a corner on a bench in the lobby and he went over his material and I went over mine (I was presenting the next day, Friday). Then, we went to his panel, and he did an extraordinary job…and only stumbled once (the only reason I mention it is because it was so funny)…our professor whom we work under, Dr. Bynum, came in midway, and just startled Patch and so he became slightly disconcerted for about 30 seconds, but then righted himself and finished strongly. It really went great, I was very proud of him. Well, we checked out the book fair after that because Patch is teaching his first class this fall, and so he needed to find some good juvenile delinquency texts he could potentially use as course material. We took care of that, and then went to a corner deli to gram some lunch. We had this great homemade pizza. When we exited the establishment, a croud was gathering at the corner. We asked a passerby what all the comotion was about. He said that the President was going to emerge from the building right next door (the National Press Club). We waited around for a few minutes, and, sure enough, good 'ol GW's motorcade drove right in front of us. He waved to Patch and I. We decided to swing by his pad to see if we could meet him there, but we must have just missed him.

Next, we went back downtown to see the Vietnam War Memorial and the Korean War Memorial, and just took some pictures of architecturally exquisite buildings and sculptures. The Vietnam War Memorial was so plain and unembellished but so deeply hard-hitting and emotionally profound. People were making scratchings on paper of names of individuals they knew, and many schoolchildren had made thank you cards or notes of appreciation or drawings and signs of adulation and had left them at the bottom of the wall - a silent symbol of sincere gratitude for the lives that were lost. It's scary to think how many people died in that war. Died. Left loved ones behind to mourn. Gave up their dreams of the future and all that they had planned for themselves and families. Just like that, they were gone to war and then gone forever. It'll break your heart, if you really think about it. They are true heroes. We also stopped by the Roosevelt Memorial. Reportedly, FDR requested that any memorial on his behalf be no larger than the top of his desk. The authorities blithly acquiesced.

After that, many folks met up at a local Irish pub (Fado's) and hung out for a bit…I felt pretty out of place as I didn't know many of the people, and so I went and had some delicious Chinese cuisine at a neighboring restaurant….I guess we headed home at about 10pm, and were again wiped out, so we hit the sack and woke up the next day, Friday, for our last full day in DC. I had to present in the afternoon, so we went in about 11am after finally getting a chance to sleep in some and I went over my notes, went to a couple presentations, and then knocked out mine. It went well - I still am not thoroughly happy with my delivery of material and always seem to stumble at times in what I want to say, but I got it all out relatively smoothly, and fielded questions from the audience with competence. And, I got some more experience in sharing my research with members of the academic community. So, mission accomplished.

Well, a ton of MSU colleagues and friends were getting together at a sensational eatery that evening, but we had some time to kill, so Justin, me, and Joe and his wife Shelby (Joe graduated from MSU in 2000 and has a professorship at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale) went to go see the National Archives. While we were walking, I saw a friend - Holly - who had graduated from UCF and who is now pursuing her Ph.D. at Cincinnati and so I reintroduced myself, and she remembered me, and said she was also killing time before dinner with friends and so she went along with us. We strolled past the FBI headquarters and the Treasury Department. The National Archives was pretty neat. While we were waiting in line, we saw a handful of individuals hocking Oakley sunglasses and other "official" brand-name items to schoolchildren on field trips to the downtown DC sites, and thought that was pretty interesting. When we got inside, it was very cool to be so close to such prodigious documents on which the foundational guidelines of our nation are penned. These included original copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, and various other documents from influential individuals that have affected the history of the United States. While we were in there, Holly got yelled at by one of the security guards, who said - even though we had just gotten there and he had never seen her before, "This is the third time I've told you to keep your voice down and spit out your gum!" It was so funny, Holly was like holy crap, and ended up swallowing her gum in fright. We made our way through the documents pretty quickly after that, stopped by the gift shop, and then headed back towards the conference hotel.

We parted ways with Holly at that point, and Patch, Joe, Shelby, and me headed over to Tony Cheng's Seafood Restaurant, where we met up with Tim (Dr. Bynum), Michelle (his wife), Sean, Rita, Jeff, Meghan, Beth, Jason, Jason's parents (who live in VA I believe), Dr. Vince Webb (who interviewed for the Director position at MSU earlier this year) and his wife. Before enterring the restaurant, someone in the group noticed the unusual name of a Chinese place across the street. Patch ran over and posed in front of "The New Big Wong." That was just the start of an interesting and wonderful evening.

We had an absolute blast at dinner. Patch and Shelby split TWO "Flaming Volcano" tropical drinks. I got this delectable entrée of sizzling oysters, and polished it off easily as we were famished from walking around so much. Patch got a sweet and sour shrimp dish…and everyone really just ate like a king (or queen). Jeff wanted to be adventurous and decided to order something he had never tried (or seen) before, and ended up with this huge, 10-inch long fish standing up horizontally on his plate…it looked like a live one paralyzed in midswim, except with its bones and guts hollowed out, and he was like uh, what the heck is this, and we basically made fun of him for the rest of the evening. He just kept staring at it with this blank and priceless look on his face. It cost him like $25, too. It was way too funny.

Well, while my dinner was being cooked, I searched valiantly in phone books and asked a handful of people where a local karaoke bar is, but no one knew, apparently they don't do karaoke in D.C. for some weird reason. It was bizarre. I thought there'd be a ton in the downtown area, but there wasn't a single one. It was a shame because Tim and Michelle apparently do this great rendition of Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe" and Patch and I have yet to see it. Plus, Patch and I wanted to light up the stage with our rendition of Don MacLean's "American Pie", which we've done once and which we had practiced hard since that time, mostly at about six in the morning when we were out rowing on Grand River with Beth last fall. So, we wanted to do it again, or perhaps even do Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" because we could bring the house down with that one. Ask my sister if you don't believe me. I rock out hard in the privacy of my living room to that song. Yo VIP, let's kick it!

After dinner, we stopped in a bar for maybe about half an hour to just talk and catch up on what was going on in each other's lives, and then Patch and I and Rita and Sean decided to call it a night (Sean had to present the next morning). So, we said goodbye, and headed back home. We had had a long day and again were wiped out. But, it was a fruitful and productive last full day of our D.C. experience.

We left Rita's on Saturday morning at about 8:30am, and hit the road. I had initially thought we could spend the day in Virginia and then go see Dashboard Confessional that night in some city 2.5 hours west of D.C. (which was kind of on the way home as well). Dashboard is a heartrending acoustic emo band, fronted by Chris Carrabba, the ex-lead singer of the Christian band Further Seems Forever. I *love* Dashboard. Unfortunately, we figured we had better get home rather than end up back in Michigan at like 5 in the morning on Sunday, and so I acquiesced and figured I'd get to see Dashboard sometime this summer.

Our ride home was enjoyable, we were able to tune into a Casey Kasem countdown from the first week of April in 1985, and we guessed particular songs as we counted down to number one. We were starting to lose our perfect reception of the radio station as we were making our way through Virginia just as it was approaching the number one song, and so we were like nooooo, we need to hear what number one is!! We thought to ourselves, okay…1985…what could number one possibly be…what were the top bands and singers from this era…hrmmmm…Chicago…U2…Genesis or Phil Collins…Madonna.… Luckily, storm clouds disappeared overhead or something, because we were able to hear the last song in its entirety relatively clearly. It was One More Night by Phil Collins. Others in the top six, if I can remember correctly, were Crazy for You and Material Girl by Madonna, Night Shift by the Commodores, Can't Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon, and We Are the World by USA for Africa. It was so much fun to reminisce and sing along to these memorable tunes, each of which filled a tiny but meaningful cubbyhole of our adolescence.

We ended up seeing cars with license plates from twenty-two states on our trip, the listing of which we wrote down on a Pop Tarts box. We stopped a few times for gas and food, and I drank way too much water on the way home so we had to stop more frequently than on the way there much to my chagrin…what can I say, I love water. We got in at about 6pm, and I dropped Patch off, and headed home. It was a whirlwind trip, but we made the most of our time and experienced a good deal of D.C. I am glad for these opportunities to get out of East Lansing for a few days…it gives us a break from our endless studying and paper-writing, and provides us with fresh sights and sounds in a different part of the nation. Plus, we obtain presentation experience. It seems that every semester we'll have to do this; for instance, in November of this year we have to go to Atlanta to present research at the American Society of Criminology annual conference. It's all an integral part of the academic experience. I look forward to Atlanta and will be sure to write up a review of our trip to that city as well to preserve the memories of these notable times of my life.