Back to the story:
We arrived in Baltimore, Maryland on the afternoon of the 28th of October. From there we quickly grabbed a rental car and began our trek to Dover Delaware. The drive from Maryland to Dover is only about 2 hours, however, this did not stop me from napping for at least part of the way. For those of you who have never been to Delaware, I can't blame you. Honestly, I feel somewhat bad for saying this, but I really have no plan, nor serious desire to return and explore the state. Its not that Dover was that horrific of a place, or we weren't treated fine, I just prefer to travel to places that feel like they have something to offer me. It doesn't have to be much, but it has to appeal to me. When we arrived in Dover we went straight to our hotels and checked in. I was staying about 100 yards from my parents hotel. As I was checking into the Holiday Inn express, I realized two things. First, American hotels are seriously expensive compared to Korea, and second, that I had never checked into a hotel in America before where I was the only one staying there and I had paid for the room. It was a bit jarring. I have stayed in many hotels and hostels abroad, but this was the first time I was staying in a hotel in America that I had paid for. Mental note, I need to travel America more.
We spent that night eating dinner at my sisters house. She has come a long way from her first futile attempts at cooking, and while skeptical upon arrival at her apartment, she prepared a good meal. I was impressed, perhaps one day she will be able to out cook me, but I don't think so. The following day Ann, my dad, and I bolted out of Dover and went to Washington D.C. D.C. is only about two hours from Dover. While we were there we did the tourist thing. We did the tourist thing on speed though. We arrived in DC at 11 and left at 6. In that time we saw the following things: Washington Monument, National Archives, National Gallery, Smithsonian Aerospace Museum, Marine Corps Monument, Vietnam Wall, Korean War Memorial, FDR Memorial, Reflecting pool, World War Two Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, The Old Post Office, Fords Theater, from a distance the US Capitol Dome, The United States Supreme Court, and lastly we saw the Jefferson memorial from a distance. I dare you to find people who did what we did in the time we did. I mean come on, not all this stuff is within five minutes walk of each other. Upon arrival in Dover, after an unplanned and unfortunate detour into Anacostia (hey how could I know there was only an on ramp going south from the map), we sat down to Dinner at Uno's. There I was introduced to Yeungling beer (pronounced Ying Ling). It was actually a decent beer and I must thank Mike for the introduction. Thanks Mike. I'll return the favor by sending you to the good stuff in San Diego. After returning to the hotel, I collapsed onto my bed and fell asleep. I was a little tired. The next day Ann, Dad, and I took off for Annapolis and a partial day of sightseeing. Now before you think the three of us were shirking our duties to help my sister with her wedding, we were told to stay out of the way and not cause problems. We offered our services every day but they told us that we were not needed. Annapolis was far better then I expected. I will freely admit that I was quite skeptical before arrival. Upon arrival I realized that the city has a lot of historical sights to see. An unexpected delight was the Annapolis State House. It was there that George Washington resigned his commission at the end of the end of the Revolutionary War. It was unique to find myself standing in that room, and just sensing in a way the momentous importance of what happened in that room. Deal with it folks, I'm an uber history geek. I got chills when I was in Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
As we were walking out I noticed a bust of a Naval Commander named Winfield Scott Schley. As I was looking at his statue I noticed that it had the word Korea and 1871 under it. I realized then that this man was somewhat influential in punitive raids America launched upon the Korean mainland. It was a punitive action for attack and burning of the British trade ship the General Sherman and the murder of its 20 sailors. Sadly this moment was all but avoidable. It was one misunderstanding after another, compiled with the desire to open Korea to trade. In 1871 the American Navy launched a series of raids upon South Korea the led to the death of almost 300 Koreans and 3 Americans.
After the State House we went down to the Naval Academy and caught them at lunchtime formation. Everyday these kids have to stand in formation and march to the cafeteria. Meanwhile the band and silent drill team perform. If you ever get the chance I suggest you check this out. On our way out of the academy I stopped by the Navy Mascot to take a picture or two. It was then that I notice the mascot had recently been vandalized. Well ok not vandalized, but attacked by some snarky Air Force people. I know this due to the blue AF on one side of the statue, and the much larger, but washed off, AF on the other side. GO AIR FORCE! As we walked out of the academy the three of us realized that it was time for lunch. Hello deep fried soft shell crab sandwich. We also ate some awesome crab cakes, and I sucked the brains out of a Crawdad. This was met with a little bit of repulsion from my Father and Ann. The brains of shellfish taste awesome and y'all can just deal with it. 
We explored some more of downtown Annapolis and then headed back to Dover for a nice dinner. The restaurant we went to was consistently rated in the top of Dover's restaurants. Our server was sarcastic awesomeness and the food was excellent. I ordered the clam, mussel, scallop, seafood mix combo. I have gotten use to eating really good cheap seafood here in Korea, and honestly I am going to miss spending 3 dollars on big ass shrimp. We all headed back to our respective abodes and awaited the next day. Halloween, and now my sisters anniversary. That morning we awoke and went to set up the country club for my sisters wedding. After a few hours we had everything set and then we returned to get dressed for the Wedding. Now, I must warn you that costumes were acceptable at this wedding. I was not wearing one, although I could have been. In Annapolis I found this perfect purple felt hat, that would have gone excellent with the white suit jacket I found in Ohio. The only problem was that I didn't buy the jacket because I didn't have the hat, and I didn't buy the hat because I didn't have the hat. 
With the Wedding done the drinking could commence. I quickly grabbed Mike and I a beer. He needed a drink and I was more then willing to provide one for him,
After a quick demolition of the wedding accoutrement my parents and I met for an hour in the Hotel bar. It was here that we said our goodbyes. I was flying an earlier flight and had a different ride to the airport. It was sad knowing that I won't see them for another year or so, but by this point I've grown somewhat accustomed to it. I awoke that morning at 4:30 finished packing my bags and headed down for my ride with Ann to the airport. I arrived at the airport with 1 hour to get checked in and through security. No major problem. I walked onto the airplane right when my boarding group had been called. I even had time to buy a sandwich. After de-planeing in Salt Lake City, I decided to have some lunch. It was at this time that quite possibly my worst traveling mishap happened. As I reached into my bag to pull my wallet out, I found that I could not find my wallet. A little disturbed I figured that I just left it in the seat back pocket of my seat. No big deal. My plane was still at the jet way and the wonderful personnel at Southwest let me walk back onto the plane to grab my wallet. Well, my wallet wasn't there, or if it was there I couldn't find it. Needless to say, I freaked the hell out. Well I wasn't ranting and raving, but I'm pretty sure that is the closest I have ever come to having a panic attack. In fact I may have had one. Here I was in St. Lake City, heading to San Diego, and I had potentially left my wallet in Baltimore. More importantly I was slated to leave the country the next day. Luckily I still had my passport and did not need to worry about leaving.
Upon arrival in San Diego I talked to the ground staff and they informed me that nobody in Baltimore had turned in a wallet. Somewhat dejected I called my friend and he came and picked me up. We headed off to my old house and I unpacked, did some laundry, filed a report with Southwest, and then headed out to a good Mexican dinner with my friends. This dinner was one of the few things that I had planned to do with my time in the States. Everything else was relatively free form. I met with my friends at Coyote Cafe in Old Town San Diego. Here we sat down to a wonderful Mexican dinner and a margarita. It was just good to see some of my friends and to deliver some presents that I had accumulated during my time abroad. The next day I boarded my flight out of San Diego to San Francisco, and then boarded my flight back to Korea.
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