A Covidiot in Baltimore and DC

I seriously considered postponing this trip due to an upcoming winter storm, knowing that museums tend to close during and possibly right after snowstorms, but the timing of rain that promised to melt everything during the last night made me go to Baltimore and DC anyway. It all started on Friday, January 14 when I flew to Baltimore. My only reason for visiting was to see "The Walter's Museum," which was also the main reason why I visited Baltimore for the second time on Thanksgiving week in 2020. I was saddened by the fact that the museum decided to close for the season due to rising COVID cases back then. The museum decided to close the day that I arrived from Wilmington. I was determined to see these beautiful European paintings (among other things) sooner or later. Despite having about five times as many cases compared to what we had in November 2020, the museum was open:

The Baltimore Museum of Art had stayed open in November 2020, but an American Art Gallery was closed. For some reason that museum employees did not seem to know, that Gallery was still closed, so I only spent a few minutes there before going to the train station to take a train to DC: 

I realized that it was not only cheaper than a Greyhound bus, but also cleaner. (The first time I visited DC and Baltimore in June 2017, the Greyhound bus between DC and Baltimore smelled like pee). No trip to Washington can be truly completed in a long weekend, but it did not matter that much because there are still a few places to visit on my bucket list, all of which were closed (including the White House). All of the places that were open that were worth visiting are these: Library of Congress, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, the museum of Natural History, the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle and brief visits to the Native American and History museums. The Amtrack train arrived at Union Station at 2:31 PM. I quickly walked to the Library of Congress in order to make it to the last time slot to visit it, which was at 3:00 PM (this was the only place that required advance tickets):

Right after that, I visited the National Gallery. I was not able to see all of it, as it closed at 5:00 PM, but it helped me optimize time:

I tried to minimize the amount of Uber rides and decided to walk instead, despite bitterly cold temperatures that reached the teens at times (-8°C). Part of my strategy was to carry a backpack. I did not check into the hotel until after having dinner at a Shake Shack nearby after the museum closed. If I would've brought a large bag I would've had to check in to the hotel first without having time to visit the Library of Congress, which was closed on Sundays. Once I was in my room I realized that I had a mild scratchy throat. This has happened to me every once in a while. I had a runny nose (no congestion), but blamed that on the weather, as it only happened when I was outside. On Sunday, January 15 I finished seeing the National Gallery. I realized that some paintings that were there in June 2017 were no longer there. They probably rotate them, so it might be worth visiting again in a couple of years:

A snowstorm was coming, just as temperatures were rising. Before starting a brief visit to the Native American Museum I was told that museums could close early due to the upcoming storm, but they were not sure:

When I went into the museum of Natural History to see the minerals right after that (which I had already seen before, while drinking a glass of wine, as part of a pre-dinner with Jason Learning). I had to rush because I was told that museums would be closing at 2:00 PM:

It was about 1:20 PM when I left, a few flurries were falling. I rushed to get to the National Portrait Gallery. It took me about 10 minutes to walk there, and this is the best of what I was able to see in about 25 minutes:

I took my first Uber in DC to get to the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. Some areas were closed because of the mass schedule, but this is what I saw right before and right after attending 2:30 PM mass:

Snow was falling quickly, but Uber prices were still reasonable. I asked to be driven to St. Matthew the Apostle Cathedral:

There was a Shake Shack located about a block away, just crossing the street. Right before going inside the restaurant, two pretty girls offered to take pictures of me, including this one:

I'm not sure about why I was laughing. I would've walked to the hotel right after dinner, but after slipping and almost falling for walking one block a few minutes earlier I got another Uber. It was dark and snow had changed to sleet, but the Uber algorithm finally caught up with the weather and charged me over 30 bucks for a 10-minute trip. 

The sleet changed to freezing rain and then rain as temperatures rose above freezing. Luckily most of the snow had melted and it was easy to walk again. 

I visited the Asian Museum of Art first:

This was a brief visit to the History Museum (I would skip it unless there's time to spare):

I walked around the White House before walking back to National Portrait Gallery (to finish seeing it) followed by the Building Museum (the latter one may also be skipped if time is tight): 

I finished seeing the parts of the Cathedral Basilica that were closed behind the altar right before returning to Dallas:

My sore throat felt better, especially after the Five Guys burger that I had for dinner at the Raegan airport. Occasional headaches that I sometimes get while traveling were taken care of with Aleve. None of this was unusual, but headaches were way too frequent. I had a little watery nose while going back to work on Tuesday, but otherwise felt fine. I was also sneezing a little more often than normal, and sneezes felt like if there was a little fire inside my nose. I thought I was getting tested for COVID just as a precaution. I learned on Wednesday night (January 19) that I tested positive for COVID. I immediately notified my principal. As I had gotten a booster back in October, I only needed to quarantine for five days since my symptoms had started. I was asked to go back to work on Friday, January 21st. That means that I only had to quarantine for one day. I was later told that I should've quarantined until I got my test results, but due to this ever-changing and confusing CDC guidelines, there was no reprimand.

On Sunday, January 23rd I realized that I had lost my sense of smell, as I couldn't smell a baked potato. I still felt fine. Throughout last week, I slowly regained my sense of smell. I couldn't be any happier. I pray that I didn't spread the virus to anyone. I was able to check in to a DC hotel and dine indoors only because I had brought my CDC card with me, but that was not enough to keep me from possibly spreading the virus. I'm glad that I enjoyed my trip just like any other healthy person.

Do vaccines work? I've had lots of issues with colds since I was a kid. I used to be taken to the doctor almost every time I had a cold. Omnilife supplements might've made a difference as I rarely go to the doctor just for a cold. I have reasons to believe that symptoms would've been significantly more severe had I not gotten my shots, so I'm OK with vaccine mandates.