Vacationing in DC
We flew to DC on Jet Blue leaving Sacto on the 28th very late and arriving at Dulles on the 29th 6:30 am. Jet Blue was very good. No wheel problems... I guess the fired the shopping cart mechanic.
It was an adventure getting thru Dulles. We found out later that their was flooding in the tunnels between the terminals, so everyone had to get on the funny monster buses, that are unique to Dulles.
We took the Super Shuttle to my sister, Wendy's, house. That's in Chevy Chase, DC (Not Maryland) near Chevy Chase circle. We had a little misdirect there... Wendy had transposed a couple numbers in her address, when she emailed it to me. A quick cell phone call saved the day.
When we arrived we were given the "Penthouse Suite" on the third floor. Big house. This is a great place to stay!
We went to a nice little cafe called Bread and Chocolate a few blocks away with Wendy. Very nice. Then we napped.
In the evening we went to a nice Italian place in the same area. Also very good. As we were walking out I noticed Tim Russert waiting to be seated.
Next day, Saturday, Laura and I went to Bread & Chocolate again in the morning, after sleeping in. Then we walked down to Friendship Heights to see where the Metro station was. After walking through nice neighborhoods, suddenly we were among these large commercial buildings; mostly shopping. We went down the looooong escalator, bought some passes, then went back out. On our way out we decided to exit into the Hecht's dept. store, just for the hecht of it. We found a decent sale in progress, and because we had found out earlier we were going to a special dinner (more on that later) and I hadn't packed anything but my standard ratty Merril shoes and Levi's, we shopped a bit.
Then we walked back, and had just enough time to start a puzzle before Wendy got home (around 1pm) and we all left for a grand tour of DC. Through Rock Creek Park, down around the Smithsonian, up around the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, and Congress itself. Then we drove down to the river, across, back into Georgetown (where my Nephew Ethan is attending) up the canal road, then back home.
A little later we went to a party. More on that later.
But last night (our second full day here) we did something extroardinary, so I'm leaving the chronological description for a moment. We went to see Rosa Parks lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda. When we arrived at 4:30, there were maybe 1000 people there, in a switchback line on the far side of the reflecting pool from the capitol building. We were in the 4th or 5th switchback, each about 100 yards long. 5 hours later we emerged from the capitol building. When we did we saw that over 30,000 people had gathered, and had yet to enter, or even to enter the park where we started the whole thing. It was a great turnout!
We got home around 11pm, exhausted. Now, it is 10:20 am the next day, and we're going to hop in the car and drive out the the Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah Valley, Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway, where the colors should be spectacular.
I'll return to embellish the Rosa Parks experience, as well as the visit to the new Indian Museum and the Botanical Gardens. All Fantastic!
It was an adventure getting thru Dulles. We found out later that their was flooding in the tunnels between the terminals, so everyone had to get on the funny monster buses, that are unique to Dulles.
We took the Super Shuttle to my sister, Wendy's, house. That's in Chevy Chase, DC (Not Maryland) near Chevy Chase circle. We had a little misdirect there... Wendy had transposed a couple numbers in her address, when she emailed it to me. A quick cell phone call saved the day.
When we arrived we were given the "Penthouse Suite" on the third floor. Big house. This is a great place to stay!
We went to a nice little cafe called Bread and Chocolate a few blocks away with Wendy. Very nice. Then we napped.
In the evening we went to a nice Italian place in the same area. Also very good. As we were walking out I noticed Tim Russert waiting to be seated.
Next day, Saturday, Laura and I went to Bread & Chocolate again in the morning, after sleeping in. Then we walked down to Friendship Heights to see where the Metro station was. After walking through nice neighborhoods, suddenly we were among these large commercial buildings; mostly shopping. We went down the looooong escalator, bought some passes, then went back out. On our way out we decided to exit into the Hecht's dept. store, just for the hecht of it. We found a decent sale in progress, and because we had found out earlier we were going to a special dinner (more on that later) and I hadn't packed anything but my standard ratty Merril shoes and Levi's, we shopped a bit.
Then we walked back, and had just enough time to start a puzzle before Wendy got home (around 1pm) and we all left for a grand tour of DC. Through Rock Creek Park, down around the Smithsonian, up around the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, and Congress itself. Then we drove down to the river, across, back into Georgetown (where my Nephew Ethan is attending) up the canal road, then back home.
A little later we went to a party. More on that later.
But last night (our second full day here) we did something extroardinary, so I'm leaving the chronological description for a moment. We went to see Rosa Parks lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda. When we arrived at 4:30, there were maybe 1000 people there, in a switchback line on the far side of the reflecting pool from the capitol building. We were in the 4th or 5th switchback, each about 100 yards long. 5 hours later we emerged from the capitol building. When we did we saw that over 30,000 people had gathered, and had yet to enter, or even to enter the park where we started the whole thing. It was a great turnout!
We got home around 11pm, exhausted. Now, it is 10:20 am the next day, and we're going to hop in the car and drive out the the Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah Valley, Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway, where the colors should be spectacular.
I'll return to embellish the Rosa Parks experience, as well as the visit to the new Indian Museum and the Botanical Gardens. All Fantastic!
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