This past weekend Randy and I took a road trip to our nation’s capitol and the sunny state of Virginia. The occasion was an engagement celebration of our son, Chris and his fiancé, Molly. How good and pleasant it is to be with our loved ones! I can think of nothing on earth I enjoy more. Eleven hours to drive down and nine and a half hours back gave me lots of time to work on galley edits for The Crimson Cord, which I finished as we neared our house on the last leg of the trip. Since the rest of this week was booked, I was very happy to finish early. (It was due next Tuesday.) And as it happened, I find working in a hotel room rather boring, especially with so many sites to see!
So Randy and I took advantage of some of our free time and hopped on the Metro to Pentagon City (from Alexandria) and took the Big Bus tour of Washington D.C. Since we knew we only had one day to devote to seeing the place, we opted to stay on the bus for most of the trip. We did get off at the Washington Monument, Union Station, and the Capitol Building. I wish we’d had time to visit Arlington and Lincoln’s Memorial, but we did get a glimpse from the tour bus.
We missed the White House on the first leg of the trip–we got on the wrong bus at Union Station–so we ended up walking a way and catching a different bus to drop us off within walking distance of the area of the White House that they let you see. I think we could have gone around to the front if we’d had time to walk it, but we did get some good pictures of the back. I discovered that you can zoom the iPhone, which is pretty cool. Who would have thought a camera with a zoom lens could fit in your pocket?
Later in the weekend, we visited Old Town Alexandria and walked to the wharf. Had dinner at Chadwicks near the water and snapped a few pictures here and there. I must say, I am slightly disappointed that I did not see a chocolate shop or a specialty coffee and tea store. I also had hoped to find specialty soaps, but they weren’t on the street we traveled. We did see a cool cobblestone road, and got a fun feel for this smaller section of the city.
The last day, after lunch with our kids, we drove to Mt. Vernon and took a tour of Washington’s home and museum and tomb and gardens. We ate at the restaurant on site, and got to imagine what life might have been like in the late 1700’s when Washington lived. We saw the room where he slept, spent time away from his many visitors, and eventually died in. Interesting man.
I will say that though travel can be fun, sleeping in a hotel is not nearly as comfortable as our own home. Tiger had a wonderful friend come to care for him, but he is also very glad to have us full time again.
Be it ever so humble (and with the mess of the flood still somewhat evident) there is no place like home.
