Back Home Again!

Well, Tiff and I made it home from our trip last night. Steven picked us up at the airport when we flew in at 7:30 p.m. We left Washington at 2:00 p.m. Earlier in the day we had had time for breakfast at the hotel and then another walk into Old Town. We decided that every time we went into town we would see something new, or different I should say, because everything is old. It was a lot of fun. Back at the hotel, we took the shuttle at 11:45 a.m. to the airport. That gave us enough time for some lunch at Panda Express before catching our flight to Denver at 2:00. In Denver we had a two-hour layover, then it was on to Salt Lake City and home. Thanks to Steven and Rich for taking care of things here at home while we were away. It was one of the funnest trips ever!

Still Having Fun!

We have had so much fun and have seen so many things in the last few days! On Saturday, Sept. 6, we woke up to rain as Tropical Storm Hanna was getting set to pass over. After breakfast, we decided that the rain didn't seem that bad, so we set off on foot for Old Town Alexandria to visit Christ Church and the Gadsby's Tavern Museum and maybe to visit some shops. Well, we were doing all right for awhile, then the wind started kicking up and the rain started coming in buckets. We ran to get inside Christ Church, but they were having a service and we couldn't go in. So we ran about two blocks through the drenching rain to Gadsby's Tavern Museum. When we got there we were soaked! But even though we were dripping wet, we went on a tour of the tavern musuem. That was a good place to get out of the rain. We really enjoyed the tour and learned a lot about colonial life in Alexandria. When the tour was over we looked around the gift shop for awhile, then headed out into the rain again. It was still pouring. We made it into a covered area called Gadsby's Arcade and decided at that point we better call for the hotel shuttle to come rescue us, which it did. I saw the shuttle coming and decided to step out onto the sidewalk so that the driver could see us, but I missed the last step going down and I flew off the step and landed on my knees on the sidewalk, taking out my umbrella beneath me! What a tumble! And I got even wetter. But thank goodness for the shuttle which took us back to the hotel! Once we got there we got out of our sopping wet clothes and into some dry ones. I didn't think my shoes would ever dry out. So while it kept pouring outside, we just holed up in our nice room to watch National Treasure II and eat some good things from the "snack room" for lunch. That was handy! (It was fun to watch National Treasure II after going on the tour at Mount Vernon.) It continued to pour all afternoon, and we wondered if we were going to be able to make our dinner appointment with Tiff's classmates, Angie (not Mississippi Angie) and Kristin, at 5:30. Well, at about 5:15, it actually stopped raining. We were expecting to take the hotel shuttle to the metro station, but no shuttle was available, so the hotel called us a cab and reimbursed us for the fare. So we took a taxi to the metro where we met up with Angie who was coming all the way from her home in Maryland (she had been riding for an hour and a half). We then rode with her on the metro to the King Street station and caught the free trolley into Old Town. Once we got there, we went to the Warehouse Grill where I thought it would be fun to eat. I remembered eating there in the old days when I worked in Washington. Well, we went inside and it looked nothing like the Warehouse Grill that I remembered. The only thing that was the same was the name. Actually, it's a nicer, fancier restaurant now. We were seated at a table upstairs by a window looking out over Old Town. Kristin came and joined us about 6:15. She had been moving into a new apartment and painting a house for Habitat for Humanity all day. She and Angie had both gone way out of their way to meet us for dinner. They seemed genuinely happy to see Tiffany, and the three of them had fun catching up on the news and each other's internships. For dinner Tiff, Angie and I had some delicious Asian veggies with lo mein noodles. It was very tasty and different from the rich, colonial fare we had been having. Kristin had some yummy-looking salmon which she said was really good. So we had a very pleasant evening with them and then we all went out separate ways. Angie and Kristin both had to catch the metro back to their homes, and Tiff and I walked back to the hotel. It turned out to be a very fun day, storm and all! (King Street in Old Town was lined with sand bags and the lower part of the street by the river was all blocked off, so I guess things had gotten pretty wet there earlier in the day.)

On Sunday, Sept. 7, we decided it would be kind of hard to work things out logistically to get to the 8:00 sacrament meeting in the ward that meets up on King Street. Plus, I was pretty sore from my tumble the day before and was not moving very fast. So we got up and had breakfast, then took the shuttle to the metro and went to Arlington National cemetery. We decided that would be a pretty good Sunday activity. When we got there we walked through the cemetery and up, up, up the hill to the Arlington House where Robert E. Lee lived with his wife and family. (The house was actually given to them by her parents.) Tiff really wanted to go there. Richard and I had gone there when we visited several years ago, and it was very interesting. The problem with the house right now is that it's undergoing restoration and all the furniture has been removed. But we were still able to walk through. It was good for Tiff to see some real restoration work in progress. It's a very imposing house which sits up on a hill and has a magnificent view of D.C. During the Civil War when the Union took over Arlington House, they decided to get their revenge on Robert E. Lee by burying Union troops in his front yard and garden. That way the Lees would never be able to live in the house again, which turned out to be the case. Robert E. Lee never went back there. On the way to the house, Tiff and I went past the grave of John F. Kennedy; then after touring the house, we went and watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We had a great visit to Arlington. From there, we walked and walked and walked down through the cemetery and across Memorial Bridge to the Lincoln Memorial. Tiffany was very excited about being there. Near the memorial, we stopped at a refreshment gazebo and had a bite of lunch and then went on to the the three war memorials: Korean War, Vietnam War and World War II. That was some more walking. Then we walked to the Washington Monument, then to the Air and Space Museum for a quick look-see there. By that time we were hot, tired and worn out. We caught the metro at L'Enfant Plaza back to Braddock Street station and called for the shuttle. No shuttle was available, so the hotel called us a cab, for which they reimbursed us again after we got back to the hotel. We barely had time to run in and freshen up before Rex Tomb (my friend Mary Lib's husband) came to pick us up to take us to dinner at their house in Arlington. It was fun to see Mary Lib and Rex again. It's been five years since Steven and I last visited there with them. She had invited their daughter Jessica, Jessica's husband, Steve, and their little two-year-old girl, Maren, to have dinner, as well. Mary Lib had prepared lasagna and salad for dinner, which was delicious. After dinner we took a tour of their house which had been completely re-built inside after a fire about three years ago. Their home is really lovely. Mary Lib said she wished she had put in fewer but larger bedrooms downstairs when it was rebuilt, but she didn't think about it until all the framing had been done. Maren was cute and kept us entertained until she reached her bedtime. Then we decided to call it a night and Mary Lib drove us back to our hotel. What a fun time we had with them!

Today was another exciting, fun day. We tried to get an early start by heading into Washington by 9:00. We took the metro to the archives Station, where we got out and then waited in line at the Archives to get in when it opened at 10:00. Inside, we got to see the actual Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. We also saw a movie about all the things the Archives does to preserve the history of our country and how we can use that to help make a better future. Hooray for history and historical preservation! After the Archives we walked a short distance to Ford's Theatre, which is undergoing restoration so we couldn't go inside. But it was fun to be there. We were able to go inside the Petersen House, which is across the street from the theatre, and we saw the room where Pres. Lincoln died. It seemed quite different there in that part of town from when Richard and I were there a few years ago. At that time it seemed to be on the outer reaches of everything and there didn't seem to be much there except Ford's Theatre. But now it's quite happening. There's a Hard Rock Cafe next door to the theatre, so we had lunch there. That was a lot of fun. Then we walked over to the Old Post Office tower and pavillion. We went up in the tower where we had a good view of Washington. It was funny but things didn't seem as happening there at the Old Post Office as they had been when Rich and I were there. A park ranger took us on a tour which was really interesting. Now no one takes you on a tour. A kid sitting down by the elevator reading a book told us to press the elevator button to go up to the tower. We couldn't even understand what he was saying at first. Then, once we got up into the tower, we saw a park ranger, but he didn't say a word. He just stood there watching the people up and look around. Tiff decided that would not be a ranger job that she would want. Borrrrrrrrring. From the Post Office, we caught the Federal Triangle Metro back to Alexandria. We got to the King Street station just in time to catch a bus that took us up King Street to Janney's Lane to Clover Way where we got off and walked a short distance up the hill to Crown View Drive--my old street!--where we saw my old house and the Ford's house which now has a nice plaque on it designating it was a National Historic Landmark. Finally! After taking some pictures we walked back down the hill and caught the bus which took us to King Street station where we caught the free trolley to Old Town. When we got there, we took a tour of the old Apothacary shop which was really interesting. The tour guide told us that the business had been in continuous use from colonial times until 1934. When it closed, they shut the door and left everything inside. So when the shop was rescued and restored by the City of Alexandria, everything was pretty much original in there from the late 1700's. It was a treasure trove of antiquity. Tiff said she really wouldn't like being responsible for the huge collection of old medicinal ingredients, some of which can blow up or kill you as she learned in her collections care class at school last year. One neat thing in the shop was a note from Martha Washington requesting that some castor oil be picked up and brought to her at Mount Vernon. The note was dated just a few weeks before her death. Cool. We have seen some pretty great historical buildings, documents and collections on this trip. I think it's a perfect kind of graduation present for Tiffany now that she has completed her course work for her masters in Historical Administration. She has been able to see the application of what she has been learning about plus have a lot of fun besides. After going in some shops there in Old Town, we walked back to the hotel where we watched some TV and had more snacks from the snack room since we weren't all that hungry after our pretty big lunch at Hard Rock.

Having Fun in Alexandria!

Surprise! I'm back--well, sort of--after my long vacation from blogging for the summer. We had such a busy, fun time while Sarah, Joel and Eliza were with us. We were having constant adventures it seems. Then they left, and I've still been out of the blogging habit. But I thought I'd take the time this evening and tell about the fun day Tiffany and I had at Mount Vernon today!

Yesterday (Thursday, Sept. 4) we left Salt Lake and flew to Washington D.C. for a mother/daughter outing and pre-graduation (MS degree) trip. We thank Steven and Richard, who are at home holding down the fort, for making it possible for us to take some days off. Boy! Are we having fun!!!!!!! When we got to DC yesterday, the shuttle from Old Colony Inn picked us up at Reagan National Airport and drove us to the hotel. We landed at 5:00 p.m. EST. Once we checked into our hotel (my favorite place to stay in Alexandria), we set off on foot for Old Town. It took a little time to get our bearings, but pretty soon we were finding our way around. We walked past Robert E. Lee's boyhood home, George Washington's town house, Christ Church, and lots of delightfully quaint rowhouses. We walked along King Street down to the river and enjoyed the ambiance of Old Town Alexandria. We ended up at Gadsby's Tavern (where George and Martha used to dine and dance) and had dinner by candlelight, and I mean by candlelight--no other lighting. Just like back in colonial times. We ordered Martha's puff pastry and some mini crab cakes. Both were delicious, served by our waitress in colonial attire. Then it was back to the hotel to relax and enjoy some treats from the hotel "snack room." We watched John McCain's acceptance speech and thought it was actually pretty good. It was best at the end. I think Sarah Palin has livened him up a bit!

Today we spent the whole day at Mt. Vernon! Boy! Did we have fun! We actually got up early enough to have breakfast and catch the shuttle to the metro by 8:00 a.m. Breakfast here at the hotel was very good--lots of choices: grits, potatoes, scrambled eggs, western scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and--Steven's favorite: biscuits and gravy. Plus there was fresh melon and pineapple along with an assortment of pastries. We didn't eat all of that, of course, but those were our choices. After breakfast, we caught the shuttle to the Braddock Street metro station where we caught the metro for Huntington Station where we caught the bus that took us to Mount Vernon. It took us one hour and ten minutes from the hotel to Mount Vernon. We were there just after it opened at 9:00 a.m. We watched a movie about George Washington and then took a tour of the home. We enjoyed the lovely panoramic view out over the Potomac from the piazza along the back of the house. After walking around the grounds and visiting Washington's tomb, we took a 45-minute cruise along the Potomac which left from the wharf at Mt. Vernon. That was a lot of fun. Richard would have enjoyed seeing the five blackhawk helicopters which flew overhead. Back at Mt. Vernon we headed to the Mt. Vernon Inn for lunch. We had originally planned to stay until dinner time and have dinner there, but we were informed that it would be closed for a private party, so we opted for lunch there instead. First we had peanut/chestnut soup (of course!), and then Tiff had salmon corn cakes and I had rosemary chicken with peanut stuffing (gotta have your peanuts in Virginia!). It was delicious. We topped it all off by sharing some bread pudding (gotta have your bread pudding!). That was some good food! After lunch we browsed the shops for awhile, then we met the group for the 3:00 National Treasure II Tour of Mt. Vernon. We got to hear about the filming of the Mt. Vernon segment in National Treasure II and have a tour of the basement of Mt. Vernon, which is usually off-limits to the public. I told Tiff that every historical administration major should be allowed to see the basement of Mt. Vernon. It was very interesting. The tour involved quite a bit of walking out over the grounds and down along the river. A bald eagle flew overhead just as the tour was finishing! A fitting conclusion. By the end of the tour we were so tired that we took the shuttle along with our guide back up to the house. By this time we were pretty much dragging. We made it to the bus stop to catch the bus back to the Huntington metro station where we took the metro to Braddock station. The hotel shuttle came and picked us up there. Back at the hotel we collapsed on our beds. After some relaxing and TV watching we have revived a bit. Right now we're on the computers in the business center where I decided to do a little blogging after a loooooong hiatus. Tropical Storm Hanna has started to blow in and it's raining outside. I don't know how much sightseeing we'll be able to do tomorrow. It's supposed to be pretty rainy and windy, so we'll see. We're sure having a lot of fun, though!