Washington D.C.

Ack! School starts tomorrow, and I'm FRANTICALLY trying to cram EVERYTHING I wanted to do this summer into THIS AFTERNOON!!! I'm also going into "production week" for The Best of Gilbert & Sullivan, the show I'm doing with Woodbury Community Theater, so am going to be COMPLETELY swamped with school, then rehearsal every night. So...wanted to post a QUICK entry before the onslaught begins!

Duane and I spent the DAY Saturday in Washington, D.C. We decided to go for a day trip because

1). we can! We flew out at 7:00 a.m., and flew back at 8:30 p.m (with first class seats BOTH WAYS!!!). We've been to D.C. SEVEN times now, so we know exactly what we want to see, and how to get there on the METRO.

2). our friend Peggy is not in town this weekend, so we didn't have a place to stay and didn't want to try to find a hotel,

3). it's the weekend before school starts and I need some "panic time" at home (and still have about 20% of the G&S lyrics to memorize before rehearsal Tuesday night, and Patrick Healy, the G&S expert from Ireland will be here to "workshop us", and I don't want to look like an IDIOT), and,

4). I've/we've been gone one or both days of the last NINE weekends in a row, and I wanted some time to clean the bathroom, dust, do laundry, go to the grocery store, etc.

We did a couple of things there that we've done before (the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, the Museum of Natural History, and the Museum of American History), and something I've wanted to do for AWHILE now, but never got around to (lunch at Ben's Chili Bowl!).

It was a GREAT, if not slightly frantic, day, and, even though the metro was closed from the airport to the pentago stop, the shuttle buses ran fairly frequently, and didn't slow us down TOO much.

Here are some shots of the day...

 

 Inside the Air and Space Museum

The controls in the Northwest jet

 Duane with the Northwest jet

Duane doing the "pointy" thing we do!

Duane and a Northwest wheel

DEFINITELY a GQ pose!

Ben's Chili Bowl! (black owned and operated since 1958,

and TOTALLY a hoot!)

Me outside of Ben's Chili Bowl

The capitol from a street near the national mall

me doing the "pointy thing" with the Washington Monument

The hope diamond at the Museum of Natural History

The Julia Child Exhibit at the Museum of American Histor

Julia's cookbooks, phone books, and videos (of her show) to preview, in her kitchen

Me ALMOST in Julia's kitchen!!

Wow! The Sears Christmas catalog!!!

Kermit the Frog

Oscar the Grouch!

Phyllis Diller's "fright wig", gloves, and cigarette holder

Dorothy's Ruby Slippers

Abraham Lincoln's Hat

Lincoln and Family

Mary Todd Lincoln's Dress

Abraham Lincoln's Suit

the Washington Monument

Duane and the Washington Monument!

Duane and Jeff "up close and personal" with the Washingtion Monument!

Duane took this from the plane window as we were leaving Washington

A LOVELY trip, and a GREAT place to visit...again, and again, and again, and again!!!

Ack! The minutes are TICKING AWAY, and I still have to wash and stain the deck, finish all of the home made "travel tree" ornaments for the hallway Christmas tree, scrub all of the hardwood floors, paint the kitchen, and go to Target and print and place all of my summer (and older) photos in albums.

I'll post again after this CRAZY week is over. I'm SURE it'll be ALL ABOUT the trials and tribulations of working with a Gilbert & Sullivan expert, and how it is NOT recommended to have the FIRST week of school and the LAST week of a show taking place at the same time.

Here's hoping YOUR weekend was fun, and historic, and interesting, and that your coming week is mellow, and enjoyable!!!!