Lett's See DC - Mom Schlepped Here, There and Everywhere

I brought my Mom back to DC with me after Christmas. We spent a few days gallivanting around the Nation's Capital before a quick trip to the Big Apple. I coaxed Mom into writing up her experience, and what you will get is a four(?) part mini-series of the Mother Fish Out of Water. And let me tell you what, she was out of water! At some point along the series, I'll add my own brief recap of the events - you know, two sides to every story. Part two of my Mom's four(?) part mini-series of her trip to Washington, DC and NYC continues with her first full day in the Nation's Capital.

There is a two hour time difference between Arizona and DC this time of year so getting up early for Chelsea is even earlier for me. But rise early we do. We have memorials and monuments to see! One of Chelsea's roommates, Abigail, generously shared coffee. We ate breakfast, bundled up, then headed out. First stop – the Capitol Building. A short walk and we arrived in time for an 8:30 tour (I believe Mom is on AZ time still – there’s no way I would’ve been functioning for an 8:30am EST tour especially since I was still functioning on AZ time). There were probably 30 people in our group. The guide did a fair job sharing info, but I felt like there should have been more. Chelsea gave Capitol tours when she worked for the Congressman, so she was able to provide more in depth anecdotes – such as the painting containing a person with six toes on one foot, because the artist didn't care for the person being depicted (Mom is so PC – the artist didn’t like Native Americans so he gave Pocahontas’ brother an extra toe). We saw the old Supreme Court chambers, the catafalque dating back to President Lincoln, models representing the Capitol Building and grounds showing changes over the years, the Statuary Room – each state is allowed to send two statues to be on display. It's so much to absorb in such a short time.

Moving on, we walked through a tunnel to the Library of Congress. We arrived in time to join a tour. The guide seemed very knowledgeable. The architectural details are just astounding. When the tour was over, Chelsea left me on my own; she had a hair appointment. I wandered back through the displays to look more closely at maps, (I love maps) paintings and Thomas Jefferson's personal library. So my time was up at the library. I walked back home to meet Chelsea for lunch. Oh, her hair cut was cute. We used this time to book a night time trolley tour of Washington for the evening.

After hearty tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, we headed out for round two – Arlington National Cemetery and The Kennedy Center. We walked back to the Metro stop and boarded to ride out to Arlington. This trek required transfers and I'm so amazed at how comfortable Chelsea is with all this (No transfers on this one, but I can understand being confused – I carted my Mom everywhere in such a small amount of time). She's so at home here. We arrived at Arlington and inquired about a tour at the information desk. We're pressed for time, so the attendant provided us with directions and a map that we can use for a self-guided tour.

We headed to John F. Kennedy's grave site. The view back toward the Washington Monument is very pretty. We walked by Robert Kennedy's and Teddy Kennedy's graves as well. We then headed over to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. The white crosses marking the graves are still adorned with wreaths that were placed before Christmas. Chelsea was able to participate in the wreath placement. What an honor. We arrived at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers and watched the sentinel pace back and forth before the tomb. It's hard to find the right words to describe this event. Proud, sad, grateful, among so many emotions. We didn't have time to stay for the changing of the guard, though I could have stayed there all day. We then made our way through the Memorial Amphitheater on our way to the Mast of the USS Maine, Space Shuttle Challenger/Columbia Memorial and Iran Rescue Mission Memorial.

We left the cemetery and took the Metro to Foggy Bottom (I love that!) where we picked up a shuttle to the Kennedy Center. This is home to the Washington National Opera for which Chelsea interned for three months last fall. She was the tour guide at this attraction, showing me all around, inside and out. Most impressive – a very beautiful center. We headed back outside (Brrr-it's getting colder) to shuttle back to the Metro stop and then home. I was beginning to feel like Clark Griswold in National Lampoon's Vacation. We walked home to eat dinner but really only had time for a snack before we had to walk back to Union Station to catch the trolley. I did take the time to add a pair of long underwear and a second pair of gloves. Yes, the very same Isotoner gloves mentioned in Chelsea's Christmas remembrances, with knit gloves over those. So, appropriately layered against the cold, we walked to Union Station.....

~ Susan

Tours: the people's house and my work

Michelle and her family were in town for the White House Easter Egg Roll and asked if I could give them a tour of the Capitol on Tuesday (3/25). Of course!!! Anything to break the day up and roam around the coolest Capitol ever! She also scheduled a White House tour for her and her folks and asked if I wanted to come along. Of course!!! It is, after all, the people’s house.

Our tour was scheduled for 10:00 and because of security I just went from my house to the White House bypassing work altogether. Thank goodness we were on recess. I’ve been to the White House several times. Twice for a West Wing tour given by a friend who works in the press office. He was very knowledgeable and had some great stories and info to tell about the WH. So those tours were awesome. Plus we got to see the Oval Office. Don’t tell the secret service, but I accidentally slipped my foot a little past the threshold into the Oval Office – twice. Another time, I went to work with Mel when she was the holiday assistant (pretty much the coolest job ever because you’re working at the WH at Christmas time!!!) I pretty much saved the day for the Hanukah Party (a story for a different time) and after Mel and I worked, we went to the East Wing to see all the Christmas decorations. It was pretty Ah-MAZING!

So this tour that we had scheduled was for the East Wing – minus the Christmas decorations. It was still pretty awesome, but what I missed was a tour guide telling me some cool stories and inside info about what happened in these rooms and a little history about, oh I don’t know, say the color selections. Why red, blue and green? How come not purple, pink and orange? So minus the no tour guide thing, the East Wing is pretty spectacular. If you stand there and think of all the presidents from our country and others who have passed through these halls, you can’t help but be astounded. I was astounded. Seriously think about it. Abe Lincoln lived there. I probably walked were Abe Lincoln once walked. I was standing where Teddy Roosevelt probably once stood thinking about which piece of lands to designate as National Park Land.

About an hour and a half after breathing in about two hundred years worth of American Presidential history, we all headed over to Union Station for a bite to eat. Then it was off to my work. By now it’s 1:30 and Troy and Karen have to leave by 3:00 to get off to their flight back to Arizona. We went downstairs through the elaborate tunnel system connecting Congress to the House and Senate office buildings and the Library of Congress. Tons of other people were in town, so there was quite a line to get into the Capitol.

We finally made it through and headed to the Crypt to see where Washington was first interred before being moved to Mt. Vernon. Next, we quickly dashed to the House Floor so Karen and Troy could see that before they had to leave. After we said goodbye to the two, we resumed with the rest of the tour. I’ve only given a tour to Sam and Steve before so my knowledge about the various paintings and frescos is quite unpolished. Luckily, Michelle’s family was pretty content with just taking in the enormity and awesomeness of it all.
By the time we finished up with the tour there was only about an hour left until quitting time. I checked emails and shuffled through some papers before calling it a day. And then I met Michelle and her folks for dinner at Bullfeathers around 7:30. Hanging with pals at the White House and Capitol – not a bad day at all!

Hoo-Rah!!!

I’ve wanted to hang out with Sam (high school Sam) since I got to DC. She lives in Virginia Beach, which is 4 hours and $100 away, which isn’t bad, but timing is definitely everything. I was hoping to get out there my first week here before I started work, but it just didn’t work out. So when Sam called and said that her, Steve and my godson were headed to Quantico to visit the in-laws, I said count me in.

Quantico is pretty much the USMC stomping grounds out here and only 45 minutes from DC. A lot more doable than the 4 hours to VA Beach. So, two weekends ago I went. We didn’t have much planned, but I rarely get a chance to just chill out with Sam, so a low-key weekend was welcomed.

First of all, little David is soooooo freaking cute. Obviously I’m a little biased because he’s my godson, but he is really cute. He’ll be a year at the end of June and the little kid is already pulling himself up in a standing position and Sam said he actually started to try and crawl the other day. The little bugger is definitely going to be a handful, but he’s such a character. I love him!

Saturday, Sam, Steve, and I left little baby David with grandpa and went to the USMC museum. It was pretty sweet. I’m not a museum person because I need hands on/interaction type stuff to hold my interest. I can’t just walk around and stare at stuff. Weird, I know. But this museum kept me enthralled and was very well done. I approve.

This part is crazy. I went grocery shopping with Sam and Steve and it was ridiculous how much food they got, but to be fair, they stocked up for four people, a baby, and a dog. It was Cuh-RAZY! I think one of the carts (1 of 2) was dedicated to baby supplies alone. So note to all you thinking about having kids, make sure you can afford all those diapers and have room to put them all.

Sunday we went to my homestead and walked the mall. I hadn’t ever really been to the Washington Monument before, a travesty I know, and it’s been over a year since I’ve seen the other memorials up close so it was cool to do that. Sam and Steve came to my office on Monday and I took them on a tour of the Capitol. I felt so bad because they were my guinea pig tourists. I didn’t have my facts memorized so I had to shuffle through papers, and I couldn’t remember all the cool stuff that I had been told. But I did get to take them into the House gallery, and we watched as the lady called the House into session just to call recess until 2:00. Sigh….gotta love congress…

I hope Sam and Steve enjoyed themselves. I really was glad to be able to spend time with them. And I’m so appreciative to Steve’s folks for making me feel at home. I really wish I was better about sending out thank you notes. What’s that saying that starts “The best of intention are wrought with…” and then I forget the rest. So maybe the best of intentions are just wrought. Well, whatever. Sam and Steve are welcome to come back whenever and I’ll try and redeem my tour guide skills. I’ll be tested again on Tuesday when I give a tour to Michelle and her folks. Soooo not prepared…..but shhhh.

Side note on the whole USMC thing, I kept my eye open, but most of the guys seemed to be paired off or sporting a ring, but I was looking.

Busy, Busy, Busy

So it's been super busy at work. And after 8+ hours sitting in front of a computer, I haven't wanted to come home and sit in front of a computer to blog about everything. Appropriations are due by the end of this week, so I don't know how much time I'll actually have to catch up on stuff I want to post on the blog. But we have a two week recess coming up so there will be plenty of time to get caught up if I can't this week.

Here's an overview of what you have to look forward to: Awesome meetings with tons of constituents, a visit with the President and Vice President (for reals!), the long awaited picture with super Ah-MAZING soprano Renee Fleming (did I mention Ah-MAZING?!), hanging with the office peeps and a planned trip to Atlantic City, a weekend in Quantico with Sam (high school Sam, not Connecticut Sam) and the god-son, my first stint as a Capitol Tour Guide, and various observations or musings that come to mind as I see fit.

So sit tight, more to come for sure!

I Ain't Missing You At All

It's official: I work in the best office EVER!

After work on Friday, the entire office went to Bill's for beer and philly cheese steaks. I, of course, was running late. The world needs to know that I run on my own time. Everyone else is just insanely early. I was late because I wanted to wait for Mel to get off work, and we had a little metro mishap. When we made it to the metro, we had to run and get on the train. In our haste, we didn't check to see what line we were on. It was orange; we needed blue. Sitting there, I remember being told by bill to NOT get on the orange line. But we did, and there we went. We finally realized we were on the wrong line when the view of the Capitol was not in reasonable walking distance and the area was pretty sketch looking. Let's just say, not a neighborhood you want to get lost in.

We righted our wrong and made it to Bill's. Which, P.S. is in a somewhat sketch area as well, but he lives in a "gated community" so all was well. And Denny's was right there. So Mel and I walk in and everyone was there sipping beers and watching Jeopardy! It was awesome! Then we ate philly cheese steaks and drank more beer. Then a couple of the boys started debating something pretty heavy, so Mel and I took that as our cue to exit stage left.

Rewind a couple hours and my day started with two tours back-to-back. I am still in absolute awe whenever I walk through the Capitol. Ah-MAZING! Plus we got to go into the Senate gallery while C-Span was filming AND we went on the House floor. I pretty much sat where like Condi Rice and Don Rumsfeld have sat during the Pres's SOTU address. It always amazes me whenever I see the House gallery. To think of all the members of the House and Senate, various Cabinet members, all nine justices, the joint chiefs-of-staff, etc., etc. plus all the guests, the First Lady, staffers, etc., etc. all crammed into such a small room. It's mind boggling when viewed in person. There is absolutely no way that all those people fit in there, but they do.

Yesterday was a nice, chill day. Met up with some buds at Bullfeathers (shout out to Teddy Roosevelt!) and hung out there for about three hours just sitting and chatting. It was really nice to slow down.

Speaking of slow down, Mel and I discussed the difference between her and I in regards to the way we dwell in this city. She's adapted nicely to the culture and quick pace, looking forward to her destination. I walk with a destination in mind, but slow and always looking left, right, forward and back to everything along my path. I find this city so fascinating, and who knows how long I'll be here. Might as well take in as much as possible while I can. You would never be able to guess how many dry cleaning stores there are. They're pretty prolific out here. You would never know that if you didn't look around. I'm the perpetual tourist, too amazed by my surroundings to ever believe that I actually live in a place with so much history, power, and action.

I leave you with the wise words of Ferris Bueller: "Life goes by pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

And I don't plan on missing one bit!

The Harry Potter House and other amusing muses

I have got to have the coolest address ever! I call it my Harry Potter House because it's got the whole "Platform 9 3/4" thing going on. My room is about the size of a closet and if it was under the stairs, I would have everyone address mail sent to me as such: 518 1/2 Pennsylvania Ave NE*, the closet under the stairs. So write me at the Harry Potter address; I love getting mail.

I will probably always look like a tourist in this town. Everyone else walks sooo fast, looking straight forward. I'm just bumbling along (shout out to Sam: remember the Bumbler?) looking this way and that at EVERYTHING. The Capitol, the Washington Monument, the Archives, etc, etc, etc. I don't think this city will ever lose its charm to me. DC at night - enough said.

I can fit a lot of crap into a 94 square foot room. There's just not much room for me.

There is a lamp in this house that is possessed. I walk by, and it turns on. I touch it to turn it off and it turns off, then back on again. I seriously stood at the lamp for like 5 minutes trying to turn it off.

Five girls with one refrigerator - never gonna happen. Never.

I never realized how much I would miss cable tv until it was gone. Farewell "Ace of Cakes." I salivate no more. Addio Mike Rowe in your tight jeans on "Dirty Jobs." By y'all to CMT and GAC. And all those mindless reality shows on E an Vh1. Dearest Stacy and Clinton, I shall miss you the most. Here's hoping that I'll never forget "What not to wear." Lord knows I would have needed you most in the stylish setting of our nation's capital.

I miss the Peaks already. Just as I leave, it snows. Definitely won't be boarding or skiing much out here. My old room had a direct view of the snow-capped mountain. This room, well, let's just say a room with a view it is not.

Drinks tomorrow at Old Ebbs w/ a WH buddy, a colleague and a college chum. Which, by the by, I ran into said college chum last night as I was walking from the Harry Potter homestead to the Washington Monument. I always run into him when I least expect it. It makes me feel like I know people here. And that's a good feeling.

* This is not actually my address in case any stalkers are out there. Wait, um actually, that is my address. Come find me there.