Alexandria, VA
Coordinates 38 48'35"N, 77 3'4"W
Chaz and Holly's home
Our ride home
As you know we left the boat in Beaufort, NC and from there to my nephew's in Raleigh, we had a great time. A busy family with nice stuff going on. Mom had a key role or the role in organizing the games for an annual carnival for her son's elementary school. Dad made the wooden structures for the games and mom painted. Their son has a major role in Mary Poppins, needing to spend time when possible learning his lines. Maggie and Will are both good swimmers from years of swimming lessons. My sister had just arrived at her new Wake Forest home with an entourage of movers bringing her treasures from Maine.
In spite of all the family has going on they had time for cocktails at night, family meals and chats.
Ken picked up our Dahon folding bike, now called the "clown bike" and when you see Will riding it you will know why.
Ubiquiti Computer Experts
Clown Biker
Mema, Maggie and Papa John
The Old and the New
The lioness sleeps tonight
Dad glues the game posts
The moon over Raleigh
On April 22 we headed to Chaz and Holly's in Alexandria VA. They put together an amazing impromptu pizza party with lots of friends. I had a really good time, but neither of us could see the party to the end. Our entire visit has been fun, lots of eating out and meeting their friends. I have enjoyed walking and playing with Cooper a Pyrenean Mountain Dog if I am off on the name please forgive me Cooper.
Walking a dog in the city is a lot of responsibility. One needs training with their dog on how to do it gracefully. Cooper and I did not have that bonding experience before heading out on the streets of Alexandria. The first morning I took Cooper for a walk it was raining, so he donned his yellow raincoat. I did not wear one, but I don't think I smell like a wet dog when I come in out of the rain. Cooper was not a happy walker. One theory about his behavior that day was embarrassment to wear a yellow slicker when none of the other dogs had one. I don't know. It was busy Kings Street morning traffic in Alexandria and Cooper got to the middle of an intersection and wouldn't budge. I had to get behind him and push to move him out of the middle of the street, the motorist were not humored by inept control over what they assumed was my dog.
I was warned by Chaz that Cooper loved to go after big trucks, so keep a tight reign on him if I saw one. That would have been fine but how can one know a city metro is coming when they are bending down to pick up dog poop, Cooper knew it was coming and bolted. Nothing happened and I was so relieved I almost cried. What if something had happened to Cooper.
I had a great time feeding Cooper treats and he had a good time eating them but not without sitting and shaking a paw, smart big dog.
Cooper
See what I mean by big!
Chaz, Rob and I spent the afternoon touring the National Air and Space Museum by Dulles Airport. There seems to be a little confusion with everyone exactly what it is called. Maybe they could have named it National Air Museum just to make it distinct from the museum that is actually at the Smithsonian. Now, this National Air Museum is managed by the Smithsonian too. I guess you can muddle through that or just look at a few of the planes I found of interest.
This was the most fascinating plane
More pictures from Alexandria
This is not a real horse but I saw this exact idiotic scene with a real horse in Belgrade Maine. I called the police.
Mt. Vernon
Had we continued with bringing our boat north we would have anchored in the Potomac and dinghied up to Mt. Vernon, see the Potomac in the background
A day in the mall
Albert Einstein
Honor Flight
Watch the documentary
HONOR FLIGHT is a heartwarming documentary about four living World War II veterans and a Midwestern community coming together to give them the trip of a lifetime. Volunteers race against the clock to fly thousands of WWII veterans to Washington, DC, to see the memorial constructed for them in 2005, nearly sixty years after the war. The trips are called "Honor Flights" and for the veterans, who are in their late 80s and early 90s, it's often the first time they've been thanked and the last trip of their lives. As the Honor Flight trip unfolds, Orville, Julian, Joe, Harvey and others share their stories and wisdom. While the program is meant to give something back to these humble heroes, the goodness they embody and their appreciation for life transforms everyone they meet.
Here are just a few of the men I met today
I had a very rewarding day taking pictures of veterans and their families so all the people could be in the photos.
World War II Memorial
We visited the Newseum in Washington yesterday, visit if you get a chance. This museum is not part of the Smithsonian, so there is a fee. I was struck by how the press coverage over the years has been war or the effects on people because of tragedy. Certainly the news on Vietnam, 9/11, FBI and the biggest horrible events since the revolutionary war are the most important. Am I being a callous person to wonder where the good news coverage is in history? There were newspapers post with that days news and that wasn't all bad news, unless you call snow in Portland Maine on April 27 bad news.
Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan was quoted as saying
- Daniel Patrick Moynihan
- I am known to say, "If a country only covers the bad news the press doesn't see the good in their country".
A lovely picture that Rob took of DC from the roof top of the Newseum.
Well, I keep thinking that I am ready for publication and another day is enjoyed without finishing my blog. We arrived in Baltimore to visit Barbara's sister and brother in law for a couple of days. I have known Melissa for several years. We took a walking tour of the city last night and what a beautiful city. We told people we were coming to Baltimore and they asked if we had a gun, certainly it isn't the part of the city that Melissa lives in that we need to protect ourselves. It is beautiful here.
We just heard from Sue and Paul that they are held up in Barnegat, NJ because of horrible weather and most likely will not be able to move for one to two weeks. I feel so bad for them. Look up Barnegat on Google. It is far from any services or even a grocery store.
We went to the Baltimore National Museum today, April 28. It was a wet walk in the rain, but worth it. I took lots of pictures but the most important to me are the beautiful jellyfish. There is at least one jellyfish that I was allowed to touch, a great part of our trip.
The jellyfish reminded me of the best of the fireworks, left until the end of the night.
I will let you know when I am home.
Tricia
No comments:
Post a Comment