On Open Roads, Mountains, and Music

I've been wanting to visit Floyd, Virginia ever since I read about it in a road-trip travel guide. Listed as one of the best five road trips in the mid-Atlantic region, it sounded perfect. Five hours away (just enough time to qualify as a true road trip without being overkill), inexpensive, and filled with music and a quirky small town. Sign me up!

So on Friday, we packed our bags, and Cris, Maggie, and I piled into the car to go!

Off we go!

We were on the road by 10:30, and we stopped several hours later at a place with a sign that declared "Best Dang Barbecue in Virginia." Among us we ordered a couple of platters and tried a little of everything. We can only conclude that if that is the best barbecue to be had in Virginia, we feel terribly sorry for the Virginians! :( Not a great meal lol. Oh, well!

We pulled into our hotel around 4:30, got settled, and I hit the pool for a quick swim before we headed off to Floyd, about 30 minutes away.

 

 

The main attraction of this tiny town is the Floyd Country Store, which is where the Friday Nite Jamboree is held (and which was our main reason for coming). We parked down the street, bought tickets for the evening ($5) and wandered around, checking out the merchandise, barrel candy, vintage wares, heirloom seeds, local barbecue sauce, jams, and preserves, etc... So much to see! Maggie perused their recordings and found the most recent release by Dailey and Vincent. I bought some Alabama White Lightning barbecue sauce, and seeds for Amy's garden. Cris and I bought locally-bottled ginger beer (love!).

Once the music started, it was hard to be anything but happy. :) There's just something about live music, in the Appalachian mountains, surrounded by happy people... nothing better!

 

 

But there were only about five tables in the entire place, and they were all taken up, so after a little bit, we snuck out to the cantina down the street and ordered Mexican for dinner. After eating, we wandered around the streets listening to the music groups that were randomly gathered around.

 

 

You could literally walk around until you found a style that was your speed, and enjoy. This group was pretty traditional - Maggie loved it! But across the street I found a group singing acoustic covers of oldies, blues, and rock ballads, so I crossed over and hung out for awhile.

 

 

Enjoying the street music!

  Eventually we wandered back inside the Country Store, where we had the good fortune to score a table! Cris and Maggie bought coffee, and I had a dish of the local strawberry ice cream (which is to die for) as the last group for the night came on stage. We listened to the music and enjoyed watching some Appalachian cloggers dancing, as well! 

Around eleven we realized we were all getting old (lol) since we could barely keep our eyes open, and headed back to our hotel.

I'm already looking forward to going back for a weekend... There were lots of shops to explore (we didn't get a chance to see any of them since we were pretty wrapped up in the music), cool restaurants, and so, so much music. I think I see a return trip soon!

On Travel

I love (loved?) to travel. I love (loved?) exploring new places, finding new sights, stepping out of a plane or car and having that exhilarating sensation that the air is different, here. I love to travel on a deeply visceral level; my favorite mode of long-distance travel is a road trip, where you can't help but feel the rhythm of the ground under your feet, and see the world around you change mile by mile. The hours stretch on, monotony inspires you to dig out battered CDs you haven't played for months (or years), and boredom inspires deep conversations with your travel companions. Eventually the rhythm of the road lulls everyone but the driver to sleep, and the quiet hum of miles passing lends a nice soundtrack to introspection.I'd rather have a journey than a destination. For most of my life I fought wanderlust every spring, dreamed of packing up, hitting the open road, following a ribbon of highway wherever it led.

And yet.
And yet.
And yet..

The last time I traveled was in March; Maggie, Cris, and I caught a plane to Florida, escaping one of the worst cold spells happening at home. We ate seafood, marveled at the balmy weather, went to the beach to watch the sun set, snorkeled in crystal-clear rivers beside tarpon fish, swam in the hotel pool, walked around the adorable historic district.

And I was not having fun.

I thought I was stressed out. I THOUGHT I was worried about work. I thought if I could just get everyone squared away, then I could sit back and enjoy everything going on around me. I thought I was glad to be home because it was easier to solve problems in person than from five states away.

It didn't hit me until I was on deck that night, and realized that I was suddenly, completely, and perfectly content, that I also realized that while all of those reasons were partly true, none of them were the whole truth.

The whole truth was that, for the first time in my life, I was homesick.

I can't ever remember being homesick before. All my siblings got terribly homesick at summer camp; I never did. I dreamed - literally, for weeks afterward - of getting to stay, of not having to go home. There was a lot of conflict in home (there was a lot of conflict in my life) and I was unhappy. Travel offered this illusion - albeit temporary - that I was escaping, that I was setting up a life that was happier than the one I was in.

For the first time in my life, I don't want to travel - I want to stay. I don't want an escape. I don't need an escape. I want more of my life, right now, just the way it is. I want to do more of the things I spend every day doing. While it's true that I sometimes need a rest - a chance to recharge, to regroup, catch up - I don't need (or want!) the illusion of the different life anymore.

I'm getting ready to leave tomorrow, a quick weekend getaway. I'll be home in time to take Abby to school on Monday morning and be on deck again Monday night. If I were perfectly honest, I would have to admit that I'm more excited about getting to go back to my life on Monday than I am about this entire weekend.

I saw a sign once that read "Someday I want to have the kind of life I don't need a vacation from."

I think it's very possible that, for right now, anyway, I'm there.

Gone South

On Thursday, after much anticipation, it was finally time for our spring roadtrip down to Alabama! Originally I had to teach Thursday evening, so we were going to drive several hours, crash on the couch of a friend of mine, and then arrive in Alabama mid-afternoon Friday, but at the last minute I was able to find a substitute, so we decided to drive straight through.



Roadtripping with Crisy and Mags is always a blast!



We pulled up to Reb and Joe's new house around 3:30 and crashed on couches and the floor.

It was an awesome weekend, spending time together...

BFFs for at least fifteen years!

Seeing my "Alabama family"...

...And dropping in to visit the Doctor in his TARDIS.

Wait.

I didn't mention that?! ;)

Cris, Me, Reb, and Mags

Running away with the Doctor

"Wait for me!"
"Hurry up!"

I don't know where she finds these things, but somehow Reb found a Tardis open for display over in Tennessee (the Tennessee Tardis, properly), so Saturday morning we bid Joe adieu and drove out to see it.

As soon as we pulled up, the owner and builder pulled up (just happened to be getting tools from his nearby workshop) and stayed for a couple of minutes to chat and take a great photo for us. Thanks, Keith!

It was a great time. And I am now one of the very few people who can say, completely truthfully, that I left my sunglasses in the Tardis the last time I was there. (Totally worth the $4 I paid for them lol.)

Sunday evening we drove back, and pulled into Cris's driveway in Maryland around 9:30 AM. While I was pretty useless yesterday, I'm feeling much better after a long night's sleep last night, albeit a little bit overwhelmed by everything I need to get done in order to leave - again - tomorrow morning.

(Don't get me wrong: I am very excited about leaving tomorrow. Just not excited about laundry and chores.)

About To Go Home... Or About To Leave Home?

I'm always torn when it comes time to go home... On the one hand, I miss Maggie and Abigail (oh so badly!) and Maryland, but on the other hand, if home is where the heart is then Alabama is at least halfway home. Khy is getting so big so fast, and while I am so grateful that I'm in a place right now where I can get down to see he and Robin somewhat often, it kills me to miss all those little day to day moments. :(

But anyway...

It's been a great week. :) An incredible week, actually. It's been the perfect mix of downtime and adventure and comfortable old routines and change. I'll do a recap post later, but I just wanted to share some highlights from the trip.



The craziest thing we did all week? Well, besides falling down an escalator with the stroller in the aquarium (long story!)... we dyed our hair! I am still amazed that I actually went through with this. But Robin was going to dye her hair the day before I arrived, and then their water went out, so she had to put it off. The next day we were in Target, and I went ahead and bought my own box of dye. Robin went golden-brown, I went with a copper-reddish brown. We're both brunettes by nature, so it wasn't really a big deviation, but Robin ended up with nice golden highlights and I ended up with nice red undertones. We were terrified that we'd do it wrong and our hair would A) turn green or B) fall out, but we followed the directions to the letter and it went just fine. :) I've been so frustrated with my hair lately, with all the heat and humidity lately, it's become ridiculous, but the dye job seem to have plumped out the strands and restored some body and glossiness.



Khy has gotten SO BIG since I've been here last. He's sitting up and reaching for things he wants - mostly everybody's food, lol - and playing with toys, and generally just being a ton of fun. We went swimming with him one day and he had a ball splashing. :) I can't believe how much he's grown since the last time I got to hold him (below).

He loves his Bumbo seat. :) I took about a million pictures of him playing, and I think he got a little annoyed towards the end.


His mama is gorgeous, as always. :) I love watching his eyes light up whenever she comes in the room - my best friend is an incredible mom, just like I knew she would be. :)

Doing Stuff :)

I've been getting lots of little things done lately... I can definitely tell my birthday is next week - for some reason I'm always very motivated to get my act together right before I turn another year older!

Today I took a minute to organize my blogroll. Sadly, some of my fav blogs have now been relegated to the "Other Blogs" list for one reason of another (they folded, or their owners stopped posting; their content has changed and isn't so relevant to my life anymore OR my life has changed and their content hasn't, so it isn't so relevant, lol; blogs that were an ok read when I had time to sit on the computer just aren't that engaging when my times is limited). One of these days I'd like to do a post about the blogs I read on a regular basis.

My room is also clean and organized. I finally rehomed the dresser I've been wanting to oust for awhile now. It was a very nice dresser, very well-made and large, and it was given to me free, but it was too large to fit well into my closet, and my room is too small for another piece of furniture. A few weeks ago I was given a much smaller dresser, which fit my needs perfectly, but needed some slight repairs, so I hung onto both until I could resolve them. Well, last week my dad got the little one all fixed up, so I finally cleaned out the big one. I love Facebook, lol - I posted a status update that read "Would anyone like a free wooden dresser? It is tall and has 4 very deep drawers. I love it but it doesn't work with my room" and five minutes later it was claimed. The very best part is that the friend who claimed it was giving it to a friend it hers who had asked her to keep an eye out for a free dresser for her infant daughter. Love it!

I also did a very little bit of weeding in my wardrobe... definitely not a full cleanout, but I did donate some things that have accumulated. I also found a few things with labels still attached, so I'm taking them back for store credit. Free shopping! :)

This weekend my family and I are going down to Richmond, Virginia to attend the HEAV convention. Last year I went for the first time, and it was just an incredible time to recharge, refresh, and find inspiration. I found a ton of incredible resources, got all pumped up by the workshops, and my soul was really bolstered by the whole atmosphere. Last year was also sort of an adventure for me, since I went entirely by myself, booked myself a hotel room, and enjoyed being on my own. This year the entire family is coming, although I still booked a separate hotel room for my sister and myself since I couldn't stand the idea of sharing a bed with someone with all my weird back/hip issues. I'm looking forward to experiencing the conference this year with everyone, then doing some exploring with Maggie that night. Also, the hotel has a swimming pool. :) I'm also looking forward to hanging out with some dear friends - one of my mentors from church and her family, a fellow teacher from co-op and her family, and other families from church, will all be coming. Lots of good folks!

I will bring back pictures and stories next week - have a good weekend, everyone!

Sweet Home Alabama, Part 3

Monday was a little bittersweet... it was so much fun, and we were glad to be together, but sad that by evening I'd be back in MD. :(

Monday was our shortest day, and also the least busy day, but probably the one I enjoyed the most. :) Robin let me sleep in - I'm still shocked I didn't hear her and Khy get up! - and then we took Khy and went into town to run errands. On the way into town we stopped and had breakfast, and on the way back we picked up frappes from McDonalds. Once home, I snuggled some more with Khy while we watched an episode of Merlin and just generally hung out. :)


My flight left at five, so by four we were at the airport saying goodbye. :( It broke my heart to have to leave.

Lol, looking back on this post, the day sounds so boring, but really I think it was my favorite time of the whole trip. It was "just us" for most of the day... okay, well, just us and the baby, lol... and we got to talk and laugh and say "Remember when?" a lot. I watched "Pooh's Grand Adventure" with Abigail the day after I got home, and there's a part where Pooh Bear says, "You are all the best of my best friends... I could do anything with you... but only Christopher Robin and I could do nothing." It was so much how I was feeling at that moment that I teared up. Everything is good with your best friend... running errands, driving, cleaning... doing nothing. It doesn't matter. What matters is that you're together.

I am so grateful for my best friend, for so many reasons. I read once somewhere that only something like 27% of folks say that have a best friend... that's roughly only one quarter of the population, people! And for once I landed in the favorable part of those statistics!

Anyway... moving on... it was an amazing trip, and I'm already looking forward to planning another. :)

Sweet Home Alabama, Part 2

Khy, all ready for church!

We woke up Sunday morning and got ready for church. I love Robin's church... it's full of great folks who have ALWAYS made me feel welcome. The preaching is good and the music terrific. Anyway...

Hanging out in the church nursery. :)

After the service, Robin's dad took us all out to a local restaurant to celebrate her birthday with her brother, Jesse, and his wife, Kathy. I regrettably forgot to pull out my camera, so I have no photos from that lovely meal. :)

After lunch, Robin's mom offered to watch Khy while he napped, and Robin, Rachel, and I ducked up to Green Mountain in Madison to enjoy the scenery.

The twisty, windy road up to the mountain top.

The entrance to the part. Rachel poses for the camera. :)

There are beautiful nature trails running through the part, but we chose the one that led to the covered bridge.

I was enthralled with the beautiful lake... It reminded me of a story I had written several years ago that took place near a lake. It was actually kind of eerie, in a positive, "have I wandered into my imagination?" kind of way. :)

There's this adorable little "seat" formed by the tree, so Rachel took advantage of it. Though not half as cute, I also tried it out. :)

A little footbridge on the way to the covered bridge.

The covered bridge overlooking the lake.

I didn't know this about my best friend, but apparently she is a little nuts about turtles. :) There were about 15 turtles of various sizes who kept diving and resurfacing and following each other around, and just generally being cute, and every three seconds Robin would call "Look!" in a very excited voice. I'd run to the side of the bridge to look out, and there would be... a turtle. As she said... "I really like the turtles!"

Rachel took a moment to reflect.

"Look - turtles!" :)

The beautiful view from the bridge window.

Rachel takes a moment to capture just the right picture. Rachel is a true photographer - we will walk past the same thing, she will pause to take a picture, and the picture will reveal a completely different aspect than I saw.

Literally "hanging out!"

We went back for the evening service at church, where they honored the graduating seniors, Rachel among them. Afterwards was a reception, where I got to snuggle some more with Khy (lol, I crammed the next two or three months worth of holding into this weekend!). Afterwards, Robin's mom took Khy home to put him to bed, and Rachel, Robin, and I went to a late showing of Letters to Juliet. Which I also loved and was actually pretty impressed by. :) I love seeing movies on vacation, because months afterwards, when you see the movie again, it brings back all those good memories of the places and people you love. :)

To be continued...

Sweet Home Alabama, Part 1

I'm home today, but oh, it was so hard to come home! It's always hard to come home and be away from Robin, but this trip was just so especially fun, and Khy so especially cute, and he's growing up so fast... it kind of broke my heart because I knew that the next time I saw him he'd probably be crawling (or walking - the little guy is practically doing backflips already!!!). They grow up so fast and it kills me to be so far away. I guess I am a little upset today. :(

Anyway... as I said, it was a terrific trip and I'm alway amazed at how much we manage to cram in to these weekends!

On Saturday, I arrived at the airport in plenty of time for my flight, and then they announced that my 8 AM flight was going to be delayed for an hour and 45 minutes. I only had a 50 minute layover in Tennessee, so I went to the Delta desk to ask if they could arrange another connection for me. I handed the agent my boarding pass, and she told me I wasn't on the 8 AM flight. ???? She said my flight - the 8 AM flight - had been rescheduled for 6 AM, so I'd missed it. However, the 10 AM flight had also been rescheduled for 8 AM, so she said she'd put me on that. But it was still going to be delayed for an hour and 45 minutes, so I was still going to miss my connection, I pointed out. (I realized later that since the 10AM-turned-8AM-turned-9:45AM flight was going to Atlanta, instead of Tennessee, I was actually going to miss my connecting flight no matter how late my flight was delayed, but neither the agent nor I actually realized this. Although I have an excuse, since she hadn't handed me my new boarding pass and I had no way of knowing that I was going to Atlanta instead of Tennessee). This seemed to puzzle her. She finally booked me on a flight that left for Huntsville at the same time my original connection would have taken off. I thought that this was stupid, since mathematically, there was no way I was going to make this flight. Anyway, the agent said there really wasn't much I could do about it, I "might make the connection" and if not then get the agent there to help me. Okay...

The flight was delayed EXACTLY 50 minutes; we touched down, I grabbed my bag and ran. There were about 5-8 of us on the flight who had extremely tight connections, and we flew down the entire length of the Atlanta airport trailing our bags. This airport is big - you can take a bus from one end to the other. I ran it and pulled up just as the flight pushed back from the gate. The agent there was extremely nice - he felt really bad for me and said they'd waited for us as long as they could. :(

I called Robin to tell her not to come get me, as I had missed my flight. My best friend is getting pretty used to this routine, sadly. I went to the Delta help desk and the agent there found me a seat on a 1:40PM flight to Huntsville. Originally all she could find was a 4:30PM flight, but I started babbling on about how how it was my best friend's birthday, we had plans and were going to go to a music festival that night which would be impossible if I didn't land until 4:30, etc, etc, and either through pity or whatever, she put me on the 1:40 instead. Because I picked up an hour, I landed at 1:40, still almost three hours later than my original flight but WAY better than 4:30.

I sat in an airport cafe for awhile, reading a magazine and drinking really bad iced coffee, and then went to board for my final flight.

At D.C. I actually took the trouble of putting my bag into one of those "check it, or check it" bins, because even though it's an overnight bag, it's soft-sided (I have my eye on a hard case for my next bag) and I tend to overstuff it. It fit, no problems, and I hadn't had any issues on the flight down, but it either shifted from being carried on its side or this airplane was smaller, because I would not fit into the overhead bin. Not even close. The steward watched me as I lifted it up and then couldn't get it into the bin, and when I turned around to ask "What now?" he snatched my bag from me and started ranting about "all you who don't bother to check your bags and then expect us to fix it for you, blah blah blahblahblah." And he basically disappeared with my bag. I was a little stunned. I expected him to bring me a pink valet tag, and he never did, so when I got off the plane I asked the other stewardess where to pick up my bag.

"They'll bring them to the top of the ramp," she said. So I went to the top of the ramp and waited. And waited. And waited. Finally I went back to the agent. "Are you sure they'll be here?" I asked.

"Oh, they'll take them around the corner," she tells me. I'm ticked now. "You said they'd bring them HERE!" I pointed out.

"Well... here around the corner."

Sheesh.

By the time I made it around the corner, the bags had come and gone, and my bag had gone to unclaimed baggage, which was exactly what I DIDN'T want to happen. Since unclaimed baggage is beyond security anyway, I decided to go ahead and find Robin and then my bag.

So I start walking towards baggage claim and as I come down the stairs I see a crowd of people, holding a "Welcome" sign. This is cute., I think. And then...everyone sees me and starts yelling "Welcome to Alabama, Sarah!" and giving me hugs... except I don't actually know any of them. :) Turns out a family from Robin's church was also at the airport to pick up their daughter, so they decided to help welcome me, too! It was quite a surprise.

We had planned on going to see the new treehouse exhibit, and then we were going to meet Robin's brother, Jesse, for a music festival, but by the time I got in, we were all so hot and tired that a girl's night in with a movie and snacks sounded 100 times better. :)

We stopped for lunch at Chick-fil-a, then stopped in at the grocery store to pick up diapers and snacks (lol, I can't honestly say that I saw THAT combination in our future!).

Poor Rachel had graduated the night before, and then gone to a late graduation party, so she was pretty exhausted. :)

At home, I got to hang out with Khy, who was a little leery of me at first but warmed up fast, and watch episodes of Whose Line Is It, Anyway? I think we disturbed Khy a little bit with our hysterical laughter. :)

Mrs. Shaffer cooked the most scrumptious lasagna for dinner... Seriously, I thought I was going to die! Lasagna is one of my favorite dishes and it's the one thing I can't really get out in town, and can't make at home because of the food allergies of my family. Since Robin's birthday was on Friday, we celebrated at dinner and had some delicious cake. :)

Robin's dad - now "Grandpa!" - lights the candles on Robin's birthday cake.

Khy wants some birthday cake, too!

"Aunt" Rachel, who is photographing the event, takes a moment to play with Khy.

The birthday girl blows out her candles!

I got to snuggle more with Khy after dinner, then when he went down for the night, Robin and I curled up on the couch to watch The Blind Side. I was really poised to hate this movie, and the first few minutes did grate on me just a bit, but I have to say that I'm actually a fan now. Definitely a great movie!

We rolled into bed around midnight, excited about the next day. :)

To be continued...

I'm Leaving, On A Jet Plane...

I've been longing to get down to Alabama for FOREVER! I miss my best friend and I can't wait to meet her son. :) At long last, tomorrow is the big day!

Let me just confess to you: I hate flying. I love the convenience of stepping on a plane, reading/chilling/sleeping/etc, and getting off the plane in a matter of hours in a totally different place, but I hate the hassle of packing under airline restrictions, lugging luggage around, and security. I hate security. I finally got a TSA guy to admit that the reason I was always, without fail pulled out of line was because they do in fact have guidelines about women in skirts. Apparently traveling in pants is no biggie, but traveling in a skirt immediately places you in the potential terrorist category. I really honestly don't mind being pulled aside and wanded - I mean, come on, wouldn't we all rather take a little longer in line to gain more security?!? - but I'm always terrified that someone is going to snatch my laptop while my back is turned. They can have my luggage and my purse, but please, please don't take my computer! :)

Since I'm just gonna be gone for the weekend, however, I'm leaving the computer at home and just taking a (big) purse and carryon. And - get this, folks - this carryon is fully functioning. It has four wheels that roll, a handle that comes and AND goes in, and the zippers are fully intact. Yes, my last three trips have all involved luggage that has broken in some way at the airport. I do not have good luck with luggage.

Actually, I'm starting to think I don't have good luck with flying in general. Case in point: first flight to Alabama, airline goes belly-up in the week between when I fly down and when I'm scheduled to fly back. I flew back a day early on the very last flight the airline flew (I wish I could remember which airline it was now!).

Second flight to Alabama: plane hits turbulence over Washington and has to make the approach twice while I clutch the back of the seat in terror.

Third flight to Alabama: I have a twenty minute layover, the plane breaks down and is going to be delayed for at least three hours, so this is an issue. Ticket Guy looks at my ticket, asks if I checked my luggage or if I'm carrying it. I'm carrying it. Upon hearing this, Ticket Guy points down the hall and says "Gate 23. Run." I literally ran down the hall, my suitcase flying behind me. The gate is empty, and I am the last person to get onto the plane. I get on plane sans any paperwork - boarding pass, ticket, etc - and eventually get up enough courage to ask my seatmate, "Um, what airport are we going to and when are we going to get there?" (Yes, he looks at my strangely). Turns out I am going to a completely different airport at a completely different time.

So if you're wondering if this post is long and rambling so I don't have to think about tomorrow... :)

In other news, Abigail and I are still partners in crime. She's learned this week that she can make choices, so she's all about picking out her own clothes, foods, and movies. I get a kick out of her decisions, so we haven't really had any battles over anything like some folks said we would. I'm always amazed at how kicked-back cool this baby is - we were over at my house when naptime rolled around, and she happily slept on my bed all afternoon without her music, crib, etc, and didn't seem at all fazed.

I've finished up teaching Animal Farm and I'm thinkng about our next book. I'm thinking "To Build A Fire," but we'll see. I think "Man Vs. Nature" may be my least favorite literary conflict, and this is probably because I'm not at all an outdoorsy person. :)

Sightseeing in D.C.

One of the things I love the most about living in beautiful southern Maryland is being within easy day-trip distance of our nation's capitol. I love the pulse of the city, the opportunity to people-watch, and most of all I love all the knowledge that is within such easy reach within the city. I love to spend a day in the museums and memorials.

Today I was exploring for the first time with my younger siblings Anna (16), Elizabeth and Allen (13), and Ruth (9). This is the first time the kids and I have hit the city sans parents (although my father metroed in later and took us all to dinner after a long day of walking).

In spite of the recent accidents that seem to be plaguing the Metro system, I love the convenience of the system. Here we are departing!

Something about riding Metro never grows old for kids. :)

We were destined for the American History Museum, but the peril of walking in D.C. is that there is always something fascinating that calls for a stop and a perusal... like the sculpture garden, one of my personal favorites. I love the playfulness of many modern sculptures and I'm fascinated by shape and form, period!

I loved this fun take on "The Thinker!"

Something else I love about sculpture is the way it changes as you change positions.

We did finally make it to the American History Museum and the display we came to see - the film and television "Hall of Fame"!

We found Dorothy's slippers...

Kermit the frog (I was sad to discover that none of my siblings had any clue who "Kermie" was!!!)...

And Oscar the Grouch! :)

Downstairs in the Lobby, I found another dear childhood friend! :)

After we finished in the American History Museum and met Dad, several of my siblings wanted to revisit the Natural History Museum. If I had to look at the Hope diamond or dino skeletons one more time, I was going to die... so Ruth and I parted for a quick run through the art gallery!

My favorite display was easily this new display of light and motion called "Multiverse." This is easily worth going to the gallery for alone! Try as I might, I could not get any pictures that came close to capturing the incredible beauty of this piece...

... However, this video at least gives you a sense of it.

Some of the pieces that Ruth and I deemed among our favorites included these geometric-y pieces.

We also found this picture by Jean DuBuffet, titled (very loosely translated) "Facade of a City Block". In fact, we liked it so much that we memorized the artist name so we could come home and google the picture!





This picture is too small to show much detail, but each of the little white spots in the windows is a face with its own personality! It truly captures the idea of a city block!

Maggie and I had visited Chop't during our last trip to D.C. for a concert at Strathmore, and so we walked to Chinatown for dinner.

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of Chop't, it's like a giant salad bar stuffed with the most awesome of ingredients, like black beans, chickpeas, sesame noodles, grilled tuna, avacado, edamame, hearts of palm, kalamata olives, goat cheese, craisins, and much, much more. You select your lettuce base, pile on the toppings, and the chefs then dice all your tastiness together with a mezzaluna knife (like this one). Everything ends up nicely distributed, so you get a bit of each flavor in each bite!

It was delicious as always. :)

It was a lovely trip, but my poor feet have had it. :) As one of my favorite books as a child ends: "At the end of a long, long day, it's nice to be alone and think about tomorrow."