DC 2013 Part 2

Well of course our 'Monument' day turned out to be overcast and rainy, but we did not let that put a damper on our adventure.  Dan & Tim met us for breakfast & Tim shuttled us over to the Vietnam Memorial on the National Mall.  It was Sharon's first trip to DC and being a veteran from the Vietnam timeframe this was a special experience for her.  I think we all felt privileged to share such a special, emotional experience with her.  When she found the name of her friend, Robert Hanselman, on the wall, I think we all shed a tear or two (and you all know how compassionate some of us (me) are), so you know it was a special moment.

We walked over to the Women's Memorial, which recognizes the critical role women in the services performed in Vietnam.  Another touching moment.  The monuments are awesome reminders of all of the wonderful and historic events and people that have formed this great country.  If you can't feel patriotic on the Mall in DC, you are missing something.

From there we were off to the Lincoln Memorial.  This is my personal favorite.  I get chills just walking up the steps & thinking of all of the historic things that have happened on this spot.  I mean even Forrest Gump was here.  

Even though it was breezy & dripping a little no one seemed to notice.  Walking towards the Washington Monument we passed the Korean War Memorial, The World War II Memorial, the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and the Jefferson Memorial.  Along the way, Ted's shortcut required us to rearrange some fencing, but nobody got arrested so no worries.

Even though it was still only about 11:30, we had walked a long way, so when Heidi unexpectedly called & informed us she had prepared a St. Patrick's day lunch of corned beef sandwiches and split pea soup, we were more than happy to call it lunch time.  So the wimps headed to the car, while the hardy souls (Patty & me) zipped down Constitution Avenue to catch the start of the St. Patrick's day parade.  We only had time to catch the start of the parade, but when we heard the bag pipes playing we were glad we did.  Check out this video of the Drum & Fife Corps & the bag pipes & tell me you don't have a little Irish in you.  Parade video

Through the luck of the Irish, we rendezvoused perfectly with Tim & the slackers a couple of miles from where the car was parked thanks to Patty's excellent directions.  Karen met us at Tim & Heidi's for lunch & what a tremendous lunch it was!  Homemade spilt pea soup (yum!) & the corned beef on rye with swiss & sour kraut was heavenly.  (Of course the meat was sliced perfectly thanks to who else but yours truly, ha!)  We even ate on plates!  Heidi really out did herself, we never expected anything like that.  Honestly Tim & Karen and Dan & Heidi were spectacular hosts all weekend.  You guys did not have to do all that, the meals & transporting us around all weekend.  You really made the weekend spectacular.  I know I speak for all of the out-of-towners.  We never expected you to do all that and want to express our heart felt thanks. You guys are great!!!

After we rested up a little we decided to head over to Arlington National Cemetery, where we saw the eternal flame on John Kennedy's grave as well as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  The rows upon rows of graves are somber knowing the sacrifice that so many have made for this country.  Will we ever learn how to resolve our differences without war?  (I know that doesn't sound like me, but even though you may not believe it, I do have a heart.)

From here Tim drove us over to the Iwo Jima memorial, another of my favs.  I do have to report, that we stumped Tim just a little on how to get us there.  I am most certainly kidding, because all weekend it was amazing how well he navigated the town getting us wherever we wanted to go.  We would have been lost without him.

After that we were pretty much done.  Tim dropped us off at the hotel and went to pick up Karen & Dan took the metro to go get Heidi.  It was our last night & the plan was to get pizza & play games in the lobby.  Thankfully they had an out of the way corner that we invaded, because who knew how rowdy a game of Phase 10 could get.  We had to change it to Phase 7 because who knew how hard it is to get a run of 9 (thank God for wild cards!).  The gang playing dominos was much better behaved, but I think more wine & beer were consumed on our end of the table (the other explanation was that I was on that end of the table, but we all know that's just nonsense).  We had a great time, just like being in the mezz back at OI (OK no piano accompaniment, but at least no viola).  At least we didn't get kicked out!  God I miss our game nights.

That's pretty much it.  I think that everyone who came had a great time & yes we did miss all of you who could not make it.  Maybe next year.  Vegas sounds like fun.......

Just a few random pics...

Lookee a LOC card! 

Looks like the EDR salad bar, yeah right! 

What is it????!!!! 

Sharon went right from salad to dessert, no she didn't drink the whole bottle. 

OK no cherry blossoms but we brought our own beauties. 

Look out DC!

Just like dinner at Rosie, right Jean?

OK Dan, now you have to clean up. 

Smile!

DC March 2013 Part 1

Last summer we had maybe the best group of folks at the Old Faithful Inn front desk.  We had some great first year folks & some great veterans.  They really made my first year as a front desk manager a breeze.  I really did not want to see the season end, so I suggested that we get together during the weekend for a reunion.  Everyone seemed to think it was a good idea, so we targeted mid-March for a weekend in our nation's capital.  Our 'hosts' were Dan & his wife Heidi who live right in DC & Karen & her husband Tim who live in Arlington.  They recommended a great hotel that was reasonably priced, had really nice suites, had a great breakfast each morning & was nicely located near the Pentagon.  Most people got to town Friday afternoon.  After checking in, we carpooled over to Dan & Heidi's apartment for a wonderful Italian dinner featuring a Keifer family favorite pizza spaghetti & eggplant parmesan.   It was great to see everyone & of course the wine flowed We spent a really fun evening reliving memories & embellishing stories from last summer.

The weather forecast was for rain on Saturday & sun on Sunday, so we decided to make Saturday museum day & Sunday monument day.  Dan encouraged us to get out early so we met for breakfast at 7:30.  Dan took the metro to the hotel to be our guide for the day, which was greatly appreciated.  Sybil arranged for the hotel shuttle bus to ferry us over to the Capital Mall, but it turned out they meant the metro station so we had our first exposure to the subway which worked perfectly & by 9:00 we were at the Library of Congress.  I had never been in the LOC & was greatly impressed by the ornate architecture.  We took the tour & marveled at the spectacular murals & statues that each have a specific meaning/legacy from when our country was founded.  Our docent was very informative & we all especially enjoyed the original Jefferson Library exhibit as well as a walk though of the iconic reading room which you may remember from the Nicolas Cage movie, National Treasure.  We couldn't resist the opportunity to get a LOC library card as a souvenir of our time there.  I did a little reseach while there & was surprised to learn that the LOC does not own a copy of Squatters in Paradise, the peculiar perspective of an ex-Xanterra employee about life in YNP.

From Left: Jean, Sharon, Dan & Sybil 

 

Next we took the underground walkway over to the Capital.  Dan, our personal guide, had gotten the last 2 tickets to the Capital tour that morning on the internet.  During our LOC tour, he ran over to the Capital & somehow came up with 4 more tickets, so we could all go on the tour.  Living in DC has given Dan insider knowledge on how things get done in our nation's capital.  I don't think any money changed hands, but I wasn't going to ask.  Thanks Dan.  The video that they show at the beginning of the tour is truly inspirational.  It really makes you proud to be an American & a real appreciation for what our fore fathers did so we can enjoy the freedom we have.

The rotunda is an incredibly special room.  To be surrounded by statues of our most important presidents & murals of some of our country's most historic moments is truly awesome.  The capital dome is 288' or almost 4 times as tall as the Old Faithful Inn lobby!  Next was the National Statuary Hall.  Each state is allowed to have a statue of 2 of its native sons in the Capital & most are in this room.  I am no history buff,  but I was surprised that I had never heard of most of the people that had statues in this room.  For example the Indiana honorees are Oliver P. Mortin (no not of salt fame but governor during the civil war) &

We all know who this is

Lew Wallace, who I am relieved to say I know as the author of Ben Hur.  And I must have been asleep the day they discussed Hannibal Hamlin from Maine in history class.  If you knew he was VP under Lincoln during the Civil War, you deserve to have a statue here!  Dan & I both agree that we need to raise the bar a little for being honored with a statue.  (More likely we both need to review our history lessons.)   As our tour guide explained one of the seminal moments in the formation of the United States as a republic was when Washington resigned his generalship after the Revolutionary

War and formerly handed back the leadership of the country to Congress.  At the time there was a concern that Washington would declare himself as king setting up a new monarchy.  Of course Washington was later elected President, the only president to be elected unanimously!  We had lunch on the run at the Capital Visitor Center cafeteria where I had Capital Hill bean soup, which I have to report was quite tasty.  It was early afternnoon & we decided to make the National Museum of the American Indian our last stop.  It is new since the last time I was in DC & it is in a beautiful building on the National

Mall.  It is an impressive museum telling the stories of Native Americans from prehistoric time through the 1800s up to present time.  The exhibits spanned the diverse ways of living that developed on the plains, in Central America and in Alaska, Mexico, & Canada.  there was even an exhibit on the lives of the ancestors of the American Indians currently living in Chicago (no it was not about the Black Hawks).  After a couple of hours of Indian lore, we were ready to head back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.  Dan guided us back to the metro station & we made it back to the hotel without incident.  This night we were off to Karen & Tim's house for another home cooked banquet.  Karen's ham & cheese steak rolls were delicious, but her strawberries & ice cream covered in home made chocolate sauce stole the show.

From Left: Heidi, Dan, Sybil, Sharon, Karen, Tim, Patty, Jean, & Me

We had a really great night with Jean (never wins anything) the runaway winner of our Apples to Apples marathon.  Tim graciously shuttled us back to the hotel & after our long day we were all ready for bed.  What a great day!