Trip to Columbia

Not really sure what the deal is with the name "Washington, District of Columbia." It's not as if we say "I'm going to the state of Texas." We just say "I'm going to Texas" (or Tejas if you prefer). So with that said, Amy and I are going to post some pics from our trip to Columbia.

Amy here: On Saturday after the wedding we went to see what we could see at night. This picture was taken by Thomas. We had our backs to the Lincoln Memorial (sorry, Abe) and could see the Capitol, the World War II memorial, the Washington Monument, and the Reflection Pool all in a row. We certainly thought of Granddaddy while we were there. Thank you for serving, Granddaddy, and Happy Veterans' Day!

We also saw the Vietnam Memorial and the Korean War Memorial (my favorite, and especially striking at night with the men's faces lit up.)

Thomas: Look at Amy. Isn't she beautiful. The Washington Monument also happens to be behind her.

Thomas: Amy again, with Abraham Lincoln. One way that Amy and I are different is that she is good at reading the quotes at places like this or reading placards at museums. I don't often read the whole thing. She's patient and takes them in.

Thomas: After seeing the monuments we saw the three branches of government, or at least their housing. We did this in the most American way possible, driving a gas sucking car. After seeing the Capitol and a corner of the Supreme Court, we parked at the White House because I wanted to get close. They've got the White House Christmas tree up and were setting up all of the fences for whatever lighting ceremony they're going to have.

Thomas: After getting up close to the White House, 8:45 rolled around and it was time...

Amy: to eat dinner. But we didn't want to eat dinner with just anybody (like the president or Justice Ginsburg.) We wanted to eat with Jenny Oliver. So we called to see if she had eaten. And of course she hadn't because she's teaching herself French and had been busy studying. So we met her at...

Thomas: Ben's Chili Bowl! As you see in the picture above it isn't actually a bowl. Rather, it's a dive of dives on U Street. Ben's has been around for fifty years and is a major institution for the African-American community. Every famous black person, it seemed, has been there, and ol' Ben has their photo on the wall to prove it, from Bill Cosby to Cornell West and James Brown. Ben's really brought out the soul in me, and I had a "half smoke" (big nicely burnt chili dog with onions and mustard). Amy had a chili dog, and we split some chili cheese fries. Sensing my soul, they even threw in some extra grease for free. Ben's hit the spot.

Amy: Yum! Jenny took me here last time I was in DC and while we were there we talked about how fun it would be to bring Thomas there. I had no idea the three of us would be there together that same year!

Amy: As always, it was wonderful to catch up with Jenny. She's as busy as ever but doing well!

Thomas: Ok, now it's time for me to brag. Ben's is in a really hoppin' part of town. Not only was there bumper-to-bumper traffic on U Street at midnight, but all the other streets around it are tightly packed row houses. The cars along the streets are dense, so we had to drive around for about 10 minutes to find a spot that looked as if it would be a tight fit...for Rob's Mini! A tight fit it was, but I pulled off the parallel parking job of the century in our Subaru Impreza (we're not too far into the present century). Impreza'd you should be when you look at these pics. Be sure to click on them so that they open larger in their own window. Notice how close we were in both the back and the front, so close I couldn't even walk between our car and the others.

Back - yes, there is space between our car and the other

Front

Sorry if this post is long, but we've got some more pics that we'll post later.

Amy: One thing more. Happy Belated Birthday to the fifteen-year-old Bailey! I'm guessing her last birthday party was not Barney themed like the first, but fun nonetheless.