DC

As my mother pointed out yesterday, I've not written a blog entry since mid-July.

Last weekend was a good weekend, I'll start there. Friday - 9/11 - I flew to DC to spent the weekend with my friend from college, M. M. is one of those valued friends with whom each visit is a continuation of the last, even if it has been a few years. We planned to be museum goers Saturday and have a lazy Sunday wandering around Alexandria, but I must confess that Friday was the most fun for me.

I landed at DCA round 5pm and headed straight to the 9:30 Club. A few weeks after I'd bought my plane ticket, I read that Sondre Lerche (pronounced Ler-key - Norwegian, you know) would be playing the 9:30 that Friday. Yipee! M. was game so I bought tickets thinking "this will be a nice show"; the 9:30 Club is one of my favorite venues for size and spot-on acoustics. Better than expected, it was fantastic. Sondre Lerche is an amazing guitarist. Sheer enjoyment pasted a silly grin on my face for most of the show. In fact, I had post-show blues (a rare occurrence for me). If you ever have a chance to see Sondre Lerche live, take it! He's not only a gifted musician, but quite a charmer with startling blue eyes.

After the show we went to a bar/restaurant in Alexandria for nachos and beer. Weight Watchers? What's that?

Saturday, a leisurely breakfast at home prepared us to head into DC. Alas. I did not know that there would be a protest against healthcare reform held in DC or we would not have ventured into town. What happens when a protest of 30,000 folks disbands? Bands of highly opinionated, sign-wielding folks become tourists. Ugh. Double ugh. Thank goodness most of them were uninterested in our primary destination - the Sackler. We went to the exhibit Tsars and the East: Gifts from Turkey and Iran in the Moscow Kremlin. Extravagant, opulent, frighteningly valuable. One scabbard was decorated with as many as a hundred rubies and emeralds. Not tiny little Mervyn's jewelry counter rubies and emeralds, but thumbnail size beauties. Fascinating stuff.

Most of the pieces were intended as ceremonial accouterments and it does indeed remind one that money is power.

After this peaceful, enchanting, uncrowded exhibit we headed to the American History museum. Yes, silly girls. It did not occur to us that all those anti-healthcare reform folks would decide THIS was where they needed to be. I must say though, that you all should be proud of me for my restraint during the walk across the mall. Not once did I provoke a person carrying one of the ubiquitous Obama-as-Batman's-Joker signs. I was in a mood to start a fight; the stink of hypocrisy is almost unbearably provoking.

So. We enter the American History museum and I immediately recognize our error.

I had wanted to see the First Ladies' inaugural dresses and M. wanted to see Julia Child's kitchen. First Ladies - 20 minute wait in a cordoned line. Never mind. Straight to Julia Child's kitchen. Down the stairs and around the corner to a space that brings to mind reclaimed hallway. The surprisingly small kitchen is set against the wall with plexiglass sealing off the entrances so that you can look into the kitchen from three angles. I did get a quick glimpse (it was surprisingly small, but the sort of kitchen you'd be happy to sit down in and have a cup of tea and a chat). Thing is, there's a side exhibit of extrania (a "real" enough word for me) that rings the kitchen. Between the glassed-in kitchen and the glassed in extrania, you have a four-foot wide walkway around the kitchen. Fill this with about a hundred self-absorbed, overheated, likely hungry tourists and, you guessed it, I lasted about 62 seconds. Sitting on the bench (excellent museum design) that rings this exhibit, I quietly waited for M.

That was the end of our museuming. No loss. Purpose of visit: time with M. We bonded in our bitching about protester-tourists.

On our way home, we stopped at a lovely wine/gourmet shop staffed with delightful people. With the liquid restrictions for carry-ons, I had to purchase M.'s gift there. A nice bottle of Chianti. Not the one I wanted, but close. We picked up three new cheeses, a loaf of crusty French bread, and a small bar of Scharfenberger dark chocolate. Dinner, check.

Sunday was indeed a lazy day of wandering Alexandria, marveling at the crowds and returning to the house to have pizza and work on a jigsaw puzzle.

I'll post pictures... eventually.