D.C. Pictures

Yearly football trip with Jonas

My son, Jonas and I started a new yearly tradition last year. We are going to attend an away football game together every year. We started with the Alabama game last year. This year we picked the Georgia game on October 1. It turned out to be the perfect weekend to go. His daughter, Tuesday, was being presented as part of the Homecoming Court on Friday night so I got to see that. Then we hopped in the car and headed for Commerce, Georgia. Jonas drove my car, thank goodness. It was dark and I hate driving at night. In fact, he drove all weekend. Isn't he a sweetheart? Our hotel turned out to be a perfect one. It was located on the exit we needed to take to get to the stadium and was surrounded by lots of places to eat. We got there late due to a wreck on the interstate so we pretty much just went to sleep. Up early the next day and headed to the game. We found a good parking spot. Only had to pay $20 and it was easy to get out of at the end of the game. We walked around campus and both were surprised by how hilly it was. Beautiful though. We visited there bookstore, which put our to shame. We waited around and saw the team get off the bus and then headed into the stadium. Really nice place and we had great seats. It turned out this was the game of the year. In the last couple of minutes of the game the score went back and forth and UT ended up winning with a hail mary pass in the last seconds of the game. It was such a great trip. Jonas told me how much he enjoys this tradition and I have to say I do too. Getting to spend a whole weekend with my adult son...words cannot express how grateful I am to have this opportunity. My son is such a nice person. He is intelligent, mature, kind hearted and funny. My heart swells with pride. We have already planned out our next couple of years - next year will be the Georgia Tech game and the year after that we are going to South Carolina. I love you Jonas!!!

Washington DC trip

Our girls trip this year was to Washington DC from October 22 through the 29th. It was Mom, sisters Karen and Marian and daughter, Taylor. We drove Karen's new car. It had the best trunk space. It was a little tight in the back seat, but a comfortable enough drive. Our apartment was near Dupont Circle. Marian made our reservation through Airbnb. It was a great 2 bedroom place, close to lots of things. Our first night in DC we ate at an Irish Pub across the street from the apartment. We knew they were having a private party upstairs that night. Turns out our friend, Kelly came to the party. We just missed seeing her. Wouldn't that have been fun to run into her? Sunday we drove to Mount Vernon. The day began with a scary event. Mom tripped and feel flat on her face while walking to our parking place. She hurt her arm and busted her lip. It could have been much worse since she fell in the middle of the street. The trip to Mount Vernon was fun. Marian was driving and I don't know what she put into Google, but we ended up at this tiny house that was NOT Mount Vernon. We finally found it and it was a lovely day. We got to watch women spinning thread, talk to a furrier, tour the house. We ate lunch there. It was a little chilly but lots of fun. Then we went grocery shopping at the Walmart. Monday morning we went to the Holocaust Museum. I took my first Lyft ride. We used Lyft all week so Mom and Karen wouldn't have to walk far. The Holocaust Museum was incredible. The top floor was dedicated to the rise of Hitler and his treatment of the Jews and other minorities. It was interesting to see Taylor's reaction to the films they showed and see it through her eyes. I cannot begin to explain how much I cherish spending time with my daughter and sharing my love of history with her. The second floor of the museum is about the actual events and camps. Very horrifying as you can imagine. The bottom floor was dedicated to the resistance and the people who tried to help. Next we went to the American History Museum. Taylor and I played a game of the Price is Right. The things you had to guess were from different centuries. I won! She enjoyed this museum. We ate lunch at the museum. The food wasn't great and cost a lot. Tuesday was our tour of the White House. It was an amazing tour. To know you were standing on the floor where all those Presidents stood. And to imagine President Obama being in the building while you were there. WOW! It was Mom's favorite part of the trip. After our tour, we ate lunch at Old Ebbitt Grill. Food was good and so was the atmosphere. Today was the first day of our hop on and hop off tour, so we hopped on and headed to Arlington. We got to see the changing of the guard, but not much else. Everything we did seem to take so long. There is never enough time to see everything. Plus everything closes at 5 in DC. We had dinner with Kelly that night and truly enjoyed seeing and spending time with her. Wednesday was our hop on and hop off all day event. We saw all the monuments, some during the day and some at night. We did get our capitol tour by Senator Alexander's office. Got to see both chambers. Went to the Library of Congress. It was a long day and night. We were exhausted. Still love the Korean memorial, especially at night. Thursday was my favorite day of the trip. We went to Boonsboro, Maryland to visit Nora Robert's Inn. She lives int he town and has raised her family there. Her husband owns the bookstore "Turn the Page", her son has a bar and grill there and other family members own the local eating establishment. We got lucky. While we were shopping at the gift shop for the Inn, the woman that runs it called across the street to Nora's Inn and got them to give us a tour. It was amazing! Best day ever! That night we attended the play "Sheer Madness" at the Kennedy Center. The play was Taylor's favorite part of the trip. Friday was museum day. We visited the Natural History and the Air and Space. Then we finished the evening with dinner with my friend, Lucy and her husband, Ernie. It was a great trip. Didn't get to see and do as much as we hoped, but we hit the highlights and it was fun being with the girls.