Washington DC 2017

Friday January 6th

It's time to board the train for our annual trip to DC.  This year we got off in Alexandria and checked into the Spring Hill Suites just before noon.  We went downtown and had a delightful lunch at the Brabo Tasting Room.

After lunch we took a walk down memory lane for Gary by touring the National Inventor's Hall of Fame which was relocated from Ohio where he worked to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office campus in Alexandria.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around of Old Town Alexandria, and visiting the Torpedo Factory art center before making our way to Ted's Montana Grill for happy hour and a great dinner!

Saturday

Since Tom was ailing, the Morgan's enjoyed a restful morning at the hotel while the  rest of crew went to Renwick Gallery (Emily was ailing last year and missed it.) and they found the tsunami exhibit was still there so she got to see it!  Their next stop was the Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument before we met mid afternoon at the National Gallery to see the East Building renovations.

One unique exhibit we saw was Lick and Lather, a set of 14 sculptures, seven make from chocolate and seven from soap.  You could smell the chocolate!

We went back to Jaleo for dinner since it was near the venue we were going to see a show.  The food was wonderful as usual and we even got the same table we had on  a previous trip!

Next stop was the Capitol Steps, a laugh out loud satire stage show that slams all parts of the political spectrum.  It's hard to believe that the cast is made up of folks who have worked on Capitol Hill!  We all loved the show and would recommend it to anyone willing to laugh for a couple of hours!  

Sunday

Our first stop was the National Archives to see the exhibit Amending America, which chronicles successful and unsuccessful attempts to amend the Constitution.  The rest of our time was spent in the National Museum of Natural History viewing several wonderful photography exhibits; Nature's Best Photography Windland Smith Rice International Awards, 100 Years of America's National Park Service: Preserve, Enjoy, Inspire and Primordial Landscapes: Iceland Revealed.

Alas, it was time to head back to Lynchburg after a great weekend. Many thanks to Gary, our annual tour guide and I hope the streak will end and next year we will all be healthy!  

Note: The weather in DC this weekend was chilly with just a few snow flurries, but a southern storm has dumped 7 inches of snow on the cars waiting for us at the Lynchburg train station!

The Holidays

Kelley and Katie brought the kids to Lynchburg for Thanksgiving. We had a great visit although we did not document it well with photos.  We had fun with a balloon tying kit and enjoyed the traditional turkey dinner along with pecan and pumpkin pie.

Katie brought the marble track the kids got for Christmas which we set up and they played with it the entire weekend. We went to the playground at Riverside Park which has several Pokémon Go stops so Henry was in heaven. He was battling in a Gym and found out the person he was fighting was the mother of one of the kids playing in the park.  We took the kids and their moms for a drive to look at Christmas lights.  Not a lot of enthusiasm for that activity from the younger generations!

Thanks for coming to Lynchburg Kelley and Katie.  It was a fun time!

We started a new tradition this year....going to the girls for Christmas.  First, to Katie's on Christmas eve.  Cookies were made for Santa Claus and we enjoyed a wonderful Christmas dinner!

Then it was off to bed to dream about Santa's arrival.  The night passed quickly and Henry and Audrey awoke to find many, many presents under the tree!

Audrey and mommy made pancakes for breakfast (yum) and then we spent the day playing with toys and building Lego kits.

In the afternoon, David picked up the kids to have Christmas with the Alexanders and we spent a relaxing evening with Katie!  In the morning, we packed up, and Henry, Grandma and I headed to SC to see the Hills. 

Upon arrival in Murrells Inlet, we opened presents and spent the afternoon playing with games and catching up with each other.  Maggie showed Henry how to play Bean Boozled, a game where you spin a dial to select the color of a jelly bean to eat, BUT you don't know what flavor it is until you taste it.  So a bean could taste like peach or barf,  Tutti-Fruitti or stinky socks, etc.  Henry and Maggie liked BARF the best!  In the evening, we went to Quigley's Pint and Plate for dinner to cap a great Christmas celebration.

Tuesday morning we hiked down to the Marsh Walk with Kelley and Maggie.  After lunch we headed to Lynchburg.

Our Christmas trip was short but it was great to see everyone.  Thanks for your hospitality Kelley, Seth and Katie.  And mom and I just want you to know, we LOVE our new TRADITION!

Henry spent a few days with us in Lynchburg and we played Pokémon Go at churches, parks, fire companies and downtown.  We played so much Grandpa got a warning from the cell phone company warning me that I was running out of data for the month!  We also put together one of Henry's Tinker Crates.  He didn't know if he could do it, but he was successful assembling the three LED lights in the kit!

Good job Henry!