We play Host
Last weekend my youngest brother and his wife came to DC, making them our first official visitors.
I wanted Jaron and Liz to experience the best we had to offer--which was an air mattress, couch, and cold cereal for breakfast.
We don't own red carpet.
Anyway, while I was still at work, Mark took them to see the National Gallery of Art, the Air and Space Museum, and probably other things but I wasn't there so I can't say. I joined them for a late lunch, and suggested that if they really wanted to get in the DC mood, they should join a protest group. Turns out they had passed a protest, but since it was anti-vaxers, they weren't inclined to join, and if they--all 3 of them--had protested the protest, they probably would have been insulted and injured. I think that's close enough to the true DC atmosphere that we agreed to cross that off the list.
Because we are all adults, we decided it was naptime, which we heartily did for a couple of hours, making us late for the next activity-of-maturity-regression: 90s night at the National Gallery of Art. We answered 90s art trivia and attempted to make fortune-tellers and friendship bracelets. And dressed up. That part is important.
The next day, we briefly visited Georgetown University campus, and then wandered around the Georgetown area to look at cute houses, shops, and eat Sprinkles cupcakes [Sprinkles is a chain with a couple other locations, but so far we prefer it to the local Baked & Wired, and Georgetown Cupcake]. Liz accidentally found a great Mediterranean cafe to eat lunch at, and then we checked out a small bookstore that Mark and I should definitely go back to. It was one of those shops where other customers give us reading recommendations, and authors-of-smaller-renown talk with the owner-and-only-cashier to convince her to carry his book.
After some discussion, we chose to make the Newseum the highlight of their last full day in town. Tickets are $25 each (which is about on par with museum tickets in Houston, but way more than the free admission other museums in DC offer), but the museum is closing, meaning it's highly unlikely they'll ever be able to see it again. We borrowed a friend's 2 membership cards [is this illegal?] and then headed over via Metro. On the escalators up to street level, I noticed a slightly sun-bleached ticket and picked it up. It was, no joke, a ticket to the Newseum, dated for that day, and it totally worked. And on the one-and-only ticket we had to purchase, we found a 15% off code, so basically we got in for $5 each. Now is that the divine help that for months I have been praying for? Did it solve my problems? No, but it was a miraculous gesture that meant, to me, that God knows me and where I live and what I want to do. And I'm not turning that down.
After a lunch break, I went with Jaron and Liz to see part of a Blackfeet Native American Festival at the Museum of the American Indian while Mark headed home. We saw ceremonial costumes and dancing, and then decided that we were done walking around, too. Truthfully, the bipedal position is really hard for me to maintain for long periods of time (consequences of my back surgery for a herniated disk), so I was grateful for the down-time at the apartment playing card games or watching movies.
The next morning, I drove them to the airport...and missed one of my turns, but fortunately, there was no traffic because no one is really up at 5 or 6 on a Sunday morning, so they still had time to board their flight. Now all that's left from their visit is a mostly-eaten pint of ice cream and a feather that came off of Liz's shirt.
And the photos and memories.
Although I forgot my phone for one of those days, and my phone ran out of juice for part of another day, so not as many photos as the trip deserves.
I wanted Jaron and Liz to experience the best we had to offer--which was an air mattress, couch, and cold cereal for breakfast.
We don't own red carpet.
Anyway, while I was still at work, Mark took them to see the National Gallery of Art, the Air and Space Museum, and probably other things but I wasn't there so I can't say. I joined them for a late lunch, and suggested that if they really wanted to get in the DC mood, they should join a protest group. Turns out they had passed a protest, but since it was anti-vaxers, they weren't inclined to join, and if they--all 3 of them--had protested the protest, they probably would have been insulted and injured. I think that's close enough to the true DC atmosphere that we agreed to cross that off the list.
Because we are all adults, we decided it was naptime, which we heartily did for a couple of hours, making us late for the next activity-of-maturity-regression: 90s night at the National Gallery of Art. We answered 90s art trivia and attempted to make fortune-tellers and friendship bracelets. And dressed up. That part is important.
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| I know you can't tell, but I'm wearing a pager and a Microsoft shirt |
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| Trying to understand friendship bracelet instructions |
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| Folding a fortune teller |
The next day, we briefly visited Georgetown University campus, and then wandered around the Georgetown area to look at cute houses, shops, and eat Sprinkles cupcakes [Sprinkles is a chain with a couple other locations, but so far we prefer it to the local Baked & Wired, and Georgetown Cupcake]. Liz accidentally found a great Mediterranean cafe to eat lunch at, and then we checked out a small bookstore that Mark and I should definitely go back to. It was one of those shops where other customers give us reading recommendations, and authors-of-smaller-renown talk with the owner-and-only-cashier to convince her to carry his book.
After some discussion, we chose to make the Newseum the highlight of their last full day in town. Tickets are $25 each (which is about on par with museum tickets in Houston, but way more than the free admission other museums in DC offer), but the museum is closing, meaning it's highly unlikely they'll ever be able to see it again. We borrowed a friend's 2 membership cards [is this illegal?] and then headed over via Metro. On the escalators up to street level, I noticed a slightly sun-bleached ticket and picked it up. It was, no joke, a ticket to the Newseum, dated for that day, and it totally worked. And on the one-and-only ticket we had to purchase, we found a 15% off code, so basically we got in for $5 each. Now is that the divine help that for months I have been praying for? Did it solve my problems? No, but it was a miraculous gesture that meant, to me, that God knows me and where I live and what I want to do. And I'm not turning that down.
The next morning, I drove them to the airport...and missed one of my turns, but fortunately, there was no traffic because no one is really up at 5 or 6 on a Sunday morning, so they still had time to board their flight. Now all that's left from their visit is a mostly-eaten pint of ice cream and a feather that came off of Liz's shirt.
And the photos and memories.
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| Basically I only have pics of the NGA 90s night. sorry |
Sounds like fun!
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