Washington DC

Mark:  I have another convention that I need to go to.  It's in DC..wanna go? 

           *Sounds of rustling in the closet*
           *Me appearing at the door to the garage, luggage in hand*

 Me:"I'm packed.  When do we leave"?

Washington Monument

Lincoln Memorial

Two trips in two weeks?  Okay so I can get used to following Mark to these national conventions that he has been to lately.  We have got to go to some cool places.  This week we were in Washington DC.  We flew in on Saturday- totally missing the game where our Longhorns BEAT the sooners. We didn't find out about that WONDERFUL bit of news until after we landed because the wifi on the plane wasn't working and we couldn't get any updates at 30,000 ft. 

We stayed at the Gaylord National which is about 10 miles south of the Mall but it is like its own mini-city in that area. 

Gaylord at National Harbor

Inside of the Gaylord

Sculpture in the sand

We didn't get into DC until almost 6 and even though it wasn't "our" dinner time we decided to find a place nearby to eat at.   We had about 30 restaurants in a 10 block area to choose from; all of which were great places to eat at.  We ended up eating outdoors, on the Potomac River at McCormick and Schmicks.  The weather was perfect so we were able to enjoy the sunset while eating dinner.  But believe me, the minute the sun went down we were ready to head back to the hotel.  The wind coming off of the river cooled things down in a hurry!

"Downtown"area by the Gaylord

National Harbor

On Sunday, Mark checked into the convention and had a quick meeting but was done by 9 am.  So we Uber-ed it downtown and spent almost 5 hours at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. 

Smithsonian Castle

Air and Space Museum

Mark by the Gemini IV Capsule

After a quick bite from a Roach Coach on the Mall, we went to the Natural History Museum and spent another 4 hours there before they kicked us out.  All of the Smithsonian Museums are so big that you could easily spend 2 full days going through each one of them if you stopped and read all of the information by the displays they have.  Mark was in hog heaven in the Air and Space museum and I could have spent all day looking at the gorgeous gems in the Natural History museum. 

Natural History Museum

Mark in a Megalodon's Jaws

The Hope Diamond

 I had to take another look at the Hope Diamond but Mark wasn't impressed with it at all.  Go figure! About a month ago, Delaney was in DC visiting Zach's sister, Allison (who lives there).  Delaney suggested that we try Hill County BBQ for dinner if we had the chance and as it turned out, we were very close to the restaurant when we finished touring the museums for the day.  And that's where we went. Okay...talk about yummy!

Ordering line at Hill Country BBQ

Monday morning was business as usual for me- online classes and Mark had meetings almost all day.  I took the opportunity to go on a nice long walk along the Potomac in the afternoon.  In fact, unlike Atlanta, we had the BEST weather ever so I took advantage of it and did a nice long walk everyday. One of the vendors took us out to eat at which was another fine meal.  Tuesday was the same: Mark in meetings, me taking care of my classes and dinner out again with a vendor at McCormick and Schmicks again.

Wednesday, Mark had morning meetings and he got to hear Condi Rice speak for the closing of the convention.  Mark has always been a fan of hers but after hearing her talk, he walked away with a whole new respect for her.  He said she was impressive.  I'm sad I didn't get to hear her speak but I was busy with my classes during that time.  That afternoon we went to Mount Vernon.  We had first thought we would take a water taxi from our hotel there, but Mark got out of his meetings later than he had thought so we Uber-ed it there instead. 

Mount Vernon from the back

View of Mount Vernon as visitors back-in-the-day would have seen coming in by horseback or carriage

Wash house and Guest house

Stables

Mount Vernon from the Potomac River side

On the grounds at Mount Vernon

Slave quarters at Mount Vernon

George Washington's metal and ivory dentures

Gosh, Mount Vernon was really beautiful.  I guess I thought it was going to be another Colonial house but I was SO wrong.  The grounds and the house are impressive.  I didn't realize how many acres old George Washington had acquired and farmed until we were on the premises. 

We stayed until they kicked us out and once again headed back to the hotel.  We had heard that the guacamole at Rosa Mexicano at the National Harbor was "the best" so we went there for dinner with low expectations for good Mexican food.  Well, we were pleasantly surprised.  It's funny because we have not found any decent Mexican food in Denver and we actually found a pretty good place in of all places...DC!

After my office hours on Thursday we spent the day being tourists again. We met Zach's sister, Allison, for lunch which was a real treat for us.  Of course she has been to almost every restaurant in the downtown DC area so we told her to pick any place to eat at.  She took us to Founding Farmers Restaurant.  It was good to catch up with her and see a friendly face from Texas!  

Mark, Allison and Me

We saw Ford's theater, The Museum of American History and surprise surprise, we got kicked out of the Holocaust Museum at closing.  (That seems to be a theme with us this trip)  We enjoyed all of the places we saw but were kind of disappointed that the American History museum had over half of the exhibit spaces closed for "renovations on the exhibits". 

Museum of American History
Probably one of the most boring buildings in DC

Holocaust Museum

 We spent the early evening walking around in the downtown area and finally decided on dinner at Tadich's.  The waiter told us that the original one is in San Francisco and that this one has only been open since the previous Wednesday night so we may have one up on Allison!

Friday we had to leave to head back to Denver.  We had a late afternoon flight so we Uber-ed it across the Potomac and spent the day in Old Town Alexandria Virginia.  It really is a charming area but we both agreed that row house living would NOT be for us! 

Row houses in Alexandria 

Paddle wheel boat on the Potomac River

Pier at Alexandria

Streets of Alexandira

City Hall in Alexandria

Main Street in Alexandria

More stores in Alexandria

We really enjoyed the time that we got to spend in DC and as we always say, this is another place we are going to come back to "once we retire".

Parent's Weekend 2015

On the heels of going to Atlanta, Mark and I flew into Dallas so that we could be in Stephenville for Parent's Weekend at Tarleton.  Delaney and Zach drove in from Austin and Henley's boyfriend Blaine drove in from Odessa so we had the whole fam damily there for the weekend.  We arrived in time for all of us to go to dinner at Wilfongs in Rose Dale.  It was the very last night that they were open for the summer (and it is Henley's favorite place to eat) so we lucked out there.

Wilfong's

Shrimp boil at Wilfong's

On Saturday, Delaney and I went to the Mother/Daughter luncheon for her sorority.  We had a great time being together and getting to meet her friends.  She also found out who her "Little" is so we got to meet her as well. 

At Henley's Mother/Daughter Luncheon

That afternoon, Henley had a birthday party for Peanut.  She invited about 4 other dog friends over and they had doggy-cupcakes that Delaney had brought from Austin.  

Henley and the birthday boy

Henley and Peanut in front of the new John Tarleton statue on campus

That night after an early dinner we went to the Tarleton football game.  It was another beautiful fall evening in Texas!

Blaine, Henley, Delaney and Zach

Beautiful Texas sunset

Unfortunately, we all had to get back to our respective homes so we all said our goodbye's about noon on Sunday. It was a great, albeit short, weekend together.

Atlanta

So Mark had a really, really good idea.  He had to be at the National Safety

Conference in Atlanta last week and he asked me to join him.  We've never been to Atlanta so of course I said yes.  You know me…I love to go, go, go!

We flew out on Sunday and arrived to pouring rain.  

We got to the hotel, got checked in and there was a little break in the rain.  We felt like that might be our only chance to walk around that day so we go out and walked around and stretched our legs after sitting on our butts all day traveling there.  

Atlanta from our room

Our hotel was in downtown Atlanta so we were within walking distance to the Centennial Olympic Park.  On the way to the park, we passed the Coca-Cola museum and the Georgia Aquarium and made plans to go back to both of the places later in the week.  

Georgia Aquarium

Coca-Cola Museum

Centennial Olympic Park

Centennial Olympic Park

Georgia Dome

The park is really pretty and there were lots of people in the park, obviously taking advantage of the break in the weather.  But, along with the tourists and the others who were there, the pan-handlers and the bums were out in force too.  You couldn't even look at your phone without 2 to 3 guys coming up and offering to "help you find something" but wanted you to "bless"them with a cash donation.  UGH!

And then the rain returned.  

Mark had the conference all day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday so I spent the days working on my classes and reading in the hotel. And I watched the rain.

On Monday night we were invited to go out to eat dinner with one of the vendors that supplies equipment to the company that Mark works for.  We went to eat at Poor Calvins.  OH MY GOSH!  That was one of our top 10 meals we have ever had.   

Poor Calvin's

Later that evening we attend a private reception at the Georgia Aquarium.  Another vendor had rented the aquarium from 8-10:30 pm for this reception.  We had full run of the place and didn't have to mess with the regular tourist crowds.  The main attraction there is the Whale Sharks and they are one of two aquariums in the world that have them  (The other one is in Japan) The Georgia Aquarium has been on our bucket list so getting to go there was a special treat for us.  

Georgia Aquarium

On Tuesday evening we were invited to have dinner with another vendor.  We had another delicious dinner at a restaurant called Lure.  Cathy, the gal who invited us, is originally from Denver  and still lives here) so she had lots of information about places that Mark and I need to go to while we are living in Colorado.  In fact, she and her hubby own a cabin in Alma, CO which happens to be the fly fishing capital of the world.  Well maybe not the world but it has world class fishing there.  She invited us to join her and her husband sometime in the spring for a weekend.  I am down for that!

Lure

On Wednesday night we didn't have any offers for a free meal (dang it) so we made reservations at a place called Ray's in the City.  We had a great meal there too. 

On Thursday, we woke up to cloudy skies but NO RAIN!  Mark didn't have anything else to do at the Conference so we made arrangements to take an Antebellum tour.  I guess we hit the right time of the year because we were the only ones who had signed up for a tour that day so we had our own private guide for the day.  The tour started in Roswell and our driver took us by the house that Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone With the Wind in, Wimbush house, Harrington Hall, The Old Mill Park and the Roswell Cemetery on the way to the first antebellum home.  

Margaret Mitchell's apartment

Harrington Hall

Old Mill Park

We had another private tour of Bullock Hall in Roswell.  The docent was very invested in the house because she and her mother had been to many weddings, parties, receptions etc. back in the 40's and 50's before the home was registered as a historic building.  She said she loved the old home like it was her own and had been volunteering at it for over 40 years.  

Bullock Hall

We were going to see two other antebellum homes but when our guide asked if we wanted to see something besides homes we jumped at the chance to see some other things too.  So we headed off towards Marietta. He took us by the only Federally operated Union graveyard in the United States, the Kennesaw Civil War battle site, Marietta square, and a Confederate cemetery.  What's interesting about this cemetery is that the soldiers are all buried in an area from the state that they came from. All of the soldiers from Texas are all buried together, the ones from Mississippi are buried together and so on. 

Confederate Cemetery

The tour guide was an avid history buff and especially a Georgia history buff so he had lots of stories about all of the places we were traveling by and about the places that we went to.  We had a great day and ended the day having a delicious BBQ dinner at Twin Smokers.

All of the different woods they use to smoke their meat 

And we drove home in driving rain….