NY, Philly, Baltimore and DC

Just recently I realized that in the last 3 months I've been to NYC, Philly (twice), Baltimore and DC! Wow! I've loved all these trips, each in a different way. Fun with Wags in Philly and Baltimore....fun with daughters in NY and DC. Oh, and I've been to Richmond and Charlottesville too.....work and to visit another daughter. All cool places.

My last visit to DC reminded me why I like it there so much. We biked there, our daughter whiz-guiding us from Georgetown into DC. It was a whirlwind......zooming past monuments, memorials, reflecting pools, museums, galleries.....dodging pedestrians and puddles, not stopping, just flying by all the familiar landmarks. I loved that....whoosh! But whoa! Stop! Gotta take at least one picture. OK, by the Capitol.

DC is cool, like NY, in the diversity of people. On the Mall where all the visitors go, you hear so many kinds of languages. Once stopped at a light.....I think this is the one we stopped at for a double light....there was a SEA of thousands (well maybe only a hundred) kids all dressed in bright lime green, coming towards us...so broad and wide there was no way for bikes to get through that throng. BUT, I heard a language where I thought to myself....hmmmm, that must be Russian. Ha! What do I know of Russian? It could of been any Eastern European language, Polish, Serbian...who knows, in fact, if I'd even heard OF this language before....or if it was really Eastern European....I'm just making that part up....it just sounded like that's what it SHOULD'VE been. DC is like that.....people from every pocket of the world.

I love the SCALE of the architecture there. Thank goodness there's such a thing as grandeur in a nation's capitol. Columns too big to put your arms around and so high....froo-froo filigree do-dads at the top. These buildings cry out that they are IMPORTANT.

And of course, I love the Metro....more modern and space-agey than the NY subway....almost futuristic to this small-town girl. But the escalators are so long! I can remember going down one with a small child thinking, hang on tight or that's all she wrote....down the tubes they'd be if they took a tumble. But so easy to get places! So much better than traffic clog-up!

The fourth and most important reason I love DC, though, is because of all the planes going overhead, taking off and heading west along the Potomac. It is such a wonder that so many people are going so many places. Planes taking off at a one-a-minute clip during heavy traffic time. I get goose bumps thinking of all the places people are going. Here, there, and everywhere....off and out and into the world....going places, going somewhere.....


Our Baltimore Field Trip was really fun.....a beautiful day, the Visionary Arts was great as always. I love that kind of stuff. Note the photo of Dr. Bonner's soap shrine. Hoho.....he was a nutcase! .....as are many of the artists at that museum. (and maybe the small group of women from Lititz visiting!) A trip on the Water Taxi over to Fell's Point and lunch.....WITH Loose Cannon and Small Craft Warning Beer....yep, I think that just about summed up our group. You know, I know how busy everyone is at this time of year. It's hard to carve out time for this sort of thing. In fact, if I hadn't been in charge, I probably wouldn't have made it either. But man-o-man, once we were there, all the usual stuff fell away and faded into the background.....and the fun and pleasure of the day took over. Way worth it! It's sort of like when I had little kids....lotsa little kids, whoa, it can wear you right out. But a day or night out, and phew!, your strectched-to-the-max personal rubber band shrinks back to normal and reshapes into the more relaxed and fun person you really are. Hubba, hubba, I'm glad I HAD to go to Baltimore!