Thursday, April 16, 2009

Mr. John and Miss Jill Return from DC

Miss Jill and I returned from DC after a seven day sojourn to the Capital. Excitement and crowds overwhelmed us for the first few days as every school-group and miscreant child ran amuck through the city. We did manage to see almost all of the important buildings in the city.

On our first day there, we decided to take a visitor trolley through the city which ended up being poor planning. Everyone in the city took it that day and it was quite crowded. Even more crowded were the Smithsonian museums. However, we did manage to make it out to the National Cathedral (right) in the morning before trekking out to the National Mall. While Jill and I have no problem taking on insuperable amounts of walking distance, we do hate the throngs of ill-behaved crowds.

We made it out to the Washington Monument many times in our daily ventures (see left).

A side note: that Metro system was so efficient that it left me wondering why LA is still dragging its feet on such a thing. We made it to most of the city. I guess the city subway planners strategically placed the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial a distance from the Metro stop to force those silly tourists to make a concerted effort. Of course they could have crowded onto a trolley. Yeah.

We only managed to climb the steps to see Lincoln (see right) once but it was definitely a great view of the Mall as well as the Capitol so far away on the opposite site.

Along with all of the Smithsonian museums, we did make it to the Supreme Court, the Capitol building, the Newseum (highly recommended), and the Folgers Shakespeare Museum. Yes, that is where I, the British lit teacher, sneak off to pay homage to the great bard Bill. Somewhere around here I have a t-shirt which I bought there. We got to DC and the only trinkets we get are the oddities.

When Jill told me that the NCAA hockey final was to be played that week in DC, I jumped at the opportunity of going. Many years back I attended the Frozen Four semifinals in Anaheim with Jeff but never made it to the title game (stupid Easter!). This time I had the opportunity to see the Miami/Boston U final which went to overtime before BU won, 4-3. It was quite an exciting game and even though Jill and I had no vested rooting interest (I represented with my North Dakota jersey), it was quite enjoyable.

Jill and I also made it to the National Zoo where we said Hello to the pandas as well as some elephants, cheetahs, and seals. Our first hotel was within a mile of the Zoo. Our second hotel in Foggy Bottom (what kind of stupid name is that?) was a little more distant from the Metro. But it did have larger elevators.
In paying due respects to our Catholicism, we rode out to the Basilica in northern DC for Easter services. Wow, that place held over 2500 people. At least that congregation was a bit more orderly than the masses in the Smithsonian.

Anyway, we spent a very spirited week seeing all the sites. Now it's time for us to settle down and relax before besieged by our respective occupations again.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Chip Dutifully Waits on Bed

While Miss Jill and I are in DC meeting with the Prez, the bunnies were to stay behind and celebrate Bunny Liberation Day without us. Last year, they set fire to half the neighborhood -- those rebellious rabbits. So this year we hired a bunny sitter but Chip had other ideas. He snuck into our bedroom and sat on the bed for two days... waiting... for Mister John and Miss Jill. I feel bad for poor little Chip Chip Cherie. He shall be rewarded upon our return.

Meanwhile Cherry Bugg has been quietly patient.