Washington was fun!

Last week, my first stop was to go to D.C. to see Jeffrey and Janet. I arrived on the morning flight and the two of them picked me up at the Baltimore airport. As always, it was a wonderful visit spending time with them!!

We lit the Chanukah candles on the menorah that I had made especially for them. Afterwards, Janet made an incredible lentil/spinach soup for dinner to go with some potato latkes (pancakes) and a delicious salad with a homemade miso dressing that was sooo good. Janet is a wonderful cook (and so is Jeffrey!), and I especially enjoy that she makes such healthy things. When you finish a meal like that you feel satisfied but not stuffed.

Dave's plane was delayed in Birmingham, so he didn't arrive until very late that night...and, by then we were all tired and ready for bed. But, the next day we were reenergized and ready to go...so, we headed out into the city for a day of exploration and fun. Because the weather was pretty cloudy, rainy and cold, we planned indoor activities. The Botanical Gardens were our first stop...the gardens were all decked out for the holidays with miniature train sets going around various structures...There is something so fascinating to me about watching the trains go around on the winding tracks.

The poinsettia plants and the large variety of orchids were especially impressive and colorful in the garden displays. I hadn't ever seen some of the variegated varieties that were there. Beautiful!

From there we headed to the Smithsonian Space Center and viewed some of the always interesting exhibits there. After getting our fill of that, we went to see an afternoon movie, "We Are Marshall". I highly recommend it as it was a real 'feel good' movie about how a town rose from a tragedy to become whole again. It is based on the true story about the Marshall College football team's comeback after a horrific loss. It was very inspiring.

After having dinner out that night, we headed back to Jeffrey and Janet's where we played several rounds of games, including Taboo and even an "oldie but goodie" pick up sticks! I remembered playing that as a child many, many years ago and enjoying it so much then. It was still just as much fun as a grown up!

....more tomorrow... : )