I took an “extra” DC trip this past Wednesday with Mom, Sis, and her boyfriend Chris Lysy. They had previously ordered tickets to see Wicked at the Kennedy Center for December 28, and when I found out that I would be off that day, I asked if I could come along, and Mom agreed. It turned out that my presence was quite helpful, as I knew exactly where I was going, both on the road and on the train, and also knew my way around Washington better than the rest of them. Plus I’m never one to pass up a trip to Washington, after all. Especially one where I didn’t have to pay for gas.
We were also celebrating Sis’s 21st birthday, which was on the 26th.
The trip was, to an extent, run like a regular DC trip of mine. Get to Vienna, park, ride to Rosslyn, go into Washington, run around for a bit, then go to Pentagon City. Our destinations while “running around” were things that Sis and I both picked.
At Rosslyn, we went to one of Sis’s favorite places – Freedom Park. That’s the outdoor museum that I first visited in my Freedom Is Not Free photo set in 2002. Interestingly, except for the first time, I’ve only been to Freedom Park with Sis. We went to Freedom Park in November 2002 along with a visit to the Iwo Jima Memorial, and Sis and I went to Freedom Park before the A16 protest.
Then after that, we went past the Waterview construction site (where I did my Urban Demolition photo set about the building that previously occupied that site), and back to the Rosslyn Metro station. We rode around to the U Street-Cardozo station, and went to Malcolm X Park, where I’d been three times before. Once for J20, and then twice for my Malcolm X Park photo set, which I shot over two days.
While at Malcolm X Park, since the fountains were turned off, I got Mom to take a picture of me standing in the dry fountain for the splash page for Schumin Web for January.
Then we were going to go to the Infoshop, and then changed the plan to go to Union Station. Then, realizing the time, we nixed it entirely, and just went down to Pentagon City. Sis and Chris were going to do some shopping, and Mom and I were going to scout out restaurants for later.
This is also when Mom told me how glad she was to have me on this trip. It gave her someone to talk to and be with on this day, since Sis and Chris were totally into each other, and Mom would have otherwise been a fifth wheel on the trip. She also realized how well I knew the Metro, considering that I knew where to stand on the platforms at our originating stations so that we would end up right next to the escalator at our destination station. It helps when one has been to all 86 stations in the system. I also knew my Metro etiquette, reminding everyone to stand to the right on the escalators. Mom did fairly well, though she did need a few “Mom, stand to the right” reminders.
We decided to go to Murali, an Italian restaurant at Pentagon Row. Nice place. Very good food, and quite filling. Sis had her first drink – a margarita, at my suggestion. She originally wanted a “girly drink” like a strawberry daiquiri, but as they didn’t make frozen drinks, my suggestion of a margarita was accepted. And besides the practicality of it, that was my first drink as well back in 2002. So it’s kind of a tradition.
Then after Murali, we piled onto the Metro, and took Breda 2040 to Foggy Bottom. I found the Kennedy Center shuttle for the three of them, and wished them a good time at the play. I didn’t have a ticket due to my late addition to the trip, but it’s just as well – the theater doesn’t interest me much anyway. I ended up walking around downtown Washington for a bit, and then ultimately did a little railfanning, riding out to Huntington and to Franconia-Springfield. Then from Franconia-Springfield, it was back to Foggy Bottom to pick up the theater-goers, and it was back to Vienna for us, and then back home.
All in all, it was a fun trip, though a tad unconventional for me. The last time I’d taken anyone with me to DC was Sis for A16, and then the last time Mom went with me was August 2003 (Sis was on that trip as well). Note that I did meet Mom in DC after we’d traveled up separately, though – in July 2004, and on September 24 of this year.