Sunday, July 20, 2014
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Capitol
Fourth
Well,
I was pretty frazzled by the time I hit DC, so I had a nice nap before going to
my friends’ house across from the Iwo Jima Monument in Arlington, VA.
This
is considered one of the best places to see the fireworks, and people were
arriving in droves.
We had an unbeatable view from my friends’
rooftop five stories above the thousands below. We had the All-American cookout
with burgers and dogs, and various pasta and potato salads, iced American Flag
cookies and cherry pie with vanilla ice cream and red, white & blue M&Ms.
Let the fireworks begin! (Among other
patriotic songs, I sang the second verse to the National Anthem which none of
them had ever heard.) Can you get eyeburn from watching fireworks! It seemed
like they went on forever, but probably only half an hour for the main show.
The horizon fireworks were spectacular, too, with more than a dozen displays
going off at any one time until well after midnight. I could see these from my
top floor apt. at the hotel, but gave up and went to sleep after midnight.
We tried to take photos, but most didn’t come
out, although you can see them all at pbs.org/a-capitol-fourth. I spent the
next day resting up for my trip to Lithuania and having take-out from Red, Hot
& Blue which is one of the finest BBQ joints in Virginia.
On the flight from DCA to JFK, I had the best
view of DC from the Jefferson to the Washington monuments to the Capitol and
Library of Congress. As we approached JFK we flew right past Lady Liberty.
Spent my layover time calling friends and family before leaving the country. The
flight was long but uneventful until we neared Helsinki, and then they moved
those of us going to Vilnius up to business class to give us a chance of making
our flight. For those of you old enough to remember, we ran like OJ Simpson
through the airport and actually made the bus that took us to the plane. A
short hop over the Baltic Sea & the Baltics and we were there at last.
Since Lithuania’s in the EU, there’s no going through customs any more, but at
least a dozen of us waited and waited for our suitcases which never arrived!
Aaaaaarrgggghhh!
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Hurricane Arthur
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I
am truly going to make an effort to keep up with my blogues this trip. I
may even have time to write up some of my previous adventures, but let
us start with the beginning of this one. It’s Thorsday; I’m packed and
off to Capt. Patt’s in SF. The traffic is terrible leaving town, but
fortunately I’m the reverse commute although I’m heading downtown, and
it’s the bottom of the sixth and the Giants are losing. I find a parking
space at 3rd & Bryant and head to DarTeaLing for
afternoon tea with my friend Jerry. It compares quite favorably to
Lovejoy’s and we enjoyed it very much. I dropped Jerry off at his place
and then off to Patt’s for a bon voyage spaghetti dinner with Jack &
Pasha. The food and company were fine and fun and since I was lending
my car to Patt while I’m away, he drove me to the airport. Little did I
know this was just the start of my misadventures! My suitcase is not
overweight, but the lady at the counter tells me that my 10 pm plane has
not even left the ground from Logan airport due to the hurricane, and
they are not expecting it till 3 or 4 in the morning. Aaaaahhhhhh! What
am I going to do for the next 6+ hours?
Fortunately, they were able to re-route me through Ft. Lauderdale, but I
was assigned a middle seat (only one left on the plane). The couple who
boarded were just as surprised to see me since they thought they’d have
the whole row to themselves. They very graciously asked if I’d like to
move to the window or the aisle so they could sit together? I joyously
complied, and I arrived in DC only 3 hours later than planned. It was
just as well, however, because when I arrived at the hotel, they weren’t
sure my room was ready. The kid at the desk was so nice; he went up to
check on it, and returned with the good news that it was. I have never
seen the place so crowded, and he told me they were fully booked through
Monday. I’ve stayed at this hotel for over 20 years and they gave me
the best room ever! It was a huge 1 bedroom suite on the top floor with a
view of the Potomac. A little thing like a hurricane couldn’t stop me
enjoying a Capitol Fourth of July.
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