DC or Bust

We were almost a bust, but instead ended up spending a fun Thanksgiving in Washington DC with Andy's family. That was our original plan, but spending 14 hours in the car coupled with the prospect of driving through the mountains of West Virginia in winter weather didn't sound too appealing, so we decided not to go. But thanks to some very masterful persuasion from Betsy (Andy's twin), we flip flopped again and within the hour were on the road to DC. We left at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night and arrived around 3:30 a.m. The drive through WV was pretty snowy, but Ben slept for most of the drive, so that was our saving grace. We crashed at Betsy's pad in Dupont Circle that night and Ben actually stayed over with her for the rest of the trip (thank you Betsy!!!!) while Andy, his parents, and I slept at a nearby hotel. It was like a mini-vacation to sleep in past 7 a.m.

The weather was sunny and clear in the 50s, a welcome change from our overcast Ohio skies. We had a great time riding Metro (Ben's favorite train), going to Mt. Vernon, seeing the Air and Space Museum and the Museum of American History (newly remodeled), jogging around DC (sore legs and a chiding from Capitol guards for going too close to the Inaguration set-up), taking a walking tour of a beautiful area of the city, playing a very competitive Scrabble game, reconnecting with some good friends from our Boston days, watching a few episodes of the new Battlestar Galactica, and eating a scruptious meal.

Betsy was a fabulous host and planned a traditional meal with some surprisingly yummy additions: An appetizer featuring crackers with perrano cheese and fig jelly, roasted brussel sprouts (seriously delicious), and an apple pie with streusel topping. She and I also scouted out a little gourmet chocolate shop around the corner from her apartment and not only got yummy samples from around the world, but a lesson in the finer points of chocolate connoseiur-ship from the co-owner of the store. My faves: Tahitian Vanilla Bean and Fleur de Sel Caramel chocolates.Ben had a wonderful time with Auntie Betsy and his grandparents and we spent most evenings laughing while Ben jumped onto the couches and wrestled with everyone. One of his funniest moments was after he drank a huge glass of milk and then said to Andy's dad, "Grandpa, listen to the milk in my tummy!" and then proceeded to wiggle around so we could hear it sloshing around. He is also a true Haws and has already acquired a taste for Diet Coke. He kept asking for "a little zip" from everyone's sodas.

We spent today driving back in a perpetual rainstorm all the way from DC, but I'm just glad it wasn't snow. I turned off the heat while we were gone and we returned to a house at a frigid 46 degrees. Hopefully we'll have warmed up by tomorrow.