Awake: 6:11am sleep 6+41 high thin clouds overnight @ Falls Church, Virginia.
Melissa calls around 8:00 am; they plan on going to Mass @ 10:00 am where, if they drive, it would be (1.2) miles. (We missed that one & don’t know why.) However if they walk & take the shortcut, it’s only (.8) miles. Meanwhile, the boys would like to give us a tour of the “running room” as they call it; actually it’s a big, beautiful, wide & long hallway with entrances to numerous meeting rooms. We agree to meet them in the running room shortly; before we leave our room, Nick calls & they will join us in the lobby soon.
Our tour by Matthew & Andrew included not only the “running room” but also, one floor down, a quick glance @ (2) workout rooms + an indoor & outdoor connected swimming pool. A good tour was given by these (2) youngsters who obviously spent some good times: swimming & running, jumping, cruising these wide & wonderful hallways when no serious meetings were being held in the adjacent rooms.
Back to the lobby, we meet up with Nick, Eriko & Jerry…. & spend a good deal of time together chatting & watching the boys interact with one other. Around 9:00am, Melissa & Kevin are doing their best to figure out the shortcut to the church but the front desk personal were of little help. Meanwhile, I ask the front desk about directions to an I-Hop for breakfast; the girl gave directions & also mentioned another popular breakfast spot: the “Silver Diner.” Thru the yrs, we know all about I-Hops but we don’t know this Silver Diner place + it’s a mere (1.3) miles.
En route to the Silver Diner we pass the Foote family on foot, searching for their shortcut.
Turns out the Silver Diner was an excellent choice: food was great & there were wall boxes in each booth that patrons could use to select rock & roll music & control the sound level in their booth. We didn’t need to feed quarters; the place was busy with lots of other people making selections. Jerry was delighted & demonstrated his singing voice & moving to the beat without any encouragement.
On our return to the Marriott Hotel, Jerry was showing signs of being sleepy; thus Eriko & Nick take their singing dancer to their room for some rest & relaxation. K & I use this idle time to scrutinize the huge Sunday newspaper.
Shortly after 12 noon, the Foote family return; they had walked so far in the heat & humidity but were unsure of being on course for the shortcut to church, so they backtracked, climbed into their big Ford Van & drove those (1.2) miles….making sure they would get there on time.
What should we do today, we query each other; here we are so close to D.C. where there is so much to see & do & we’re having difficulty with doing anything. Having (4) little people (4) years of age & under to think about & keep track of creates a different set of parameters. The Footes have been downtown D.C. over a dozen times in the past (2) yrs so the rest of us look toward them for ideas & answers. After some torturous meeting of the minds, a shaky plan was established which incorporates the Metrorail usage in lieu of auto; we drivers approved of that idea. Then there was the slight delay in getting all details firmly organized before finally, the Marriott shuttle bus zipped us all to the area Metrorail for boarding. Our destination: the National Mall; a (30-35) min ride.
As we exit from the underground tunnel, looking west, one can easily see the Washington Monument; and looking past the Monument, the Lincoln Memorial; as we walk toward more shade & tall trees along side of the Mall, we parallel one of the Smithsonian building, I’m not sure which one. And behind us to the east, the United States Capital Building. To the north, the White House, but that was difficult to see due to the tall National Mall trees.
Melissa selected an area of several tall trees giving us plenty of shade for our picnic lunch. We didn’t know she had planned enough food to feed all of us in that backpack she carried; i.e. home made pizza, grapes, pretzels, granola, etc. While we ate & gabbed, the young guys ran around chasing each other & literally got themselves hot & sweaty. Eriko was concerned that Jerry was a little too red faced & wanted to do something about it; Kevin suggested we walk across the National Mall & visit the air conditioned National Museum of Natural History Museum on the other side; another good idea.
This huge museum was PACKED with people, everywhere; but it was cool & most of all, so very interesting. The Foote family had been here before so they didn’t want to stay as long as the rest of us, especially after the cell phone call from Billie Anne & Jason came through with the opportunity of meeting @ the Marriott swimming pool. Nick & family & we continued to be fascinated with all the displays of true to life dinosaurs, wild animals of all sorts, insects, etc.
Around 5:00pm, Jerry was beginning to show signs of disinterest & that was the clue for us to find the Metro & return to our Marriott. Jerry was asleep shortly after the train started rolling down the tracks. En route, I made a call to notify the Marriott shuttle bus that we will be getting off @ the Dunn Loring-Merrifield stop & need a ride back to the hotel; that call saved us at least (20) mins waiting time.
Evening snack; we & Nick’s family have some chicken sticks, miniature pizzas, cheese, crackers & crudités in the concierge lounge on the 16th floor; then we join Jason, Billie Anne & the Foote family (who are all done swimming) down in the “running room.” Nick & family also join in the fun of: running, jumping, chasing, racing, etc. Did I mention: this hall is long, wide, tall & carpeted with soundproofing material!
Lights out: 10:42pm
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