Visiting My Daughter in Washington DC
Visiting My Daughter in Washington DC
My husband Tim and I took a quick break this past weekend Visiting My Daughter in Washington DC. We were way past due for a visit as it had been two years since we had last traveled to see her. Fortunately Caroline comes home regularly so we had plenty of opportunities to see her in the past two years. But this was our first opportunity to visit her in the house she shares with four other girls in the Woodley Park section of Washington DC.
Katherine Bryant is one of the five room mates sharing the house. Katherine is my niece (daughter of Brad and Kay Bryant) and we double dipped by getting in a visit with her.
We had a great weekend sharing meals and activities with Caroline and her Washington DC room mates. We caught a glimpse of what their life must be like when we are away. We slept in Caroline’s bedroom and Caroline had a pull out cot in Katherine’s room for the weekend. It was nice to share coffee in the morning and listen in to the girls plans and activities for the day.
One of the neatest activities of the weekend was walking around the campus of the high school where Caroline teaches history. It was a lovely, sunny and warm afternoon and we saw all the spring sports in action: lacrosse, softball, baseball, tennis. We met lots of teachers and students. It was hard not to respond when one of the students came up and said “hello Ms English”. But of course they were initially speaking to Caroline and not me.
We were on the go all weekend. Friday evening we cooked a big dinner for the house: mushroom risotto, grilled salmon, grilled veggies and a huge salad. Later Friday night we caught Caroline’s room mate in a band performance in he hip Morgan Adams neighborhood of Washington DC. The room mate is a speech therapist during the day and lead singer of a rockin band on weekends. The performance was in a crowded bar and it was entertaining in a lot of ways. The band has groupies and it was entertaining to watch them rock out to the music. Caroline’s roommate has an awesome voice. Hoping she makes it BIG some day.
Saturday we attended the Washington Nationals game as Tim had forever wanted to see the stadium and we all love baseball.
Saturday night we were dinner guests of the Siekes in Alexandria, VA (parents of Caroline’s boyfriend).
After a leisurely Sunday morning breakfast we toured the gardens of the National Cathedral. The gardens were in full bloom, No pictures because it was raining buckets of water. Katherine said it reminded her of visits to England and I quite agreed.
After a late lunch at Surfside, a Mexican type restaurant nearby, we hustled back to the house to change for the DC United and New York Red Bulls soccer match. We sat in the pouring rain and freezing temperatures to watch DC United hammer the Red Bulls and were rewarded with free DC United Scarves.
Our post game warm up was hot chili at Ben’s Chili Bowl in Downtown DC. This is one of President Obama’s hangouts (look for a clue, I sat in his regular seat).
The weekend ended too quickly.
Monday we rolled out at dark thirty to beat the DC traffic and I spent the 10 hour drive back to Atlanta on my cell phone and iPad working weekend offers, counteroffers and other brokerage business. Good thing Tim likes to drive.
After hitting the door in Atlanta early Monday afternoon I was out meeting clients and hustling contracts. It was almost as if the weekend never happened.