Home Again!

Saturday I woke up on the train a year older and doing what I love to do: travel. And oh what an amazing journey it has been!! Something was missing, though, and I was reminded that there is something I love even more than traveling and that is being with my family, especially on my birthday. So, despite the very special card from my travelling buddy, lots of birthday texts and phone calls, being in one of my favorite cities and staying with two kind and welcoming people, the day was never quite right. Fun and interesting, but not quite right. Luckily, I would be seeing my family very soon!

Beauties

Bug-like!

We arrived in DC mid-afternoon – only an hour and a half late – and were met by Beth’s friend, Jennifer, and her son, Joey, who shared their home with us last night. They have been living outside of DC for about 6 months, so were primed for showing us around since they have recently done many of the museums and tours themselves and are still enthusiastic about the city’s offerings.  Jennifer suggested the United States Botanical Gardens as a place to start, which was full of  - shock of shocks – beautiful flowers and unusual plants. The hundreds of varieties of orchids were surprising to me: most were exotically beautiful but some looked more like insects! Being barely able to keep a philodendron alive, and having murdered an orchid or two in the past, I was taken by these delicate, thriving beauties.

Since it had been more than four hours since Beth and I had last eaten, our stomachs were complaining. One thing for sure about this trip is that we haven’t gone hungry; in fact we’ve rarely gone more than 3 hours without food.  Joey had the answer for where to eat: “We, The Pizza.” This eatery is so much more than a pizza parlor. The owner is a chef who believes in all the things I believe in when it comes to food: local, sustainably raised and good! So, we had delicious pizza with farm fresh vegetables, local beer, and [YES!] free-range chicken wings. For dessert we had their farm fresh and homemade gelato that was as good as my gold standard for gelato: Paciugo, near my dad’s home in St. Petersburg, FL. My kinda birthday dinner!

After dinner we drove past the Lincoln Memorial where a school group was reciting Martin Luther King’s Dream Speech one sentence per student. I can’t think of a better way to get middle school students to grasp that speech. From there we drove out to Jennifer and Joey’s home and enjoyed their company along with a rock-and-roll free night.

Sunday, the train from DC to Rocky Mount (Raleigh for Beth) left and, thankfully, arrived on time. At this point it was simply a means of transportation, no longer the romantic and exciting train travel of my imagination.  Tony welcomed me at the station and all of the kids & grandkids (except Dalen and Scotty) were waiting with a birthday dinner surprise at the beach home when we pulled in. Sigh of happiness – it’s so nice to be home!! 

Home!

I do like train travel, though, and expect it won’t be long until I ride the rails again. Until that time, my blog along with my suitcase will be set aside. Thank you for joining me along the way – Westward Ho!