July 8, 2011
This Blog Has Not Been Rated

I apologize in advance for too many pictures and the raunchy nature of this blog. If easily offended you may want to go back to your Favorites listing or home page. I feel it is necessary to cleanse this out of my system occasionally.
Broke the bike Saturday; transmission failed on the island. Not sure what I'll do next, might disassemble and ship to a specialist in Charlottesville, VA.
We had a nice but quick trip to DC this week; as Jackson said it really went well for us not to have any plans after the first afternoon. On Tuesday we dove up to Arlington National Cemetery (did you know that you can't picnic on the grounds?), went to Congress and toured behind the scenes with Andrew High; TAR and Jackson were impressed to stand in the midst of so much American history on the floor of the House of Representatives. I do this regularly so........................well, I must admit to being a bit in awe of the history within feet of me. Of course we saw the Air and Space Museum. That evening we tried something REALLY different: Oyamel (www.oyamel.com) restaurant on 7th Street. They serve Mexican food in tapas style servings. I started with a cherry/hibiscus margarita and lost consciousness shortly thereafter. Just kidding, we tried a lot of different foods and for the first time ate goat. It had a very distinctive taste, not too baaaaaaaaaaad but I don't think I'll want any more. Afterwards we went to see Bad Teacher and laughed a lot. Cameron Diaz is a bit over the top but funny. OK there was this one scene where she is.........................shoot, here comes SWMBO; I'll tell you later; very nasty!
Been in DC a bunch of times through the years, never seen this stature. OK Meade, you got lucky one time, it's not as though we're going to build a monument to you; well maybe we will

Right off the Mall we found an art gallery that our family sponsored. It's good to see the Ri ley Foundation hard at work appropriating the vast profits from the Ri ley Lumber Yard. (we own a lumber yard? Not sure where it is...................)

In the Natural History Museum Jackson greets a distant relative; you got me, our first cousin

Toured the Supreme Court for the first time, neat building. Jackson's early career path had him headed here after an All-Star stint in the NBA. And of course that was after his jobs as a burglar and a sniper; the good ones not the bad ones!

Jackson checked out the Justice Department; might end up working there one day. I think he might end up running the place.....................

Saw the monument erected for our sweet daughter-in-law; did a recent in house survey and she was voted our favorite daughter-in-law also!

Jackson in the American History Museum with a trio of his fellow Hampden-Sydney boys

Are you still there? I told you this might get a little rough, but oooooooooooooooooo k. So Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake are at his house and; dang it, here she comes again. (make whistling noise and look inconspicuous, nothing to see here............................)
Let's see, Wednesday as we continued our flight from the Arlington National Cemetery Police we went to the Archives, American History and Natural History. That evening we saw the Nationals beat the Cubs. Fun evening with Andrew High, but if he doesn't bring Leanne next time I'm dumping him in the Anacostia.
Thursday morning we evaded the police and went to the Spy Museum; been trying to go there ever since it opened when Kevin was an intern in the Senate. It was a good museum, but interesting how it showed all of the outdated analog technology. What seemed so high-tech in the 60's and 70's looks like it belongs in a ...................... no, I got nothing. What happened to my simile talent?
We walked by Ford's Theater Wednesday and Jackson and I talked how we've been in there many times but never looked for the alley where Booth escaped. In truth we've never looked for it until that day but we didn't find it as we headed to the ballgame.

The Peterson House was closed for renovations.

But on Thursday as we walked from the Spy Museum we saw an alley. Despite the dramatic objections of TAR we went into the alley. According to Jackson, Booth escaped through the rear entry of the theater and used a horse held by a child, As he mounted the horse he kicked the kid in the head, probably as he spurred the horse. This is called Baptist Alley because a church was once in the structure. You can see the bricked-over doors and windows, but according to the on-duty ranger at the theater the door is in the same place. A previously undiscovered DC treasure!

Any chance you're still reading? OK we now have a rating

R- Restricted

Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian

You've been warned several times.
While at the game Wednesday night I saw a Cubs fan with this shirt. I think I'll print some up and sell them the next time Duke plays Farolina.

And I'm going to blame that outrageous comment on the lovely and talented Cameron Diaz who used that word about 1,000 times Wednesday night. Since I have no originality I must have heard it somewhere...........
I'll try to do better next week, or maybe not since this post was so long; tune in to see.