Virginia Adventure

OK. This is a photo from last spring, but the trees were starting to bloom on this visit.

Years rolled on again, and Wendy had a daughter. 

This ought not to be written in ink but in a golden splash.

~J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan

A friend's daughter recently moved with her family to Fairfax, Virginia. My friend, BC, and I were invited to visit and wasted no time in booking our flight.*

CCC was 14 when I met her and she now has a 14 year old daughter of her own. I watched CCC grow up and marry.  I followed her career and that of her husband as they traveled widely - complements of Uncle Sam. CCC is a force of nature - organized and hard-working. And she nurtures all...a mediator when mediation is called for. Her husband MC is a boisterous young man - smart and funny. Their daughter (hereinafter the "kid") is a delight.

I usually don't take trips where someone else plans the itinerary, but this time I was "along for the ride." And what a ride - a holiday for me. We were wined and dined. We didn't have to plan anything. We had only four goals - to see the gems at the Smithsonian,** to visit the bead shop in Dupont Circle, to visit a quilt shop, and to see my friend's granddaughter play volleyball. We accomplished all our goals and more.

Day 1:

We were advised that we would be having massages on our first full day of the visit. I haven't had a massage in years. It was wonderful, if weird. The therapist climbed up on the table - for leverage I guess. I was so relaxed afterward I kept falling asleep each time I sat down. Perhaps I have been carrying some tension.

Later we headed to a quilt shop. There were so many fabrics I was overwhelmed. I found the giant "loose button" display and sorted buttons with one of the clerks while my friends found quilting fabric and beautiful silk chiffon for scarves. Then I noticed an old friend hanging midst the notions.

OK. I know that most folks are unfamiliar with the term "darn" other than as your grandmother's way to avoid saying "damn."  But "darn" also means repairing fabric items - usually by hand-sewing. I am sharing another blog post for further explanation.*** No, I don't expect you to learn to darn...I just love darning eggs (only one example of personal collections no one will want when I am gone).

Don't get me started on buttons. I loved this ad on the bulletin board.

We headed back to the house where we were fed and I sat down - promptly falling asleep (that massage!).

At some point in the afternoon we stopped by a discount department store, fingered all the clothing, looked at the Easter decor, lost each other as we wandered aimlessly, fretted over the shoes, and entertained the other shoppers. Everyone found something (but what happens in Virginia...).

[Shhhhh! Don't disturb her. She's fallen asleep again!]

Day 2:

We got a late start. It was almost lunchtime when we arrived at Dupont Circle and walked to Beadazzled, one of my MUST DO stops when in D.C. We looked at everything - beads, scarves, jewelry, findings, evil-eye pendants and more. BC purchased a few things for projects before we headed to Kramerbooks and Afterwords Cafe next door.

BC spied this tome through the window - I'm reading it next.

I love this bookstore.

CCC sent a text - she was in the bar. [I didn't even know there was a bar.] I dragged my friend away from the folks she was talking to on the street (she never meets a stranger) and a crazy lady from the bead shop showed us where the bar was hiding just beyond the side room (children's books???).

Irish coffee - it was a cold day! There were snow flurries!

Crab cake pasta.

Our barman, Darrell, was a great sport and saw to it that we were properly fed and hydrated.  He's got some stories now.

Finally we headed to the Smithsonian - The Natural History Museum. There were some stops in the sculpture garden outside (love that giant eraser), before we headed up to see the gemstones.

A crowd gathered around the cursed one, but we had our turn before viewing all the other amazing rocks.

The cursed one (The Hope Diamond)

More impressive stones.

The bird cases on the way in distracted me from the jewelry. You must love the Eastern Screech Owl.

Another family favorite - Curlew

My - I was the only one to see it on the CBC - Wilson's Snipe. There is no missing that out-sized beak.

I love this museum.

BC in the "crystal ball"

I want to do some glazes like this...

These colors would be lovely on pottery.

Day 3:

It was a lazy day (I think we were still a little jet lagged). We played a card game called, "Rats." It uses 3 decks of cards (2 of spades and jokers wild!). The rules are simple, but the strategy takes some work.

That's the "kid" touching the discards. She plays "cut throat."

One of my less than stellar hands...I love the wooden card-holders.

We took a little break to visit a local flea market - a reminder that no one wants your collections or your grandmother's furniture. Sometimes someone might want your books, however. I climbed through the "stacks" to see what might be hiding in the poetry section. Found a little something...

Place looks promising.

No one wants your salt and pepper shakers...love those Mr. Peanut shakers.

No one wants your grandmother's teapot (this is the shape and color and almost design of my grandmother's - which I have and sometimes use. It is a Hall teapot - the best kind.

No one wants this Bobby Vinton LP [As I wandered through this section I talked to a woman who was taking a break from clearing her mother's estate. She said she had some 78 RPM. She agreed that she was having a difficult time finding homes for her mother's things.

Loads of interesting things.

This thrown piece of pottery has a long list of New York City locals. I was tempted as I still collect pottery (don't judge!), but would never be able to get this on the plane.****

The sign on Mr. Kruger's office. I managed to talk him out of the office so he could show me some books in the "book room" where he has well over 100,000 books.

These are the cheap books on a table by the office.

Mr. Kruger disappeared into this maze of literature.

He reassured me I could make it to the section I was looking for. I climbed up the movable library stairs so that he could slip past me. My friends were a little concerned when we disappeared and kept asking questions - keeping us talking as I reviewed titles, picked out two, and negotiated a price.*****

We went inside to see the jewelry and found MORE BEADS! The Gene Simmons look-alike proprietor of this section was from Afghanistan and stocked lovely (and dear) items. Locked cases contained beads and tribal jewelry from all over the place.

BC found some Lapis earrings. MC attempted to negotiate a price on a clock. I gathered stories.

BEADS!

It was more than a little overwhelming

Back at the house we shuffled and dealt a promised "final" game of Rats...and I won!

Winning score sheet******

Day last:

Our final day began early. We loaded up our luggage and headed to a volleyball tournament. We had hoped we would see the kid play and were treated to a number of games where she hustled and served like a champ. She is a tiny thing, compared to many other players, but she makes up for he lack of height with hustle. She's still young. I cannot wait to see how she will play in future years as she and her game mature.

This is not the kid's team - I just wanted to show the set-up. there were 4 courts in this side of the building and more beyond. It was loud. I was relieved to see the netting. Parents and girls were everywhere.

During a break in the action CCC took us to the airport. We were early enough to grab lunch before heading to the gate where we discovered our final DC surprise.  We heard him before we saw Andy Leighton playing familiar songs. He performed a few college fight songs and other tunes that tugged at the memory - classics and movie scores. He's a volunteer and carefully avoids interfering with announcements as he delights travelers, young and old.

If you head to Virginia/DC, you may not be able to be treated to the vacation we had, but if you are lucky you may get to see and enjoy A Touch of Brass - Andy Leighton, Volunteer Musician at Large.

Andy Leighton, Volunteer Musician at Large, performs at National Airport

 

NOTES:

* My friend talks to everyone. Traveling with her is an adventure in itself.

** BC visit DC many years ago. I toured everything last spring. We were here to visit family. The monuments and other museums would have to wait for the next time.

*** On darning - https://diyfashionsense.wordpress.com/2012/12/12/more-than-just-darning/ [My mama said that you could use a light bulb or a laying egg (the glass egg you put in the chicken coop to encourage the hens to lay) if you could not find the darning egg.]

**** A large whiskey jug was held on the plane back from Ireland in 1981, but they won't let you do that anymore.

***** Mr. Kramer has less than stellar YELP reviews, but I found him quite the character and very fair in his pricing. Maybe YELP contributors need more appreciation of characters.

******I tried to find "Rats" online. It is similar to a number of games, but I found nothing exactly like it. I know you need three decks of cards and a different number of sets and lines for each hand. It's those darned wild cards that can make for sharp playing.

      

A daughter is chiseled to chisel the world.

~ Karishma Gajipara

FINAL NOTE:

I cannot forget Mia, the family dog. She's Great Pyrenees and something else. She ate popcorn out of my hand and then rested behind me - I suppose she was there to guard me or make sure I didn't get "out of line."

Mia resting. Sorry this isn't a better photo.