Wonderful Weekend Walks and Other Fun Adventures with Mom and Dad

Just as I arrived home from Race for the Cure on Saturday, Mom and Dad arrived in Arlington, having driven down from Ridgewood that morning. This weekend trip was their Christmas present from me, and we had such a wonderful visit. We took two walks together, yesterday morning and this morning, which is how I'm going to justify including a report of all of our weekend activities on my 3-Day blog!

After a delicious lunch at Lost Dog on Saturday, I showed Mom and Dad around the Bon Air Memorial Rose Garden, which I had also enjoyed exploring toward the end of last Saturday's walk. We were lucky enough to discover the Sunny Garden, located right behind all of the pretty roses. I had missed this on my last visit and was really happy to have the chance to see it this time around, because I love wildflowers.

After spending about 30 minutes in the gardens, we went to the Westin Arlington Gateway so that Mom and Dad could check in for their two-night stay. At about 4:30, we drove downtown to meet up with Robbie's aunt and two cousins and had a delicious dinner at Old Ebbitt Grill, where Mom took this picture of Dad and me.

Then, we hopped back in the car and drove over to the Kennedy Center, to see Robbie sing with the Washington Men's Camerata in a wonderful concert. What a treat! During intermission, our friend, Kelli, took this great picture of Dad, Mom, and me out on the Kennedy Center terrace, which overlooks the Potomac, as well as Georgetown and the Key Bridge, visible between Mom and me.

After the concert concluded with a rousing encore, a dozen of us headed over to the Silver Diner for our traditional, post-concert milkshakes. We were lucky enough to get the chance to spend some time there with our good friends, Josh and Naina, who were visiting from London, having moved there a little over two months ago after living in Arlington for several years. Josh and Naina have given me a generous contribution for the 3-Day. What do you know? You probably thought I'd forgotten this blog is about the 3-Day, but I didn't!!

After a late night out on Saturday, we slept in and didn't meet up until 8:30 yesterday morning for a walk. We didn't go very far, covering just under four miles, but it was a good walk nonetheless. From home, we went west on the Custis Trail and then headed south on the Four Mile Run Trail.

We passed right by the gardens we'd admired on Saturday, and then reached our destination: the Bluemont Junction Caboose. The caboose, which dates to 1972 (it looks older to me!), is a museum which interprets the history of the communities that developed along the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad and associated trolley lines.

After our walk, I packed a picnic lunch, which we ate on the grounds of President Lincoln's Cottage at the Soldiers' Home, in upper northwest DC. We ate farfalle with salsa cruda, fruit salad, carrot bread, and gingersnaps, sitting under a tree which I'm sure Lincoln must have sat under, too.

Oh, and we also had sour cream and onion Pringles! In addition to being delicious, these chips make excellent duck beaks!!

After lunch, we took an hour-long tour of President Lincoln's cottage. As a history lover, I've been on many tours of various historic sites across the US and Europe, and hands down, this is one of the top three tours I've taken (a tour of Ely Cathedral in England and of Alcatraz Island being the other two). I got an absolute thrill climbing the same stairs President Lincoln walked when he was drafting the Emancipation Proclamation. Our tour guide was fabulous, and we learned so much from him. Lincoln and his family began spending time at this house, located 3.5 north of the White House, shortly after he became President, most often in the summer, so he could escape the steamy heat surrounding the White House. He also sought some peace and quiet, away from the White House callers who visited him day and night, and also wanted to escape the dangers of the Civil War, given that the White House was a target of the Confederate Army. Paradoxically, he was actually probably more exposed to the rigors of the Civil War here, given that the grounds surrounding his summer home served as a campground for Union soldiers and that the predecessor to the Arlington National Cemetery was also located here. During the height of the war, Lincoln could see thirty to forty soldiers buried each day, as he looked out the windows of his home toward the cemetery.

After our tour ended, we drove back to Arlington and went to Robbie's, where we enjoyed an amazing Italian dinner prepared by his mom. Thirty of our friends were there, and I was so happy Mom and Dad got to spend time with them. What a meal it was!

After a good night's sleep, we met at 7:00 this morning for a walk, this time, covering 5.4 miles, heading west on the Custis Trail and the Washington & Old Dominion Trail. When we arrived at our destination (the same boundary marker I visited last weekend), Mom and Dad posed for this picture.

We turned around and returned home, and at 9:30, I walked over to the hotel, where we had a delicious and leisurely breakfast at Pinzimini.

Much too soon, it was time for me to bid Dad and Mom a fond farewell. What a perfect weekend it was! As I write this, they are on their way back to Ridgewood, and I am enjoying my first AWS day off. Beginning today, I have every other Monday off, which means there will be more time for me to train for the 3-Day. But for now, I'm going to sit on the couch and do some cross-stitch!