washington, dc
On the way back from FL we found a hotel not far outside Washington, D.C. and got comfortable. Fred and I left Joe there (with an emergency list - cell phone number, tour name and number, etc.) in front of the tv and left to do a night tour of Washington. I saw the white house (actually I saw a lot more, but that was the most important site to me).
The next day the shuttle (comfort inn landmark) let us off at the Van Dorn St. metro. We took the blue line to metro center and switched to the red line to Union Station. We got off, walked to the capital building, took a few pictures and figured it was too hot for a tour. We walked on, found the botanical garden center and took a nice long visit there. Plant Heaven for sure!!
We walked all the way down the "mall" to the Washington monument (at least a mile). Unfortunately for us they had already given out the last of the tickets to get inside. Sigh... Then we walked towards the white house. We sat in the shade discussing our options when we heard sirens. Vice pres Cheney went flying on by. Now I have seen a motorcade in person. Impressive!! About 5 or 6 motorcycle cops, an SUV (black of course) and a limo, followed by two police cars.
We walked on a bit, and bought a few touristy things (totebag for me, tee for Joe). We came to the corner of Pennsylvania Ave and were looking for the metro entrance when we found a tour company (van tour). We paid and got onboard. Pretty good tour. When we stopped at Arlington National Cemetary I was pretty done in and needed to pee. I went to the visitor's center while Joe and Fred went to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.
I came outside and sat on a very warm granite bench. While I was waiting I watched a bird. It was on the windowsill of a car and would attack the car's side mirror. Then it would fly to the ground or the top of the mirror and then back to the windowsill and back to attacking the mirror. It thought it's reflection was a rival...hehehe.
I got tired of waiting and when I noticed the van waiting for us I walked over, thinking the others on the tour might have taken a different way out. I was the only one on board. Fred showed up with about 5 minutes to spare. The other family kept us waiting for a long time. The last stop on the tour was the new WW II memorial. Very impressive. The other family decided to see that and bail on the ride back.
We let our guide know and got in. I took their water bottles. Why leave a mess?! We got off at a metro station (metro center?) and as I got off I palmed a tip for our tour guide (murphy). He was very appreciative.
We got back to the Van Dorn Station and had to wait a long time for a shuttle. One got there, but with all the people waiting, we ended up waiting another 1/2 hour for the next one. We were going to go swimming, but just went out and got pizza to eat in the room. I like Pizza Hut Pizza!! We left the next morning. Note to self: bring glade for long trips with Fred!!! Man needs to cork his butt!! PU!

Eva
We left Revere at 8:00am July 6th, and arrived July 7th. The drive down took 25 hours. When we got there it appeared that no one was home. I checked under the plant pot like she told me to, no key. Uh oh! I tried the door and found it unlocked. As we entered I saw her asleep on the couch diagonally opposite the door. We all gathered around her, (Joe, Fred and I) and I called quietly to her and shook her shoulder. She was very sleepy, but happy to see us. We all hugged and felt a tad misty-eyed. She had been sleeping with the tiniest kitten! A real cutie, all grey fur and white markings (tummy, legs and face). This was Ailill.
We moved all our junk into the spare bedroom in her trailer. The mattress and box spring were on the floor (she didn't have an extra frame). I couldn't believe how comfortable they were to sleep on. Usually I don't sleep well in a new bed, and wake up with aches and pains. Not this time!
While we were down there, we went to the beach several times. Fred picked up a bit of color, my freckles melted together a bit more and Joe got a bit of a sunburn on his shoulders. One of the beach trips we went to a store to buy extra beach towels (we only had two), and touristy tees with humorous slogans. Fred got the Jacksonville Beer Patrol shirt, Joe got the Grabherbootie and Pinch shirt (Abercrombie and Finch) and I found a shirt my size, nothing funny, but it does say Jacksonville on it. The beach towels were available with "Jacksonville Beach" on them, and a choice of designs. Joe picked a dark blue with dolphins. To keep it somewhat along the same lines, I picked a green with dolphins and Fred opted for a light blue with dolphins. I bought a couple of necklaces (chokers) with a flip-flop on them. I'll need to get a longer necklace, at least for me, probably for Linda too.
The second day going to the beach we went to Walmart and picked up a beach umbrella tent and two folding chairs. Note to self: bring a shovel or scoop to beach to dig down far enough to hold umbrella in good wind. It's too colorfull for my taste, but it does the trick. Several people asked where we'd gotten it.
One day we took Eva. We all enjoyed the beach and Fred stepped on something several times that felt spongy and moved out from under him.
We ate out at a number of different places, Krystal's (2.5" hamburgers),Sonny's(we had pulled pork), Bono's(can't tell if this is good barbecue, it is only my second barbecue restaurant), Grand Buffet (don't ever eat Chinese food in Jacksonville - no restaurant does it right), Firehouse (subs), Philly's Finest Cheese Steak & Pizza(hmmm....go all the way to Florida to eat a "Philly" cheese steak sub - what's wrong with this picture!!), Golden Corral(the steak melted in my mouth - many good things to eat, but a tad high in sodium), Barnhill's Buffet(southern food buffet - I enjoyed it!), Wafflehouse, and of course McDonald's(including the Mayport McDonald's (on the navy base, we had to have a naval dependant bring us on base - this is the McD's Eva works at).