Dear Madame:
Definitely, we need a travel
label. Can you make it so? (“number 1!”)
:)
The day after the 4th
(that would be the 5th, but people can perhaps place the reference
in a better mind-frame by the phrasing) started out with a carrot, beet, sweet
potato, tomato, kale, spinach juice from a place called the Juice Joint Café. Healthy and delicious, even without some of
the fiber which gets lost in most juicing.
Today we toured the International
Spy Museum, a place that I did not budget enough time for and which we
shortchanged ourselves on the museum part itself. We signed up to do one of their “operations,”
(Operation Spy, in this case), and our appointed time left us with barely more
than a third of the museum experienced.
Rushing past all the wonderful James Bond villains displays, etc., for
example, was disappointing, and MFP was, if anything, more disappointed than me
at having to do so. But before that, we
saw a lot of historical spy gadgetry, methods, and descriptions of spy scenes,
including agents that got caught. Spying
has a lot of aspects, and it was interesting to look at the details. The museum was founded by a “friend of the US
intelligence services” who probably had many spy aspects himself (he’s still
living, as far as I know). The place
radiates “cool,” and with a good yogurt, shake, and sandwich stop next door
(smart owner!), it was nicely situated.
Operation Spy had us joining others
as US agents in a mythical country. We
got some brief time to get situated, then we had to find a secret way into the
country within 15 seconds. We did, got
some continuing tech help, and then got our detailed briefing about the
operation, which largely consisted of trying to stop the transfer of nuclear
weapons materials. We had to navigate a secret, patrolled tunnel by shorting
out security cameras, and our group wasn’t very “cohesive,” but we found out it
was “broke” and had to be bypassed anyway.
We had to search an office (we got a lot of stuff, but we left it a mess
for when the occupants came back, and they were on to us, which blew our
mission). We got to interrogate someone
by remote tv though. Finally, a
simulated helicopter picked us up and took us to “safety,” where we got chewed
out by the station chief. Some parts
were hokey, but overall it was fun! Recommended,
especially if you get a good station guide.
Afterwards, it was a train ride out
to the end of a Metro line, to be picked up by one of my cousins who I had not
seen in 20 years or more. She and her
husband picked us up and took us to her sister’s (also my cousin, obviously)
house, where that cousin, her husband, my uncle, and his ex-wife live. My uncle and my (ex?) aunt, both of whom had
since the divorce remarried and then lost their new spouses, primarily live
there at my cousin’s request for family cohesion, although everyone seemed to
get along pretty well.
Swam and sunned in my cousin’s pool
(MFP loves the water), and then talked a lot to my uncle. He’s a federal judge, still working (and
still vigorous, despite some cancer) in his 80s. The husband of the cousin who picked us up
lives on a gluten-free diet, so he gave me a Redbridge, which tasted extra good
that day. Change out of swimsuit in my
uncle’s room, which is decorated in grand style, with bound classics (something
of a new favorite of my uncle) on the shelves. We eat some guac and dip and
other appetizers and talk a lot, and still another cousin (they’re all sisters
or half sisters) comes over. The
governor of Maryland’s wife (yes, you read that correctly) comes over for about
an hour and was going to stay since her husband was out of town, but her
daughter unexpectedly calls to go to a movie and she heads out. We eat shortly after she leaves, everything
grilled by the man of the house, who I later find out in addition to being
quite the chef is an accomplished DJ, musician, and music teacher.
My uncle likes British detective
shows, so we watched one on PBS. It was
the perfect low key thing to do.
Afterwards, I played “In Dreams” (from LOTR) on the piano for them (the
sheet music was there; one of the kids had it out to practice). Speaking of kids, MFP hit it off fine with my
cousin’s children after an initial bout on their part of being “afraid of the
newcomers.” My cousin, when I had told
her we were in Washington, had invited us over to celebrate the 4th
on the 5th, so they had a fireworks display in the driveway while we
sat around in chairs in the dark and watched.
It was nifty. We bid our byes to
my uncle, wish him (and my cousin, who is overseeing his new diet) well in his
health challenge, and then get our things.
The original cousin (and her hubbie) who picked us up takes us back to
Metro before midnight, where we have a bit of a wait (and my cousin and her
husband wait in the car and ensure we get on) and eventually we do. Then one of the tracks is getting
maintenance, so we have to get off, get on a bus, and go to a far off stop and
resume. Along the way, a couple from
Georgetown U. (based on his shirt and their conversation) was on the bus right
in front of us, with her wearing what had to be close to the legal minimum of
clothing, lol. We reboard another train,
get off at our stop, then walk the two blocks to the hotel past the still
bustling mixture of club goers, homeless, etc., and head up the elevator.
My cousin texts me on the way to
bed and says that our visit really perked my uncle up. Sometimes when I think that any of my efforts
to make a positive difference in the world come strictly to naught, it’s things
like those that remind us that family and personal relationships are where we
can often readily make the most difference.
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