Summer is definitely upon us here in DC and has brought with
it heat, humidity, and frequent “severe thunderstorm warnings.” I don’t think I’ve ever experienced as many
emergency broadcast system alerts in my life as I have since the summer began
here. Even this afternoon, the
90+-degree heat was interrupted mid-afternoon by lightning and dumping rain…
and the accompanying alert sound on the TV.
Heat and torrential downpours aside, we have done our part
to explore DC. We’ve explored lots of
the museums and public buildings in DC, including the Capitol (and found more yet
references to William Jennings Bryan – he’s everywhere!), Museum of Natural
History, National Portrait Gallery, and National Archives. We’ve also enjoyed the great outdoors and
explored the National Arboretum and National Zoo, and listened to the US Navy
Band play big band jazz standards on the west steps of the Capitol. Have I mentioned that everything in this town
is FREE??? A miser’s paradise!
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| Pandas at the National Zoo! |
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| My great- great-grandpappy in Statuary Hall at the Capitol |
This past weekend, we opted for a change of scenery and
headed to Delaware in search of a beach and cooler weather (we hoped). What we mainly found in Delaware were corn
fields. They are definitely giving Iowa
a run for the money as far as growing corn goes. We did find a nice beach at Cape Henlopan
State Park… but we did not find cooler temperatures. It was just as hot... and it was swarming with like-minded folk looking for relief from the heat. We hung out for a little bit, but with no
shade in sight, we had to give up.
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| The beach - and the overheated masses - at Cape Henlopan |
In lieu of the beach, we went to nearby Lewes for lunch and
then to Dover Downs, a huge hotel/casino/horse track/race car track and, as
best we could tell, really the only thing to do in Dover. No races were going on but we did our best to
fully absorb the full experience by playing penny slots while drinking Bud
Light.
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| A little park in Lewes. The town has a volunteer task force of gardeners to look after all the flowers in town. |
The next day, on our way back to DC, we stopped in Annapolis,
did a super quick tour of the visitor center at the Naval Academy, and walked
along the waterfront. Annapolis proved
to be a highlight of the weekend – it’s a cute little town with lots of really
well-preserved historic buildings. It’s
only about an hour from DC, so I sense there will be another day trip there soon
to do a bit more exploring.
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| Downtown Annapolis |
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| Our lunchtime vantage point in Annapolis |
Lastly, despite what this post may imply, we haven’t just
been playing tourists here. Andrew has
been able to continue working for his company and has been periodically away on
various work trips to St. Louis, Houston, and this week, New York. And I am in the next phase of my
training. This is week #3 of a 24-week
Spanish program. The brief Spanish studies
I’ve done over the last couple of years have definitely given me a bit of a
head start, but I still have so much to learn. I have a small group class for four hours a
day, private meetings with a teacher and a “learning consultant” a couple times
a week, and in between, lots of lessons in a language lab and practice on my own. It’s a full time school dedicated to just one
subject… so let’s hope I finally am able to learn it!
