William in VA - just a few more days

How quickly one forgets what happened. We came home Thursday and just unpacked etc. Nothing more to report (I spoke wrong at the end of the last blog).

It was Friday when  we decided that we should go to the VMFA, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond. James and I have been members there for many years. 

Here too are interesting stories to read with the displayed items.

Had to spoil the boy one more time and go for lunch to Sushi Masa again. It was even more fun this time because we had a better idea what to order.

In the evening we drove to the Atlee Little League Park for Colin's baseball game which was supposed to be at 5:45 pm. 

Just then the sky started to rumble and we gathered under the big shelter. We were told after a while though that we all should shelter in our cars which would be safer in a thunderstorm. Well, it really started to storm after a while. Sarah and we too happened to have parked under some power lines. One doesn't notice these things in good weather. We decided to relocate. But then the game was called off.

Saturday James and I went to the church for the St. Martin's Project (making sandwiches for people in different shelters). Friday's game had been rescheduled for this morning at 10 am and Sarah had offered to pick William up on the way so he could watch it. It all worked out. 

James and I went when we were done and could watch "our team" win. It was quite exciting.

Usually Sarah cuts William's and James' hair but it didn't quite work out this time. His visit is just too short. We stopped on the way home at a Great Clips place and he was happy. His Mom will be too. It's something taken care of.

In the afternoon/evening we had things to do. Wash his clothes and prepping for packing. We watched some TV but at 9 pm we (all 3) were restless and decided to go for a short walk in the neighborhood. It was very lovely, balmy with a light breeze.

Sunday of course we went to church in the morning. His plane nonstop to Nashville was scheduled for 5 pm. We had never used Allegiant before and did exactly what we were told, especially since he was a minor flying alone. This airline does not do "unaccompanied minors" but 15 years and over he can fly by himself.  I had done the check-in and printing of the boarding pass at home. They were very nice at the counter. James and I got a pass so we could go with him through security all the way to the gate. That was nice because there was still a lot of time until the flight. Security didn't take long.

And he got a very nice seat (4A) since he always likes window seats. There is his plane being pushed away from the gate.

Yes, we waited until he was in the air.

And when we were at home I could watch the progress on my phone.

For being a grandmother and my age I think I am not doing badly. Yeah, love my gadgets. Often I think how much my father would have loved all the things possible today. What would he think about that his great-grandson wants to become a pilot. After all, he had learned to fly a plane. Sad that it was because of the war. 

And now we want to say THANK YOU to the parents Helen and Ben for letting us have this time with William. I feel confident to say that he enjoyed it as much as we did. And THANK YOU to God for keeping us all safe when traveling so many miles.

William in VA - DC adventure ending

By  now we know how best to tacle the breakfast. Early enough is the key. Happy packed, room in order, we put our lagguage in the parked car. One more visit to one of the many museums. Walking towards the National Mall we pass the National Museum of the American Indian. It is an impressive and nice looking building.

Interesting totem poles. 

William wanted to go to the National Gallery of Art. All three of us were going our own pace. It was fun to see how much William enjoyed it too.

I am of course much slower than the others. I love reading the posted signs.

I can't make up my mind how much (or not) I like this painting. But I do like that we do not see the apostles' faces. I do not like faces on people in paintings where we really don't know how they looked. The blond Madonnas with the white blond Jesus baby are so unreal. Sometimes it bothers me.

And this I found really interesting.

Yes, there is THE Thinker which is probably the most famous.

Pictures from William!

This Thinker (which I have already mentioned) was just around the corner in the sculpture garden so we decided to take a quick "real" look.

And that was it in DC this time. We walked back to the hotel, got our car and went on our way home.

We had planned to stop at the Albert Einstein Memorial, another Thinker William's father Ben had mentioned. It was too far from our hotel to walk but on our way out of town. It was right next to the road but unfortunately there was no parking. Some construction on the street around the corner seem to be going on and for some reason there was a long line of taxis. We let William out of the car to look but the signs even said "no stopping". So this is not a photo from one of us but from the internet. May be next time we have more luck.

The rattling of the little glassbits in that back door drive me a bit crazy. Obviously they didn't vacuum it out. Something else to take care off later. But the drive on I-95 was not as bad as it sometimes is.

We stop in Woodbridge because that is our closest IKEA. I recently broke a dish which needed replacing. And it is a good place for our late lunch. Swedish meatballs!

We arrive home in good time and there are more activities to report about this day. But that in the next blog. 

The consensus though is that we had a good time and when William comes next year we need to go again. We should do some planning though, get tickets in advance etc etc. May be even a visit into the White House or the Capital?

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Something I have missed yesterday. A selfie from William. He looks so happy in it that of course it needs to be included:

William in Virginia - DC day 2

We all had a good night's sleep. The (included) breakfast ends at 9 so we make sure to not miss it. We have (free) tickets for the Museum of Air and Space for 1 pm, the first ones of the day available. Otherwise we really don't have an agenda. 

Well, not quite true. William wants to see the White House.

So we just start walking and looking at things which interest us on the way. It is amazing how much there is to see every few steps. Here is the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial. 

This pictures the D-Day address to the troops June 6 1944.

Walking along the Mall something is always sticking out, especially the National Monument. It is looking different every time depending on the sun or the clouds. 

Ha-ha, could not resist to imitate a photo we took when William was here just as a little boy. We made him hold up the monument even then too.

We had time and were walking past the National Museum of American History. It was an impressive building from the outside. Good place to cool of for a while.

I had received an important telephone call and sat in the lobby for a while. The others went to enjoy the exhibits. After my call I just went into one wing and thoroughly enjoyed it and took these photos. It reminded me of a lot.

Finally. The White House! We can check this activity off. 

I think William was disappointed. He said he remembered that when he was here before he could go much closer to it. Yes, he was right. He could then go all the way to that fence. We could take a photo through the fence. Oh well, times have changed.

With the White House in our backs we wonder what this circle fence is for. A plaque says that this is the place for the National Christmas tree.

Ha, further away with a zoom you can take a better photo of the White House.

It is very hot by now. It is almost noon. Papa and I find a bench in the shade. William wants to touch the monument and asked. Of course. 

With the zoom on the camera I can even see where he is.

But this is his selfie.

Yup, right there on the right corner!

Then he calls and wants to go quickly to the World War II Memorial. Sure.

Finally 1 pm and we managed the ticket business perfectly. Do not come too early before your ticket time or you might have to stand in a long line for too long. From "your" time you have a whole hour to get in. Ha, 15 minutes after the time there was no more line and we walked straight in. And I even had managed to get them from the internet into my wallet.What we could view was incredible. James and I started with the Brothers Wright exhibition. Years ago we had vacationed in the Outer Banks and had gone to the Wright Brothers Museum there. So impressive.

William went around by himself. Here is a photo from him. But later he voiced his disappointment that half of the first floor was not accessible (renovation) at the moment. As always, after a while I am on "information overload". So much to see. We just have to come back.

We had to chill in our room. And we even didn't have lunch. It was passed 3 pm by now.

Take out from the hotel restaurant. Everybody happy.

Before the trip William and his father had talked about a statue of a "thinker". Which one? There are actually several famous statues named that. I found the "Thinker on a Rock" by Barry Flanagan in the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden. When we wanted to see it the day before on the way back to the hotel we were too late. All the museums close at 5 pm. 

William and I decided we should just quickly go to take that photo. Oh no, we forgot to check the clock. When we arrived it was after 5 pm again. I had fun taking these two photos though.

A bonus though: the National Monument looked different again.

William had to run across the lawn for his photo. Don't know what he had in mind.

When it was time for dinner we asked William to do the search and pick where he wanted to go. He found a roof top place "Sushi By Bou" not far away in another hotel. We started outside to enjoy the view but in minutes it started to rain. We relocated inside.  

William (our expert) declared that the sushi was 'ok' but we had some strange entertainment. Shortly after our arrival a speed dating game had started. The restaurant was on the small side but the dating game was all around us. 

Luckily no rain to walk back to our hotel. Another very interesting day. We are happy and grateful.