Out of the City

Life without a car is interesting. I handled it in London perfectly. You could do trains to wherever you wanted to go. Almost everything was walkable. It was not hot. Here it is all kind of the opposite. The metro doesn't come into Georgetown, traffic is crazy, it is so hot, and what is the point of taking a bus to the metro to go two more stops? Also, the few times I have driven it has been the most terrifying experience. Stoplights are on the side not the center of the street. There are tons of rules about not turning here or only turning here from the third left lane. Also at different points in the day major roads become one way. And if you screw up driving in say Tuscaloosa or even New York yes you might get a ticket but that is pretty much it. Screw up driving in DC? You could cause a danger to National Security. I am getting a moped when I come back.
So getting out of the city is a big deal. It takes effort. And friends in high places. Those high places being Virginia or Maryland. Thursday Caroline Minchew and I went to Mount Vernon and the movies. Big Day. Mount Vernon is totally revamped. There is a visitors center that will rock your socks off. The house is still the same. It was going to rain so we decided to do the outdoor stuff before entering the house. On our way to the stables a guide came up to us and said "I suggest you take cover!" Then the sandstorm hit. Then we were rushed into the house. Then we we got upstairs to the guest rooms of Mount Vernon the guides walky talky starts buzzing and we were ordered to "shelter in place." This meant we were stuck on the small landing at the front entrance of Washington's house for 25 minutes with a hodge podge of tourist (Caroline had already said she was from Arlington and they didn't ask me so she paved our path as the weird locals that spend their day at historic homes around the area). We asked some tricky questions though to our guide. At the top of the stairs there was a very tiny window so we could see rain but that was it. When we left it stopped raining. We saw a cool movie about Washington (although only half of it was on the screen). When he crosses the Delaware snow falls from the ceiling. When they fire the canons your seat shakes.
So when we head out it starts pouring again. Then we get a call from Ms. Minchew that the Parkway is closed because of all the trees down. That main street in Alexandria is closed because of all the trees down. We were trying to get to Roslyn to see a "The Kids are all Right" so when we finally did-miracle. Awesome movie. Cool relationship dynamics. It is about lesbians so obviously Tuscaloosa wasn't going to have it. On the way home Caroline and I had a bit of trouble getting onto Key Bridge. We ended up at the back entrance to the Pentagon. She did a U-ey stat. I don't think any national secrets were endangered.