On The Road, Part Three

Hello District of Columbia!

Arrived in D.C. around six Saturday night. Had a second Dave concert to get to, with kick-off at eight. Did a hurried check-in. We were all exhausted (there had been lots of traffic- more about that later) and D.C. is sort of a nuts town when it comes to roads (makes no damned sense, would be the other way to say that) so we were in a rush to get our stuff upstairs and then head out.

But make it to the concert we did, where this child, instead of sleeping, stayed up, playing, the entire time. It was another amazing night. We found another empty patch of grass, sort of roped off from the crowd, with two policeman standing in front of it. Matthew politely requested if we could sit back there. They were sweet, jovial young guys and agreed. Through the evening we were joined by a second family with kids and an older foursome trying to stay out of the crowd. It was a festive little spot to be.





The next day- we saw the city! Or, specifically, the Georgetown Farmer's Market, some of the National Zoo, Museum of American History, and the food court of the Museum of American History.

We stumbled across the Farmer's Market. Looking for the subway, about two blocks from our hotel, we came across it.









It was the most delicious peach I've ever eaten. Dory, I think agreed, but then she's only eaten one or two peaches ever. So take it with a grain of salt.

We took the subway. She was intrigued.



And then to the National Zoo!





We went with a specific purpose, to see him:







Butterstick, the Giant Panda, born in D.C. only a few years ago. From what we heard, he's headed back to China before the end of 2009. Seeing him was wonderful. And as the sign reminded us:



Exactly what we said.



After the zoo, a brief nap on the subway,



a quick stop for a picture in front of the Washington Monument,



and then



where we had



lunch!



Then highlights of the museum! For us, touring with a baby means we did more "oh look, I bet that's cool!" while we zipped by. More drive-by sightseeing then in-depth perusing. Dory did well, in the Beco carrier, but she would hit her limit and this first museum was far less conducive to baby exploration than some of the others. Hence the lack of explanations about the exhibits. Just lots of us standing in front of things, taking pictures. Enjoy.













When Dory hit her limit and needed some Baby Free Play we got her out.





Finally dinner at a little Italian place called Bertucci's down the street from our hotel.





We made it through the salads before Dory was done with high chairs, carriers and basically anything hampering her baby free play, so we had our entrees packed up and carried them back to our hotel. Where we all crashed.

And that was our Day One in D.C.

On the Road, Part Two

Everyone was in great spirits when we woke up Friday morning....







After leaving the hotel we stopped at the tomb of LeRoi Moore, the saxophonist for Dave Matthews Band. He passed away last August and, while, as a fan, I mourned his death (though I never actually met the man and I do harbor hopeful feelings about the life after this one), I felt so incredibly sad for his parents. There's a line in one of Dave's songs: "You should never have to bury your own baby." I thought about LeRoi's mother and my heart ached for her.

The tomb itself is unmarked, but somehow through DMB's fans, people in the know know this is the spot. Matthew and a buddy came earlier in the year to hear the band play and they came to visit. He said besides flowers, people left sunglasses. LeRoi had terrible stage fright and always played with sunglasses on or his eyes closed.

Today was just a quiet, peaceful day in the cemetery.



We still had plenty of time in the day before we needed to head out for our next destination, so we went to breakfast and then to explore the shops of Charlottesville's Main Street.

Dory at her first ever IHOP:





Random shots of the University of Virginia campus, taken from the car. We didn't stop to look around, as there was a graduation going on and the grounds were thick with people. Matthew and I are both put off by great long lines and huge crowds, which doesn't make us the best tourists in the world (more on that subject later).







Our next destination was Chesapeake, VA, a spot right outside of Virginia Beach. Why Chesapeake, you ask? Because that's where the aforementioned best band in the history of the world happened to be playing.

That's right, Dory has officially been to her first Dave Matthews Band concert.



I was a wee bit unsure about this (in a complete state of panic by the time we got there, might be another way to say it). I wore her in the Beco backpack, so she was high off the ground and snuggled up close to me. That helped. I also like to think I gave off a certain "I will rip off your head if you breathe wrong on my baby. Enjoy the show!" attitude. We planned it out ahead of time, buying tickets for the lawn, taking a blanket and planning to camp out on the back of the lawn, far away from the people. We didn't plan on the show basically being sold out and amok with fans.

We ended up finding a little perch, on the opposite side of the hill that formed the lawn, where the three of us could sit on our own, away from everyone, and listen. We couldn't see the band, but as Matthew pointed out, we've seen them plenty. Once we staked out a spot, away from the crowd, it was incredibly peaceful and we had a ball. Dory, for her part, fell asleep four songs in and slept the entire time. I don't think the band should take that personally.




And that was our night in Virginia Beach.

The next day it was- on to Washington D.C.! And that will leave this blog to be continued...

On the Road, Part One

We are officially on our family vacation! Matthew finished up his second summer school class yesterday, we three hopped into the Mojo mobile, and headed out to... Charlottesville, VA!

We found a great deal on a hotel (ah, thank you very much Priceline) and we checked in around six last night.



The drive is only about five to five and a half hours and you drive through some truly spectacular scenery. There is, however, a lot of ear poppage from the mountains and Little One had a tough time with that. She needed a little recovery time once we arrived.





And done!



She was back up and cruising around almost immediately.

Before we left, Matthew looked up his grade on line. Check out the face of a man who just found out he made his second 'A' of the summer. In a statistics course, of all things!



Charlottesville is a neat town, reminiscent to me of Asheville, wherein most of it is a normal, average size-city, but there are some truly special sections. Main Street is just such a place. Located only about a mile from the University of Virginia (one of the most beautiful campuses in the country), it's a closed street full of adorable, interesting specialty shops, great restaurants, cool bars and, of all things, an ice rink.



We ate dinner outside.





I ordered the fettucini.



It was possibly the biggest bowl of pasta in the history of noodles; Dory gave me a hand.





We stopped at Miller's, a tiny and fairly inconsequential little bar, known for one major, major event- it was here Dave Matthews Band first got their start. We stepped inside, it was smoky and more than a little dingy, there were a few tattooed fellows and a guy asleep in the corner where the bands normally play. We stepped back out again.



We were all done in by the time we got back to the hotel.





Now, we're up and off! There is a plan and a theme to this trip. We're on a Mojo family adventure, with several more destinations in mind... soon this will all make sense...

Next stop... check back in to find out!