First up was a course in finding public parking in DC. This is not an easy task, but we were able to find a spot not to far from the Jefferson Memorial. We walked by the George Mason Memorial and I didn’t even know what it was at first. This was yet another memorial that was ill marked and one that I had not been by yet. A couple of blocks over we found the Jefferson Memorial with a decent sized crowd for a Saturday. I think Cameron liked the steps as much as he did the giant statue of Jefferson. And even at 5 he did not believe me when I told him it was a life size statue and Jefferson was really 19 feet tall. Guess I will have to get smarter with my stories.

Next up was finding a parking spot near the Lincoln memorial. We got one on the street a couple of blocks north of the duck pond luckily. The day was nice and sunny with a cool wind. Pretty much perfect for pictures. Deb wanted to see the Vietnam memorial so we walked by there on the way to see Lincoln.

After that a short drive by Arlington Cemetary and then on to the airport in Dulles. It was great to have them visit, hope to make it out to their 24 hour party city myself soon.

Needless to say, we started our day later than I thought we would. But right off the bat I was able to fulfill one of Debs desires, breakfast at Waffle House. I don’t eat there but about once a year so its a rare thing for me too.

Next stop was hopping a Metro train into the city for the day. Right off the bat we stumbled onto something unexpected, today was the start of a Solar Home competition on the National Mall.

It was very interesting seeing all the modulure homes built from recycled materials and running under a super energy efficient mandate. They were all designed and built by various universities from around the country. i would love to study more on these new techs and build a home for myself like this someday.

After a quick tour of some of the homes we caught a tour bus and saw some of the sites. Our day consisted of the Air and Space museum, National Gallery of Art, Natural History Museum and seeing the White House.

By that time i had pretty much walked them all ragged. We made it back to the metro and started to head home. I get a kick at seeing how energetic my godson is and how the mood slowly decreases in the afternoon if there is no nap for him.

Seems that his sleeping all the way home on the train and in the car meant that he went to bed at a normal hour, while we poor adults didn’t sleep till almost 3am! But I was up and needed to make the most of it. So me and Cameron had breakfast and watched some Wallace and Gromit movies.

His dad finally awoke around 11am so me and the GS headed to the park for some play time. I think he had as much fun playing in the trees and the leaves as he did on the Play sets. I of course showed off feats of strength by lifting large logs and things. We also went bug hunting for a bit. It was rather cold though so we headed home early.

The rest of the day consisted of Rusty and Deb recharging their batteries, which is good. Tonight we went to dinner with Larry and his family. Larry and Rusty were in band together back in the olden days so they got to catch up with each other. And Cameron hit it off with Kierial. She is still a spitfire!

Afterward it was back to the house to watch Surfs Up. I guess everyone deserves a relaxing day.

Oh, and never have the hostess at Famous Daves take your picture. She took two and this was the better of the two.

After that we headed south along 5th avenue, first stop was FAO Schwartz. Now they carry some crazy high end items in these stores but even this display took me aback. In the past i have seen the full size Star Wars X-Wing fighter for sale, but this time the items were plush animals. More precisely life size mythological animals. Like a life size (or close enough) Unicorn, a Gryphon, Pegasus, Cerebus and even 2 Dragons. Now, how large is a life sized dragon? Well these might not be ‘life size’ but the plush Dragon was about 20 feet long! I just want to take home the Cerebus.
We got some pictures of Cameron dancing on the giant Piano that Tom Hanks made famous in that store in the movie Big.

Next was a stop at the Disney store, more for me this time. Its a 3 story store with the top being entirely high end gallery items. Nothing that i really wanted but were really cool to look at.

We window shopped at the other high end stores like Tiffanys, Sax, Gucci and tons others.

Dinner we found ourselves at the Old Castle pub and restaurant. In my opinion you should skip the place. The food was mediocre at best and the service was just out right poor.

Now, we are on the train back to DC. I see Cameron slumped into a puddle and i envy the days when I could just crash to sleep so easily.

Wicked is the tale behind the story ‘The Wizard of OZ’. Its told by Glenda the good witch and chronicals her school years along with her room mate the wicked witch of the west. Basically it tells how they all met, the origins of their magic and everything else…In a comedic musical fashion.

i have to admit i was a bit worried about the show. Well, not the show but how Cameron would do at the theater. The show does not allow children 4 and under to come in, and he is only 5. And lord knows he can get a little bored at the best of times. But let me tell you, he did awesome! Laughed when it was funny, clapped at the end of the acts, didn’t turn to us and ask what was going on or anything (unlike the adult woman behind me who apparently got lost in the storyline somehow.

Needless to say the show was great and everyone loved it! I would even go see it again.

Photos were not permitted but i did get some stage dressings before the show started. They had a really cool clockwork dragon above the stage. Also a pic of Deb using her super strength to hold up the wicked sign!

I had the ‘Something Else’, which of course turned heads at the table when i told the waiter ‘I’ll have Something Else with aujus’. It was a beef brisket sandwich with potato pancakes for the bread. Lord it was delicious.

They had the Juniors famous cheesecake for desert, somehow fitting that you have NY cheesecake in NY. Cameron was not a fan though.

We had a slight wait but that was just because of my over estimation of how long the drive would take. At 800 we were on the train heading north to New York!

Its Debs birthday today, so I made sure that she was relaxed and as comfortable as possible. We went to the new Air & Space museum this afternoon for awhile. They were all very impressed with the space shuttle and the SR-71. Tomorrow is the big day, early train to NY, seeing Wicked on Broadway, evening on the town then a late train back.

Today was the day we drove all over the dang place. After leaving Williamsburg we headed up the coast to Ocean City, MD. Had to hit the beach for awhile then find some lunch. I think i did my guests in with all the driving. It was about 4 hours to OC then another 4 to my house.

Still not sure about tomorrow, think we will do a preliminary tour of some of the monuments in DC. Its Debs birthday so its basically up to her.

Last night my friends Rusty and Deb flew into town to spend their week of vacation with me. And in good order they brought their son Cameron along. Now this is no normal 5 year old (pardon the gush, he is my godson), he is a true nationwide traveler now. He has been as far west as Hawaii and as far east now as Virginia.

Their first request on this trip was to go to Busch Gardens. Now I am not much of an amusement park person, but being a good host i arranged it for them.

We spent 10 hours at the park today. I am fairly tired now, and fairy content. The park turned out to be more Epcot than 6 flags, so their was plenty for us to do and see. We took in a few shows, rode some rides, enjoyed some food and brews, and only left with a slight sunburn and sore feet.

That’s a funny thing, they are from Vegas where its in the low 70s and upper 60s and they get here where it was 92 today!

Here are some pics from today, plenty more to come in the gallery later.