Staying in Northern Virginia --Old Haunts revistied

 

 Over the years we've had a zillion meals in this place -- best chocolate and pecan pies in the world.  Our daughter in law, Georgia, especially liked this place, so we had to go, if only in her honor!  A little changed courtesy of COVID, and not as crowded, but the food, the atmosphere -- still great!   Bill (as are the rest of us) is a loyal and grateful patron.  Good Lunch on a Sunday afternoon!

       

A feature of Dixie Bones are these patches from different organizations stapled to the molding where the walls or beams meet the ceiling.  Any one can ask to have one posted.  The gold one with the horse's head  is the patch of the Army's 1st Cavalry Division from Fort Hood, Texas:  Son #4's first post in the army -- then an Army second and then first lieutenant.  He served 2 tours in Iraq from Fort Hood.  He probably asked for this to be put up in about 2005?  It remains eternalized at Dixie Bones!  He is now just being promoted to a Lieutenant Colonel.

Old Haunts -- part II -- The Smithsonian!   When folks in the west ask us what we miss about the east, we often answer "The Smithsonian".  It is a quick and easy answer, but the Smithsonian is a great series of museums that we have much enjoyed over our years near Washington.  SO......

Went to the National Portrait Gallery.  It was Bill's first time there -- we saw all the paintings of the presidents (except for the last one -- he is just represented by a photograph).  It spurred us to listen to Audio Books on presidential history.  So far -- two books about George Washington.  We have a way to go.  My favorite exhibition is The Struggle for Justice,  showing individual struggles for justice from disenfranchised folks across our nation's history.

Or maybe it was  The Four Justices (2014).  

Or maybe it was everything else! Our DMV friends know this is a great museum, and we recommend it to all.  

The second Smithsonian stop:    The Museum of The American Indian.  Spurred by the facts that our Not-so-Tiny-Tiny -House on the MesaTop in Durango abuts the Southern Ute Indian Reservation and the Dine (Navaho) Nation is quite close, and every time we drive south to Albuquerque, we travel through several pueblo nations or other reservations and because  we spent three years next to the Shoshone Bannock Tribe in Idaho, we thought we'd learn something there.  However, the emphasis on the day were tribes originating mostly in the Northeast.  Still a great day -- here's some snapshots:  

The architecture of the museum makes it worth seeing: 

This is a series of prisms built into the exterior wall -- maybe about the 3rd-floor level

That produces this rainbow on the opposite wall! 

I'm biased, of course, but I liked this one: 

Retirement Lessons learned! 

Our reactions to coming back to Northern Virginia:  

BB is hard to park -- she's just too big for Northern Virginia parking lots -- she takes two and they are always far away from our destination.  

There's abundant resources (stores, restaurants, medical care, etc) here -- way more than Colorado, Idaho, or any places we've lived or visited since we left here before the Pandemic, and we miss that availability -- especially the medical care!

There's also lots of traffic, humidity, crowds, etc.  Road construction is everywhere.   We don't miss those.  Those are the price to be paid for the resources, but right now, its seems we are leaning towards the peace and quiet of the MesaTop, the National Parks, the campgrounds, and similar.   We'll find a balance as this year proceeds.  

Retirement is allowing so many opportunities from how we eat (big breakfasts, small dinners) to the places we visit.  We are grateful! 

Voyaya -- Good to come back; Good to move on!  We'll get there!