Le Lloyds: Summa Time: Part I

In a sad attempt to catch up on the past 5 months I've been "away" I wanted to share some of the fun pictures from my trip to D.C. with my sweet mama. We left June 28 and stayed for 4 wonderful days. The Omni in Washington was breath taking and one of the oldest properties we have in our line. Stars from Frank Sinatra to The Beatles have performed in their ballroom.

We had a great view of the Washington monument from the balcony in our room and the night time lights were gorgeous!

Every morning I'd get up early and walk the block and a half to the subway. I loved the name of the stop closest to the hotel, "Woodley Zoo", I thought of our great friends Kati and Adam Woodley every day :-) Riding the subway was an adventure the first night but after a few failed attempts at jumping on the right train I finally got on what turned out to be the right train, going in the right direction!! After that first day it was smooth sailing...errr...riding for the rest of the time.

For most of the trip I was on my own with my map and terrible sense of direction. Of course understanding the subway helped tremendously and sometimes a security guard would see me walking past the same building a couple of times and would ask if I needed help. God bless nice people!

This was my second time to be at the capital so I had already made most of the touristy stops a few years back...the White House...Ford's Theater...the Vietnam and Lincoln Memorials...Montichello...some of the Smithsonian museums...so this time around I got to enjoy discovering where my wanderings took me. One of my favorite places was the Spy Museum. This is the first and only public museum in the United States solely dedicated to espionage.

When you first enter the museum you get a cover than you have to memorize in two minutes and at any point while you are in the exhibit a museum employee can approach you and ask for your personal cover information. Luckily I was never approached because I kept dodging any employee headed my way. I don't know if I'd be a good spy but I'm definitely good at hiding!

In the evenings I would usually meet up with mama for dinner and I found out she has great taste in "adult beverages". She would order a Sidecar with sugar on the rim and I would get my usual SOTB.

Another must see for me was the Holocaust Museum. Although this isn't a "fun" place to go, I have always been interested in WWII history. The museum it self is very cold and uninviting which makes sense considering the story that is being remembered. As you walk through the entrance you are given an I.D. card of someone who was actually in the prison camps and you are to assume their identity during your visit.

It's hard to accept the brutality that occured under the guise of "obeying orders" during that war. I'd like to hope if someone I respected and trusted told me to do something I believed to be morally wrong that I would have the courage to do the right thing. But the thing is, courge doesn't go around wearing a red badge. It does always have "hero" or "glory" stamped all over it. Sometimes doing the right thing means you'll be persecuted too right alot the one you were trying to help. I'll probably never be faced with something quite that earth shattering but there are hundreds of choices I make every day that speak to my character. I have to practice standing for justice in the mundaine moments to be ready if one day I'm asked to stand sacrifice more than just my time and energy.

On the last day we were in Washington mama and I got to do some sight seeing together. I took her to all the neat places I had discovered the days before. I took her to China Town where I had seen a movie two nights before. I couldn't believe the movie was $10.50...I can only imagine how much movies cost in New York!

Then I got to go back to the Fine Arts museum and show mama all of my favorite paintings...

and then she showed me her favorites by henri de toulouse-lautrec, the guy who did the original posters for The Moulin Rouge...

It was so fun getting to know my mom in a new and fun way; just like you would get to know a good friend. It's like a whole new world is opened up when you get to know you parents as actual people and not just guardians who take care of you.

The food in D.C. was awesome too! I am proud to say I ate at new places every day except for the first night when I ate at Chipotle. Open City is a coffeehouse/diner/bar near the Omni where mama and I had breakfast before our flight left.

When we flew into Houston Daddy was waiting for us and had beautiful bouquets for me, mama and Mrs. Felton! It was so thoughtful and made us feel like very special ladies...I am so lucky to have such a great Dad.