We start day # 3 by heading over to the Air & Space Museum. This was the one trip that Andy was really looking forward too, and he had to be in band geek heaven with all the aerospace technology and equipment on hand. I sort of got into all the WW II airplanes they had on display in one section. We then took about a 30 minute busride over to the new section of the A&S Museum, which is in an airplane hanger that is about the size of 3 football fields. Saying that its huge just doesn't do the thing justice. Massive is more like it. Inside we checked out one of the Concorde's and got to look up close and personal at the Enola Gay. History buffs?
What's the significance of the Enola Gay? Anyone? Class? Bueller? Ferris Bueller?
Check back at the end of this entry to get the answer, although you really should know and I'm appalled at your lack of historical knowledge!!
After we returned to downtown D.C. via another busride, we went over to the National Archives. More Al Qaida related delays, as the wait to get into the damn building could only be described as interminable. We finally got in and got a chance to let the kids look at such historical works as the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. So then we decide to make our way home, and Kim, in her infinite good nature, decided to let me hit the one restaurant that I had really wanted to visit on our vacation. We stopped off a couple of Metro exits before our hotel and proceeded to walk up....and up....and up....and up....and (when the hell did Arlington, Va become San Francisco?) up and then FINALLY we saw the sign fo rthe BBQ restaurant called Red Hot & Blue. What was really cool about the joint was all the great posters of famous blues and early rock artists that adorned the walls. Terrific stuff and I was thinking about my boys Dino, Greg & Mr. Sexay RPM while I was checking the stuff out. And after a couple of days of drinking nothing but soda, imagine how happy I was to discover that, as a legitimate BBQ joint, they sold...not only TEA....but in fact....SWEET TEA. And not that raspberry flavored shit either. Or that stupid "lemon" flavored tea. By God in heaven every summer I went to Beaufort, S.C. to visit my grandparents and when you asked for tea, you got a little bit of tea with your sugar and that's the way it should be served!! Ahem. So while I reveled in the benefits of sweet tea, our waiter Corey came over and gave us the hilites of the menu. The kids, ever the ones to test their respective palates....ordered hamburgers. UGH. You go to get BBQ and the kids order hamburgers....very discouraging. I need to work on that, because if they are going to by God bear MY LAST NAME.......rule number 7 of the Bowdren family code is: "thou shalt eat BBQ when it is set before thee". I'm serious...look it up.
So I order...go figure...the ribs, which were served "Mempho" style. To be completely candid (and aren't I always)...I thought the ribs were a tad dry. But the pulled pork was quite good, the cornbread was absolutely top notch and the hushpuppies were amongst the best I've ever had! So we're absolutely full as a tick when Corey mentions the dessert specials---which include----"nana puddin". Well Hell's Bell's!! If its good enough for the King, Elvis Aron Presley, its good enough for me!! And as I sampled it....I almost....bear with me here...I'm getting emotional...I almost cried....cuz....(sniff)....the nana puddin was....(sniff)...as good as the kind that.....mama used to make. Yep, sorry Ma. It was that good. Okay, I'm better now.
We get back in time for the opening of the Olympics, and Kim decides to do a little bit of "hotel laundry", which is always a pisser, since it usually (and did this time) involve you having to wait for someone to come get their damn clothes out of the washer or dryer. Well, my little spitfire decided she wasn't going to wait, and removed someone's clothes from the washer and almost ended up having a throwdown in the laundry room. Back in the room, I had been told at least 74 times by my little weather watch Kellie that a hurricane was hitting the west coast of Florida and was now heading for the Orlando area. Well, as anyone who knows me knows---that's Mare & Lair country baby!! I had to give Big Daddy Dink & Big Mama a call!! So I call, and ask my dad for an update on the approaching storm. What follows is an approximate transcript of the phone call. Folks, I can't make this shit up....
Me: "Hey dad...hear ya got a storm coming your way."
Lair: "Yep...we've gotten all the furniture off of the patio. The eye of the hurricane is about an hour away from our house.........so hey, how's your vacation going???"
I quickly had to remind my father that my vacation wasn't the most important thing on my mind at that moment and that I would tell him about our vacation later. As someone asked Kim at work the other day:
"Exactly at what point in our lives do our parents become kids again?"
My mom & dad forgot that their children were worrying about them and wanted to know how my vacation was going....suddenly I was the worried parent. Funny how time does that to ya, huh?
End of day # 3
PS....by the way, the Enola Gay dropped the bomb over Hiroshima---you're quite the genius there, aren't ya?
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