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Last weekend, as in President's Day weekend, went something like this:
Friday: gorgeous weather drove us outside to bike around the city a bunch. Went to food trucks; I had CapMac mac and cheese and Jeff had a banh mi at El Floridano.
Saturday: Drove down to Alexandria. Met up with Rob, Mary, Mary's friend Mike, and Peter (no Amy - she chickened out due to high winds, though I don't really blame her). Jeff and I rode in Peter's car up to Whitetail Resort to go skiing, stopping at Wendy's on the way. I got the EZ package which let you on all the green slopes. It was icy enough that I was glad of this. Started out on the baby slope, then moved up to the real bunny slope (the easiest green slope). Right before a break I went on the really long green, and realized how much my legs were already hurting. Then everybody met up and sat in the lodge and got hot chocolate and rested for about an hour. I then stuck to the easy slope and felt like I was really 'getting it'. I didn't fall down at all the entire time! Oh, and did I mention it was windy? Yes. The more advanced slopes were apparently shielded from the wind, but the green slopes were fully at the mercy of the 60mph+ gusts. And they were pushing you downhill, mostly. So I'd be going along and suddenly get pushed down much faster than I wanted to be going. It made riding on the chairlifts quite nerve-wracking. Anyway, it was great fun! We drove back and stopped in at Amphora, an all-night diner in Vienna (also it's supposedly Greek food but the menu is vast and consists mostly of American diner food). I got nachos (big surprise) that were really good (actually a surprise; they looked mediocre but tasted excellent). Then we left and got stuck in a non-moving, construction related traffic jam for 30 minutes. It was 2am, by the way. Finally, finally, we got to our car and drove home and sank into bed, exhausted (well, I was, anyway).
Sunday: We met my grandparents for brunch at Poste down by Gallery Place. It was tasty! I got a burger, though I wish I'd gotten an omelette or French toast or something. They gave me a Kodak video camera (similar to the Flip) that I have been playing with. We didn't do a whole lot else.
Monday: It was a holiday for most people, so we had people over to play games. I had to duck out for a quick doctor's appointment before Rob and Mary came, but I ended up getting to play Cribbage, Shadow Hunters, and Betrayal. Rob and Mary left but Stan and Carla went with us to Everlasting Life Cafe, a vegan soul food place on Georgia and Columbia. I got the kale vinaigrette and the mac n cheeze and it was delicious!
Then there was this past weekend! Ready?
Friday: My parents were meant to get in at about 2 pm on the train. A 45 minute delay, plus a train ahead of them hitting a truck, meant they actually got to the hotel at about 4:30. So before they came, we biked down to the mall to hang out with Anne and Mike (whose wedding we attended in St. Louis in September). The wind was blowing steadily at 40 or 50mph, which was kind of neat. We stopped in the Natural History Museum and I saw the hand-knit coral reef! It's sweet as. Then my parents called to say they were at Union Station, so we walked to the Marriott and they came in by 4:30. By this time I had made reservations for dinner at Founding Farmers for 4:45, so I had sent Jeff ahead to sort of secure our table. My parents went to check in quickly but the hotel told them they had no reservations. After a few minutes they decided to sort it out later (they had reserved through Expedia and were told they needed the Marriott confirmation number). So we went over to Founding Farmers, they with their luggage for the weekend. We got popcorn (cinnamon sugar), deviled eggs, and corn bread for appetizers, and I got the mac and cheese for my dish (it has peas, ham, and... apples?). It was good. I got to try their enchiladas which are awesome (they come with a huge slab of steak and corn on the cob). Then we walked to Starbucks while my parents tried to get their hotel straightened out, and ended up going back to the Marriott, and checking in anyway and asking for a refund from Expedia. Yeesh.
Saturday: We met up at the zoo at 10 am. We walked through and saw as many animals as possible before we had to go at about noon. That was unfortunate, because the lion cubs were going to be out at 12:30. Sigh. At least we saw the orangutans on their big tower lines that go way up in the air! I like the zoo. We saw the sloths actually! And the reptiles seemed more active than usual. After that we walked to Busboys and Poets, where I found you can't get nachos for brunch. However, I got the portabello sandwich (sans portabello) instead and it was very delicious. Next we walked a bit until it was time to meet up with Greg and Steph at the Source Theater (it's at 14th and T) to see the play On The Razzle. I liked the play; it was silly and pretty funny. Then we went up to our apartment (Greg and Steph went home) and hung out for a bit. After a while we headed out to Ray's Hell Burger, which took longer than usual because there was track work on EVERY LINE. Anyway, of course that was incredibly delicious and I got an au poivre burger with cheese, onions, pickles, and mac n cheese. We had to sit outside because it was pretty crowded and it was sort of cold, but still very enjoyable. They don't have tap root beer anymore (just the same brand in bottles) and they changed their buns, though they seem to hold up better now to all the juices. We took the metro back and said goodbye to my parents on the way (they had to leave at 7:30 Sunday morning). Back at the apartment, Anne and Mike came over to play board games. We played: Chrononauts (I won), Race for the Galaxy (Jeff won), Star Munchkin (Jeff won), and Shadow Hunters (Jeff and I won). Finally, at about 1:30am, we said goodbye and went to sleep.
Sunday: Got up and drove down to Alexandria to meet up with Mary and Rob to go shooting. Rob showed us the basic operation of the guns we would use, then we headed out. We stopped at Wawa for lunch on our way to Clark Brother's in Warrenton (which, incidentally, is the gun range my grandfather goes to). We got there, signed a form to get our range cards (free and permanent), then bought some ammo (you have to buy it there to shoot there) and headed to the back. Okay, I knew guns were loud, but I guess I have never been near so many being fired at once. Even with decent earplugs, it was pretty loud (though not too painful or anything). We started out on the shotgun range because it was empty. We were shooting clay pigeons, aka trap or skeet shooting, using a 12 gauge. The first couple of times I did not hit anything. But finally, I got it! And I hit like 4 or 5. It is a very satisfying feeling to see your little orange disk explode into many pieces. Also it is a great activity for groups because you can easily take turns shooting and pulling the launcher thingy. There were some people briefly testing out their new gun next to us and it was this intimidating large shotgun with holes all through it. It was scary-looking as hell and I tried to Google image search it but had no luck whatsoever (unfruitful searches: "scary looking shotgun," "shotgun full of holes," etc.). Oh well. Anyway, it was fun! Eventually we moved over to the rifle range to shoot the AR-15 (you know, the civilian version). Apparently I am really good at it. My first five rounds were all within the center black part of the target! This was at 25 yards. Eventually we ran out of ammo and left. Upon arriving back in Alexandria we decided to grab takeout at Red Mei, a mediocre, unspecifically Asian place. Then we played games! We played Dominion, Betrayal at House on the Hill, and then some Super Mario Wii. Then we went home.
Since then I have: bought new sneakers and bought the Buffy Chosen Collection. I know... obsessed, much? But it was on sale! So there.
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