East Coast Playa
November 21, 2003
I haven't been keeping a very regular update schedule here during my trip out East, so here are a few hasty entries from my time so far.
Monday, Nov. 17, 2003
On the way to Washington D.C., Shannon and I were driving through the mountains in Pennsylvania and I was shocked. It turns out there really *are* purple mountains! (as in purple mountains' majesty...) The mountain was frickin' PURPLE!
Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2003
We went to a talk by John Shattuck, a Clinton administration advisor on human rights, at Politics and Prose, a book shop in DC. The talk was interesting in the fact that I heard from an insider instead of a talking head on the news or some analyst. I knew for sure that I was in Washington D.C. when a book fell from the shelf next to me and hit the floor at my feet. The lady in front of me looked and I remarked, "Wow, I guess this means I should buy it!" and she responded, "No... you should sue the bookstore." I'm still not sure she was kidding...
Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2003
After checking out the Silver Diner, we went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum despite the pouring rain. Now you'd think the threat of rain would have prompted us to take an umbrella... oops, guess not. But we did have the option to purchase one at the Smithsonian gift shop for $22! Again, guess not.
Thursday, Nov. 20, 2003
I woke up this morning and stumbled into the bathroom to get ready for Mary Beth who was coming to pick me up. I rubbed my eyes and opened the shower curtain and saw the ugliest cricket ever, already occupying the tub. I thought about apologizing and waiting my turn. This was no regular cricket, it had hair under its arms and a tattoo that said "Born to make noise." Instead, I quickly grew a spine and flushed the sucker.
After the insecticide, MB and I jetted off to Baltimore on the lovely choked highways of our country. We stopped off in the slightly touristy Inner Harbor (I tried to get MB to straddle a cannon outside of the USS Constitution, ala Cher, but a swarm of preteen Catholic schoolkids beat her to it) and ate at Pizzeria Uno. Ummm, oh my god. That was the best pizza I've had since Godfather's Pizza left Toledo. It was *that* insanely good. So our trek progressed on to the Apple Store at the Towson Town Center. MB had never actually seen one in person and it was great fun to see her eyes light up as she walked around all the toys.
We had planned to go out and hit some local bars, but after being initiated into the BPR (Back Porch Ritual) with MB and her husband Iain. The groove was right, so MB and I kept talking, drinking and geeking out on our Macs instead of patronizing the local dens of iniquity. ...and now it looks like the leftover pizza is out of the oven! Mmmmmm!
Dan, this post actually made me feel somewhat nostalgic, for two reasons. First, as a native Pennsylvanian, I do sometimes miss the outdoors and mountains of that area (though I really don't recall seeing too many purple mountains). Next time you're in PA, take some pictures for me. ;) And secondly, because my sister and her husband live in Baltimore, mere minutes away from the tourist-y Inner Harbor.
So in a roundabout way, your post made me look forward to this Christmas, when I'll see both PA and my family again. :)
Posted by: nougatmachine on November 22, 2003 04:47 PM