02 January 2009

DC Highlights

Botanical Garden Christmas Display
For Christmas, the Botanical Gardens were filled with poinsettias and there was a display of Washington landmark buildings constructed entirely from plant materials--wood, vines, corn husks, etc. Amazing and beautiful!

Me (with unfortunate hair) and the Smithsonian Replica




Twelfth Night
Michael Sharon is currently performing in "Twelfth Night" in DC, so I attended the performance on Tuesday night. Michael had arranged Company Standing Room tickets for me (which was very kind of him), a way for friends and family of the cast and theater staff to see the plays for free, but Tuesday night the show was sold out and there were 10 people ahead of us in the standing room line.

Coordinatrix: Look forlorn so they'll let us in.
MBC: I AM forlorn.

Fortunately, we were admitted to the performance right at 7:30, moments before the curtain went up, and we had SWEET seats in the middle of the main floor.

And then we had dinner with Michael and his mom.
And then we suddenly recalled that the trains were going to stop running at midnight and that it was about quarter 'til 12.
And then we made our rushed good-byes.
And then my friends told me how lovely and gracious Michael is, while we hurried to the metro.
And then the train was late.

New Year's Day Brunch
Ti-Cup and Excel hosted a New Year's brunch at their house with friends from Bloomington who now live in DC. Starting the new year with friends and holiday french toast is ideal.

Mount Vernon

This is a deceptive picture. See that gorgeous sky? Yeah, this was the only cold day in DC. It was freezing and the wind nearly blew us away.

This is the Mt. Vernon Christmas camel. It was so cold that he wouldn't come out of his shelter. The Coordinatrix did her best, though, and called out all the Arabic words she knew to him in an attempt to entice him to at least look at us. He would not be moved.

National Cathedral

There's currently a creche exhibit at the Cathedral, but, sadly, no Evensong during the holidays.

Lunch with Rebekah


If at any time you mention DC around my brother, he will mention Ben's Chili Bowl, a diner that's been a DC institution since 1958 and is one of Bill Cosby's favorite places. Rebekah, the Coordinatrix, and I ate there for lunch one day. The turkey burger looked good to me, but Rebekah reprimanded me and instructed me that the chili half smoke is "the Cos's" favorite meal and really the only choice for one's inaugural visit to Ben's. So I complied. It was very good.

5 comments:

Annie M. said...

OK, where did I miss the part that you and your "imaginary boyfriend" Michael are suddenly on the, "Let me get you free seats to my show that are reserved for my friends and family," and "Come have dinner with me and my MOM!" level?? Whoa. Doesn't sound so imaginary to me. Please explain. I'm dying here. I'm glad you had fun in D.C.!

Kirsten said...

A lovely post MBC, except for the emerald city's unreliable public transportation.

Clearly a symbiotic relationship has developed between you and Michael. You get tickets to the theatre, and Michael gets a normal, non-stalking fan.

MBC said...

Annie--Michael is very gracious and maybe if you spend a week with him in London, he'll be your friend and get you theater tickets too. (And it was just a coincidence that his mom was in town when I was.)

Kirsten--I AM an excellent fan. In fact, I chaired the Kirsten P.A. Fan Club this week in DC, in which the Coordinatrix, Ti-Cup, the House of Dittmer Rep, and I chatted about how cool you and your Scotland-living ways are.

Lori said...

Sometimes I feel very jealous of your endless expeditions. AND I will from now on always feel jealous of those woodland landmarks recreations. Gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

Sad camel...come visit the camel farm in Yuma. It is creepy. The buildings made of things (great description, I know) are strangely fascinating. Maybe it will be my new skill for 2009. Glad you made it home.

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