Luckily I didn’t have to get to work until 9 the next morning so I enjoyed a quick walk around before finding my work building. The gorgeous brownstones wrapping around ¾ of the Logan circle weaken my West Coast knees. I am Californian to the bone but would be lying if I said I didn’t miss the breathtaking brownstones of DC. The bright white cherry blossoms overwhelming the trees in front of the buildings simply added to their iconic perfection. I was delighted as I started making my way to work to realize that I wouldn’t be needing my light jacket. In fact the weather was so fantastic for the entire week that I never once wore my jacket while out and about. I know this type of weather is rare for the area, but it sure made my memories of the area that much more fond. Monday evening I made my way to Alexandria to visit with Beth, James and their daughter Kendal who had recently turned 2 years old. When Beth and Kendal picked me up from the metro stop Kendal eyed me silently as if trying to figure out just what I was doing in her car. Beth showed me a movie of a wildly excited Kendal from before my arrival which included questions of where I was and even a hooray + wild leg kick of joy, yet despite this prior excitement, Kendal remained silent for the entire ride home. While James and Beth and I caught up Kendal continued her analysis and it wasn’t until I sat down on the floor to get to her level that she started warming up. I was starting to worry my kid charm was wearing off but by the end of the evening she let me read a few pages from one of her books and was excited to show me her room before being put to bed. I very much enjoyed my visit and was grateful to have finally met Ms. Kendal.
Tuesday after work I decided to enjoy the evening solo and made my way to the tidal basin to check out the cherry blossoms with the a couple thousand other tourists. The blossoms were simply beautiful. Bright, colorful, filling the basin with life and the joy of spring. I snapped a few photos, admired the Jefferson memorial from afar and sauntered back towards the metro remembering an evening about 5 years ago when I met Jonathan at the Smithsonian stop to enjoy a walk down the mall before he proposed in front of the Capital building. Oh DC, how I love thee.
Wednesday afternoon I walked to the law office where I worked while we lived in the area to say hello and extend my gratitude to the office manager who gave me a change into the IT world. I’ll admit I couldn’t remember what floor the office was on in the building and after about 4 attempts was happy to see a familiar face when the elevator doors opened. We chatted for a few moments before she informed me they were having a happy hour on the building’s roof and invited me up to join. I wasn’t expecting such a celebrated return, but was delighted for such a fantastic opportunity to catch up with so many people. Nearly closing down the deck party I headed out to meet up with the one and only Erin McIntyre from Rutgers. Erin and I swam together at Rutgers and she is now attending GW to get her degree as a PA. I am admittedly far removed from the current Rutgers Swimming/Diving team and had mixed feelings when she filled me in on the current teams season as well as overall transition since I graduated. It was also nice to swap classmate/teammate stories and learn what others are up to. I consider myself fortunate to have such a collection of friends from my various life phases and very much enjoyed my visit with Erin.
For my last evening in DC I had the opportunity to visit with one of my best buddies, Ta. Ms. Tamara and I have been friends since about 8 years old, having met on the Alameda Alligators swim team. Despite living in different states and at times not seeing each other for years, reunions are always easy and seamless. The true sign of a fantastic friend who I absolutely cherish. We enjoyed dinner, and discussed life, life and more life and as always I wish we’d had more time to hang out.
Around 3PM on Friday I metro’d my way to the airport for my trip back home. Despite my final destination not being Phoenix, I met up with Jonathan in Sky Harbor to board another flight to Oakland. Surprise Dad retirement trip to be continued…
More trip photos in the slide show to the right!
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