Weekend trip

We boarded Amtrak at the New Rochelle station in NY and headed for the Baltimore airport stop (BWI).  From there we picked up a rental car and drove to our hotel nearby.  Ara joined us on the train at the Philadelphia stop;  Katy & Stephanie took a bus from NY, and Steve picked them up at their stop.  We finally all joined up.  Mike and his family had one room, and I shared with the 3 girls.  It was fun, and certainly a lot of giggling went on.

The train trip was great.  The longest stop, although in actuality a fairly short one, is Penn Station in NYC.  I always loved that station and caught my train there many times.

Waiting at New Rochelle.  I would have had to stand on the edge of the platform to get a head-on picture of the sign.

 On Saturday morning we headed for Annandale, VA in two rental cars.  Mike had thought about having us take the train to DC and then the metro to VA., but on Saturday the traffic was fine and I was glad to enjoy the view.

I had a wonderful time visiting with family that I haven't seen in years.  This is Stephanie and me with my Aunt Lenora.

We sat and brought ourselves up to date with what's been happening, while eating and drinking from a delicious spread Lenora provided.  I'm so grateful to have had this opportunity to visit my aunt who has meant so much to me throughout my life.  She served as a mentor in much of my growing up and into my working life.

Here are most of the group.  I believe Sandy took the photo, so of course she's not in it.

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After we left my aunt's house we drove into Washington, DC so the boys could see the White House and the Lincoln Memorial.  We split up into two groups, and son Steve, Katy, Ara and I didn't really want to do a lot of walking so I snapped a couple of photos and then we headed off to a sidewalk cafe for refreshments.

The other group managed to see the World War II Memorial, the Korean Memorial, and the Vietnam Memorial.  I've seen the Vietnam Mem. many times but never the WW II.  Maybe the next time in DC I'll manage to see it.

We also managed to drive past the condo where I lived in Northern VA.  The condo bldg. looks pretty much the same although the area has grown so much that I could hardly recognize it.  We had dinner at a favorite restaurant in Falls Church, VA - called Ireland's Four Provinces, or the 4 P's as we've always referred to it.  Everyone was happy and content with their selection, and I sure enjoyed my pint of Guinness, although the Guinness is much better in Ireland than when it's imported.  (I think they  have to pasteurize it in order to import it into the U.S.)

Just before catching our train back to NY we ate at a seafood restaurant recommended by my cousin, and I had the best crabcakes I've ever eaten in my life!  You have to get them in Maryland to get the best.

The weekend sped by and we all had to eventually say good-bye to each other.  Steve caught a flight back to Sacramento, Katy and Stephanie returned to NYC, Ara got off the train in Philadelphia, and we finally made it back to Dutchess Co.  I slept well last night.

I would like to have taken more photos, but many of them didn't turn out so well.  I took quite a few through the window of the train, but couldn't use any of them after all.

We have another side trip planned tentatively for this coming Thurdsday.  If so, I should be able to get some great photos!   (If I remember to turn my camera on and point it at something.)

(NOTE:  I have no idea why the font keeps changing in this post.  I think Blogger is a piece of crap, although it's probably the easiest of all the crappy programs to use for blogging.)