For the most part, the DC area is stunning in the spring.
That’s a modest Northern VA neighborhood. When I bought my first house here, back in the day, I paid $150k or so. These houses now go for in the neighborhood of $600k now. They are 70+ years old, but built back in a day when craftsmanship was a thing. Most are solid brick and block. They just don’t build them like that any more.
It’s chilly up here this week. Dummy that I am, I only brought one hoodie. So I’ve been wearing it all week. No matter. I’m an old man. I’m allowed.
Sunday I met most of my family over at my sister’s house. I hadn’t seen most of them in years. Certainly more than three. Right after herself filed, I met some at the beach. But the others, it’s been even longer. Everyone looks great, to be honest. We are all aging pretty well, even though some of us have had to battle cancer and other maladies.
Two of my sisters are retired, and happily so. One of their hobbies is finding cool places to eat, or going on quests for the perfect this or that food. Like crab cakes. So the week so far has been hitting these sites. Monday we went to a Bavarian Inn in Shepherdstown WV, an hours drive or so. The place is on the Potomac river, but I didn’t think to get any pics. The way out winds westward on Rt. 7, then north on Rt. 340. What a stunning ride. I’ve been that way on a motorcycle more than once. I was regaling them of tales where my friend Tim and I chased each other on bikes all through that area, passing a speed trap on 340 at 120MPH or so. Cops didn’t even look up, figuring eventually we’d have to be sponged off the road.
Tuesday we headed to the bay:
We went to Libby’s on Kent Narrows. More nostalgia. Me and my brother would go fishing there with the old man. He’d get us up way early, so to be motoring out to fish by sunrise. I still can remember the sites and smells. The mist on the bay, the oyster and crab boats heading out for the day. We’d catch and release. Then wrap up and eat lunch at the McD’s on Route 50.
The Owner is/was a Vietnam vet, and had a replica of the statue that’s at the Vietnam war memorial in DC:
Nice place. Great view. The crab cakes were all my sisters said they were:
There’s no filler in that. And it’s broiled. It was amazing.
That said, too much Iced Tea. Turns out my Lenten abstinence proved that too much caffeine and tea are a thing. Same crap started happening. I had a ton at the airport on the way out. So today, it’s back to one or two cups in the morning and none after. Interestingly, this place has blossoms everywhere, yet my lungs are fine. I sleep the sleep of the innocent. First two nights, I got up only once. Last night, I didn’t get up until the sun got me up, nearly 6:30.
Today is a trip out to Culpepper. More nostalgia for sure. I’ve been out that way a lot. I used to hunt near there, hitting town for lunch on the way home. My of my sisters moved there when she got married. They’ve been there ever since. Smart move. It’s a great place to raise a family.
I’ve been feeling that I need to bring the hotrod bike up here in the fall. I’ll probably trailer it. That would be a hard ride, even if I were younger. I’d have to do it in three days, as opposed to two. Maybe, I bring the pups. What’s funny about the neighborhood my sister lives is that although it’s literally just outside the beltway, and is in solid suburbia (for miles), Wildlife has flourished. When I grew up, there was almost none. Then, you’d have trash pandas pillaging your garden and trash cans. Plant corn in your back yard, and prepare for it to be wiped out just before you want to pick it.
My sister has a stunning porch overlooking the back yard:
If you look to the upper left of the blue chair or above it, you can see a house in the background. That street borders the DC beltway. It’s not rural in any sense. Yet, under that deck lives a family of foxes, sometimes. Deer bed down in her back yard. Literally, suburban wildlife. There was none of this decades ago when I grew up here. Heading out one morning I saw a trash panda heading back to the woods from his late night out.
Then again, in Plano and Richardson Texas has coyotes, bobcats, possums, rabbits, rats, all kinds of critters. Other than possums and rabbits, I don’t see much where I live. It’s semi rural. The hawks and feral house cats keep the rodent population down, and the others have no reason to be in my neighborhood, since there’s actual farmland and scrub less than a mile away.
Tomorrow, I fly out early. It was the best alternative for me to get back in the afternoon. They had almost no direct flights they’d let me have for the points I used for the original reservation. Going to suck bigly. But I’m ready to head back.
Inspected By Pat 