On Thursday, we went to a place called Charthouse, which was a seafood/steak place on the waterfront of Alexandria. Cosmos used the Hilton concierge to arrange reservations, so the restaurant printed up a custom menu, and gave the table 4 free Chocolate Lava Cakes as a free dessert.
Friday, during the day we walked around the shops of Alexandria(Old Town). Saw lots of nifty old fashioned shops, and new ones who had to fit in with the Historical Gestapo Building regs. But the town was awesome. A few streets even had the original cobblestones.(Shocks and strut makers love the town I bet) That night, we took a catered boat ride on the Potomac. It went from Alexandria up to DC and back. Drinks, food, and ladies oggling Rival.
Saturday was the several hour wine tour(3 wineries). I can't remember their names, but the first one was a small winery in the boonies. Awesome views of the valley. The other two were bigger. We also had a bus trailing us, full of people dressed(presumably as a joke) as 1980's preppies. With pink shirts and preppy sweaters, ladies in tennis skirts, and one guy in pink pants. Luana was all about the getting plastered at the wine tasting. She and Hillary bought wine at almost every turn, and since we could drink on the tour bus, many bottles ended up getting drunk. For dinner, we went to a sushi place called the Flying Fish. Aside from the coackroach(not in the food) and Ran-ran's periodic episodes of homicidal anger towards a squalling infant, it was a good time and awesome food.
I wimped out and between a belly fully of wine, crackers, bread, and sushi, I went to bed at like 8PM.
Sunday was all about Mt Vernon(home of George Washington). We met up with Rich there. Lots of touristy goodness there. A decent museum and education center, and the grounds were huge. We saw the mansion(lots of tiny rooms), then went to the on-site restaurant and had a good meat&potatoes meal(tenderloin with béarnaise and au-gratin potatoes with peach-strawberry cobbler). zcommadore came for the meal. Afterwards we spent a few hours wandering about. I also spent $250 at the gift shop.
Sunday night, we went to an awesome Tapas bar, consumed many pitchers of sangria, got Soupy a birthday flan with drunk-singing, introduced Luana to Port, and finally discussed how many other drunk-trips we should plan in the future.
On Monday I spent 4 hours touring DC on foot(Note, take a tour bus, its big). I also took the metro(my first time taking the metro in any place). Since it was Columbus Day, there were parades and events later in the day so several places around the White House were blocked off.
vsqueen took me to eat at some hold-in-the-wall Turkey joint on the way to the airport. I had a "Turkey Supper" which is turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce on a toasted sub roll. I ate mine, and half of hers, and it is one of the most satisfying bits of food I have ever eaten. Honestly, with respect to the Smithsonian Air and Space museum and all its nifty things(another $250 in gifts bought), the sandwich was really the high point of the day. I was in a carb-coma the whole way home.
In Summary, Alexandria(Old Town) is awesome, and only 15 mins by train to the middle of DC. The Smithsonian Metro exit is ON the Capital Mall. Also, fly into Ronald Reagan International, not Dulles. So long as you don't have good makeup or wine bottles, the Hilton is the place to be. (If you didn't get the joke about the makeup or wine, HAHAHAHAH The power of the inside joke is mine and mine alone to wield!)
Leporello wasn't there. Theoretically he hosted a dinner on Monday night(I left Monday afternoon). Hillary was a friend of Islandmele from New York. Islandmele was going to meet her in NY after the M&G, but Hillary decided to come down. (On the Chinatown bus, so it cost her like $20-$30 bucks) Everything is so much closer together on the East Coast.
P.S. I didn't get lucky, unless you count the time I put stolen candy in vsqueen's bra.
