the right brain is always on

Another day, another Metro ride.

I can't get over this efficient and commonplace public transportation. It's like being at school again, only you have to pay for it by day or by ride instead of it being a part of your tuition. At any rate, yesterday was awesome. We slept in because we stayed up late playing Muppet Uno. We got up and walked down Main Street of Old Town Alexandria, one of the historical cities around D.C. (as well as the city Jacob and Co. live in). The town was really old and modern at the same time...they managed to maintain an old-timey feel and still allow certain modern conveniences. For one thing, they don't have anything strung between the streets- all the stoplights and signs are on the side of the road.

They have a factory in Alexandria that once used to made torpedoes, but they converted it into a really really nice art workshop, gallery, and museum. We spent an hour and a half browsing through various studios of artists ranging from Oriental stenciling to watercolors, metalworking to photography. It was incredible, but all of the art was so damn expensive. I kept wondering where the bargain art bin was. It also made me appreciate artists a tiny bit more, be it by art or word.

We visited several quaint and several not so quaint stores. Very few name brand stores (notable exception: Starbucks, which was every three blocks it seemed), mostly mom-and-pop independent businesses. For some reason I resisted the temptation to buy hardly anything. I didn't really feel compelled to buy any souvenirs or any chintzy things that have Washington D.C. pasted all over them. I even resisted buying books at the three bookstores we went to, mostly because they were outrageously overpriced or I could find them back home. Sis says that my mind is waiting for the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum before I spend every penny I have.

I bought a postcard and a black belt for our dinner that evening. I already have a black belt, and a really cool space shuttle tie I've been dying to wear, but they're boxed up somewhere in our house and I couldn't find them before I left.

The belt ended up being several inches too long. And I also ended up with dad's dress shirt for some reason. Regardless, the three of us got all dressed up and made it to the Sequoia. We had a view of the Potomac River from our candlelit table. I ordered a New York steak and baked potato with a sorbet trio for desert, and it was excellent. They had a live jazz trio and it wasn't crowded at all. It was a very nice dinner and the company was hilarious. After dinner Jacob's mother picked us up and took us on a auto tour of Washington and the surrounding area and we drove by many of the same landmarks I visited back in 8th grade. It brought back lots of good memories, the funniest of which was probably when Will got lost at Arlington National Cemetery.

Today we're stealing Jacob's sister from school and we're touring a few different places (Kennedy Center, Shakespeare museum, Jacob's father's work) and having dinner at a Middle-Eastern restaurant (the Marrakesh). Tomorrow: The Smithsonian.