I didn't know what to say today.

 

After a week away from home, I am all tuckered out.  I need a vacation from my vacation!

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No, it's not as bad as my words may make it seem.  Instead, after this vacation, I wouldn't mind some time as Marian that I won't have.  There was little enough opportunity to go out as Marian before my trip, and little enough opportunity to go out as Marian until the next weekend ends.

I'm very glad that RQS is in my life.  Yet, sometimes I wish I had an extra day in the week for myself.  I'll bet that this is a common feeling among many happily married people.  They enjoy being with their spouses.  Yet, they also enjoy being with non-romantic others.  

- - - - - -

On the way home last night, I saw a young couple on the subway.  One was dressed sharply in a men's suit, but not in a way in which he could go to work.  The other was dressed in a blue velvet maxi dress with spaghetti straps - a model of femininity.  Both were seated in a position that would indicate that they shared intimacies with each other.   However, something was a little bit off.  So I got a little closer, as I prepared to leave the train.  The person in the blue dress didn't have much of a chest.  I saw a pronounced brow ridge, more commonly found on a male.  And then I heard this person speak in a lower pitched voice.  Was this person a female or a male?  I'll never know for sure.  But I wish I could have gone out like this when I was that age.....

When we left the train to make our connections, I commented on how nice that person looked in the dress and quickly left.  No need to say much more, as it could be taken the wrong way coming from a person my age and presenting gender....

DC Trip 2023 - Day 06

 

King Street - Alexandria, VA

This would be our last day in the DC area.  So we took advantage of the opportunity to leave our bags at the hotel and explore the waterfront area of Alexandria.  This time, we didn't head to the Metro station after breakfast.  Instead, we took the Free "trolley" to the waterfront and walked around a bit.

 
Our first and only waterfront stop would be at the former Torpedo Factory, now a working arts center.  We explored all 3 floors and found some interesting art there.  Too bad that we couldn't be there when more of the artists had their workshops open.  Then, we explored the waterfront area a little before taking the trolley back to the hotel and picking up our bags.

 
We left the hotel for the last time around 2 pm, and walked to the Metro for the last time.  We made it to Union station by 3:15, and just had enough time to pick up a late lunch to eat on the train home.  Almost as soon as we sat down to await the call to board our train, the boarding call was made - and we proceeded to the train to take our seats.

After an uneventful 3 1/2 hour ride, we were back in New York.  This time, we knew where to go to summon our Uber - the 33rd street entrance, between 8th & 9th avenues.  (We made a note to use 330 W. 33rd Street as a destination address the next time we want to go to Penn Station's Moynihan Train Hall by Uber/Lyft.)  From there, we summoned our ride, and had the most pleasant ride back to Queens we could have had given the roads.  And all too soon, our vacation was over....

DC Trip 2023 - Day 05

 

A Chief's headdress from the National Museum of the Native American

Our last museum for this visit to DC was the National Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall.  This time, we knew for sure which Metro station to use, and how to reach the museum.  And for once, we were right!  It was a relatively short walk to the museum.  

But first....

I was finally contacted by a former blogger who wanted to get together.  He's a member of our TG community, and was in my computer classes at Queens College.  So we arranged to get together at a diner which was walking distance of our hotel.  We walked over to the diner, and propped up a book so that s/he could recognize us.  (This would be the first time s/he would see me in male mode.)

When I dress as Marian, I dress as a cisgender woman my age would dress, as I want to blend in.  The same goes for when I'm dressed as Mario - I want to be seen as a cisgender straight male.  So RQS and I were a little surprised to see how my friend blends both modes into her/his presentation.  As much as I would never do this, I was glad that my friend can feel safe in doing this.  

 
All too soon, lunch had to end, and we were off to the National Museum of the American Indian.  Our first stop when inside was a gallery which covered the experience of the Native Americans from both Native and Settler viewpoints.  Like some exhibits in the African American museum, this can be a sobering experience.  Be prepared to be made to think when visiting here.  

After a couple of hours here, we decided to stay in town and go to dinner.  I suggested that we go to the Dupont Circle area and find a restaurant there.  We ended up going to Agora for some Mediterranean food (mostly Turkish food) and had a nice dinner.  Although the flavors were not exactly to our taste (we prefer food prepared with spicing styles used in Greek food), we both considered this place well worth visiting, but will order different dishes when we visit again.

Then, it was time to go back to the hotel.  And again, it was a chance to get dessert at Bob & Edith's.  Yum!  We'll miss this place when we get back home.

DC Trip 2023 - Day 04

 

The Lunar Space Rover - All Electric Transportation, before it was "in" to drive such a vehicle.

 
Our 3rd full day in town had us going to the Air and Space Museum on the National Mall.  However, the weather made me wish we could have stayed in our comfortable, warm, and convenient hotel room.  But this wish was not to be granted....

As usual, we got up and had breakfast in the hotel.  Unlike any of the other days, this would be the busiest we'd see it in our 5 days there - we had a tiny difficulty finding a vacant table for our use.  When done, RQS and I put on our coats, grabbed our umbrellas, and we were off to DC.  This time, we knew which Metro station we had to go to, as well as which exit to use to bring us to the museum.  Or, did we know?  Although we got off at the "Smithsonian" Metro station, we had to walk a distance in the rain to reach the Air and Space Museum.

When we reached the museum, we were very tired.  Yet, we still had to spend more time on a slow moving line, waiting to be admitted.  (Luckily, we had already printed our tickets while in New York, so we knew we'd eventually get in.)  After 20 minutes, we were inside the place and started our exploration.

 
The first stop was the Wright Brothers' gallery.  This area is a fitting tribute to the two brothers who made travel in heavier than air machines possible.  It covers the prior knowledge that the brothers used in their experiments, as well as the methods they used to learn what was needed to develop their first functional airplane.  (They would have made great project managers and programmers, as they understood the process of breaking down problems into small pieces and eliminating flaws in what they developed along the way.)

 
Our next stop was the Destination Moon gallery.  This area gives the visitor an idea of what the process of landing a man on the moon entailed, as well as some of the choices that had to be made to do this.  Exhibits covering the Gemini and Apollo programs were easy to find, and are well worth seeing.  I still find it amazing that we did this about 50 years ago, and (as a nation) lost interest in manned lunar exploration after we achieved the goal set by JFK during his (too short) presidency.

Although we went to one more gallery, the next important part of our visit was the gift shop.  RQS had forgotten her sweatshirt at the hotel and was freezing.  So I looked at books while she found the garment she needed to stay warm outside.  I wished I could buy several books there, but I knew that once these books were read, that they would gather dust.  Taking down a couple of titles, I filed them away for later use when I look them up in the local library system's collection.

Now that we were finished with the museum, we had a choice.  Do we go back to Alexandria to eat?  Or, do we stay in DC?  I figured that we should go by the Wharf development to see an area which had been redeveloped since my first visit to DC.  And that we did.  By now, the rain had gotten worse, but we had our umbrellas with us.  Luckily, it was a "short" walk to our destination - Hank's Oyster Bar. Yum!  Both of us had oyster based dishes for dinner, and we both felt that we got more than our money's worth in the quality of what we ate.

After dinner, we decided to go back to Alexandria for dessert.  There was a 24 hour diner (Bob & Edith's) on King Street that I wanted to try out, and I felt that this would be the perfect place to have something sweet before going back to our room. And we were both glad that I wanted to do this, as the thick shake RQS had was beyond comparison - it may have been the best she's had in years.  As for me, the Apple Pie with Ice Cream was just as good.  What a way to end an evening.

DC Trip 2023 - Day 03

 

The "Thing".   

The original "Thing" is a spying device now located in Fort Meade, MD.  Both this "Thing" and that in the former KGB Museum in New York are replicas of a real life device used by the USSR during the Cold War.  Today's visit to the International Spy Museum would refresh my memory of things I've seen before and give RQS an idea about an area of knowledge that I find interesting.

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As usual, RQS and I decided to have our breakfast at the hotel, then take the Metro into DC.  Unfortunately, Google Maps did not give us good information on how to get to the museum and we ended up walking at least an extra half mile or so in the cold before getting there.  (I don't think that Google's maps can handle 3 dimensional routes, as we would have needed to exit the Metro at a different exit, then walk through another building before reaching the museum.)  So we were a little bit tired before starting our tour of the place.

After paying the admission fee, we started our visit on the top floor and explored some of the history of spying - both in America and in the rest of the world.  The museum focused on the risky side of spying, as well as the reasons that many people turn to spying.  We could have spent a whole day exploring this place, but we were too tired to do much more by the time 4:30 came around. 

Since we didn't have the chance to eat lunch, we decided to have an early dinner.  So we had to make a decision - where to eat?  Well, the answer was relatively simple.  RQS wanted to visit the original Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street, and off we went.  Although I am not impressed by Ben's offerings, it is a good place to get a bowl of chili (not my favorite style), a burger, or a hot dog.  RQS wasn't impressed either, and she felt that it was one more experience to be checked off her list.

DC Trip 2023 - Day 02

Chuck Berry's Cadillac.  

Chuck Berry had style to spare.  By changing the phrase "Colored Boy" to "Country Boy",  he made the song "Johnny B. Goode" a universal classic that has been covered many times by great guitar players.  I wish I could have seen him live on stage, doing his "duck walk" while playing his guitar as only he could.

And this sets the stage for today's destination....

RQS and I had tickets to arrive at the National Museum of African American History at noon.  But first, we had to have breakfast before going into Washington.  So we went into the lobby where breakfast was available, and found a better spread than the "continental breakfast" provided by some hotels.  In addition to the typical assortment of cold cereals and make them yourself waffles; there were "to-go" bags containing bagels, spread and fruit; as well as pre-made omelettes, breakfast meats, and hash browns.  Yum!  It was good enough to dissuade us from going to the 24 hour diner down the block.  (We ended up going there for desserts, but I'll mention that in a later post.)

It was bright, sunny and cold when we went to DC.  But we got off at a station near the midpoint of the National Mall.  This meant that we'd do a lot of walking before reaching the museum about 30 minutes later than planned.  Unlike our last visit, we planned at the top of the building and worked our way down.  Our first stop was the section of the museum dedicated to blacks in entertainment. One could easily get overwhelmed by the historical artifacts contained here - and we spent most of our time in this section before moving onward.  From there, we visited another section which covered the history of Blacks in our armed forces.  Here is where history became sobering.  But I won't discuss my feelings here. At this point, both of us were tuckered out.  So we went downstairs to grab a bite to eat before finishing our museum visit for the day.

After a rest in our hotel room, we decided to go out for dinner around 9 pm.  The only restaurant we knew of was a sports bar / restaurant named for a former football player (Joe Theisman).  So we walked the 2 blocks in the bitter cold (it felt that way) to get a bite to eat.  Sadly, it was way too noisy there to enjoy a good conversation, and the food left a bit to be desired.  (It wasn't bad.  But it wasn't worth the money we spent on it.)  Luckily, we only had a short walk back to the hotel before we could go to bed for the night.

DC Trip 2023 - Day 01

 

Alexandria, VA - Old Town.  This was where we stayed in the DC metropolitan area.  The hotel we planned to stay at was about a block's walk from the Metro station, and had been chosen for easy access to Washington DC.  I figured that if we could easily commute into the city from a nearby suburb, we'd be able to avoid the need for a car while in the city - and I was right.

But first....

Since I hadn't heard back from one of my TG friends and that the other was at a Cosplay Convention, I decided that I would make this trip as Mario.  This would be an advantage for me, because it was too cold (save for the last 2 days of our trip) for me to wear the skirts and dresses I love wearing when presenting as Marian.  So I packed my bag only with Mario's clothes and stayed the night with RQS the day before our trip to DC.

Thursday morning came, and we were off to DC.  We took an Uber to Penn Station, but the driver didn't know enough to drop us off on West 33rd Street, in the designated area for Uber/Lyft pickups and drop-offs.  So we ended up getting out of the car on 8th Avenue - something I dislike when dealing with baggage.  Our next stop was the Amtrak waiting area, but we didn't have long to wait.  We were able to board the train within 20 minutes of our arrival.

Those who take Amtrak know that most trips tend to take longer than scheduled - save for trips along the Northeast Corridor.  This section of the national railroad network is controlled (mostly) by Amtrak, and has a reasonably high number of on-time trains.  For a 11:35 am departure, we knew that we'd be in DC around 3 pm - and we were not disappointed.  But then, it was time to find a cab to take us to Alexandria.  Unlike the outside chaos at New York's Penn Station, things at DC's Union Station are calm and reasonably organized.  It was easy for us to find a cab to get us where we needed to go.  So we headed to our hotel, checked in, and relaxed for a while.

Around 5:30, we departed the hotel and walked 1 block to the Metro.  We met RQS's cousin (and his wife) at Hot 'n Juicy Crawfish in the Adams-Morgan section of town, and had a great time.  But all too soon it was time to go back to the hotel.  It was nice for the cousin to offer to drive us back - and we got into a friendly, animated, but not agitated conversation. (When talking about the GOP and its attacks on our freedoms to control what is done (or not) to our bodies, I mentioned where I stand on transgender issues.  Luckily, both RQS's cousin and his wife lean left of center.)  When we got back to the hotel, the cousin's wife made sure to give us an extra friendly hug - as a way of telling us that they really enjoyed our company, and want to see us both again soon.