Washington, DC (USA)

[early bird gets the worm - in city by 0845 - cherry blossoms at Tidal Basin - great walk around and nearby (including Mall) - weather misty - drove over to my office and parked there - had early lunch at Holiday Inn on 6th Street - took Metro to Foggy Bottom and explored GWU and Georgetown area - walked down to Potomac River (saw Watergate and Kennedy Center) - the place was sort of deserted (found out later that there was a major flood there last year) - found a nice little hole-in-the-wall bistro (Snap & Fettucine, with Fox on sign) to eat a mid-day snack - enjoyed the pleasant weather as we dined outside before departing to walk some more - circled back around (through Georgtown proper) to Foggy Bottom stop - took train back to L'Enfant and walked back to my car - drove out of the city around 1300L - took I-395 to George Washington Parkway, then to I-66, VA-267 (part of Dulles Toll Road - free) - I-495 and then got off on VA-193 - found our way (passing fancy houses) to Great Falls Park (this time from Virginia side - see APR 2006) - nice waterfalls - kayakers - enjoyed the weather (lots of people picknicing) - drove west on VA-193 until it joined VA-7 (more fancy homes) - continued to Leesburg - explored the town a little bit and then stopped for an early dinner (1500) at an interesting burger joint called Tenderjack's - spent some time there (chatting) before driving out of town again on VA-7 - noticed the FAA site as we were leaving (checked out that out for a future trip...) - connected with VA-28 and drove south until we reached I-66 - drove one exit to Fairfax County Parkway and took it to Pohick Road (after crossing I-95, stumbled across a back way to Lorton Station and a big Catholic Church) - got my bearings again and then took Carolyn to visit Mason Neck (including National Wildlife Refuge) - we enjoyed the nice weather and got some great views of the River - nice talking all day - headed back to the apartment around 1830 - Carolyn updating photos and watching movies ("Something Borrowed" - uuuugggh...) - bed late]