Washington, DC (USA)

[I texted Brenna a few times to coordinate our meet up (giving her times and locations so we’d be able to see animals and beat the crowds) - at 1500, when she was supposed to leave home, I learned that she could not find her Metro card - after several attempts to find an extra SmarTrip failed, I left work and took the Metro back to Huntington, where I met her and gave her my extra card - we then got on Metro together and took it to Woodley Park Station - we walked to the National Zoo, arriving at around 1645 - for over an hour and a half, we walked around the park, drinking hot chocolate, enjoying the Christmas Lights, seeing the Lions, and talking - Zoo Lights much different (no gingerbread houses, NO animal displays open, just lights) - afterwards, we walked back to the Metro Station and took the train to Gallery Place, where we had dinner (bread with mango butter, plantains with guacamole, Cuban sandwiches, salad) at Cuba Libre - it was a great meal and the manager came by at the end to talk to us - he offered to throw a big party for Brenna and Erin when they turned 21 (she liked that idea) - at about 2030, we took the Metro back to Huntington and I told Brenna to keep the SmarTrip card until Thursday - overall, the evening seemed like a big success - after we both left the garage, Brenna called to tell me that the Chrysler driver’s side window had fallen off the track into the door - I met up with her again at Rose Hill shopping center and determined I could not fix the problem - Brenna said she would take the car to K&B (Tom, her mother’s mechanic) in the morning]