Nyquil, Annapolis and a Whole Lot of Sushi

Ah! The photo below is a shot from the perfect ending to a perfect day. Today is Kirk's birthday so tonight we all gathered at Bea & Avon's condo for a big ole' sushi celebration in Kirk's honor. Yum. That's all I have to say about that, YUM. Oh! And a very happy birthday Kirk!

My Niece Bea, Great-niece Ain and one-year-older-today, Nephew Kirk

But as my last post was a week ago, I think I ought to catch you up on what I've been doing.Uh... well, dear sweet potions of NyQuil; I was sick all week! Strongly suspect I picked up a bug on one of the two fully booked flights I took from the west coast. Seven hours breathing recirculated air in a cheek to jowl packed flight can do that to you.

My neph Kirk had a couple of days off mid week, and although there were plans for birding & sight seeing, I wound spent most of the week. lifeless on the family room couch, hacking & coughing. I swear, I was a fat Camilla in the last scene of La Traviata. Must say, visiting with people you love, even though I felt like crap, was still, for me, a delight. So all in all, it was a fantastic week. Uh... maybe not so great for those who got to listen to me coughing up my lungs and watching the sodden tissue pile up around me like a gentle winter's snow fall.
Still a couple of outings were had. Yesterday, Thursday, I went along when my v. sweet niece-in-law Nicole picked up my sister Dolores and drove us to the outskirts of DC to visit Dolores' life long friend Beegee & her kin. Dolores & Beegee have been BFF since they were knee high to whatever it is you have to be knee high to in Brooklyn.

Got no outstanding shots in Annapolis, but I love this drive-by shot
for the scarlet tree with the Historic Annapolis sign on the right

Today, Nicole decided to drive Sydney, James and myself out for an airing. She took us to a locale of much history - Annapolis Maryland. It was a lovely drive and we took a nice walk there over to the harbor. The first surprise was I'd forgotten that Annapolis' connection to Alex Haley and his famous book, Roots. There, by the port where Kunte Kinte set foot in North America, was a statue of Haley reading to children.

Of course, if he's reading portions of Roots to those tender little minds, there will be nightmares

James, Sydney & Nicole

James hitched a ride

A view across Annapolis harbor

We passed by a small corner of the U.S. Naval Academy

The architecture and colors on Annapolis' Main St. remind me of Ireland

Beautiful brick paved streets, plenty of shopping in Annapolis - if only I'd had the energy!

So, all in all, it was a beautiful day today, even if my tail was kind of dragging on the walk around the beautiful streets of Annapolis. Oh well; my tail may have dragged, but at least it was wagging.

Girlie Cousin's Weekend at an End

Carol, Idea, Wanda, Jacqueline, Yvonne, Donna, Rhonda, Dolores and Bea

Our Girlie Cousin's weekend is at an end. We all got together for the continental breakfast (meaning we faced enough food to feed an average sized continent). We took advantage of this very-nearly-the last meetup of the weekend to exchange phone numbers, addresses and take new photos to stuff on our smart phones. I say it was v. nearly the last meet up because those who were so inclined went on a mini shopping spree post breakfast.

Great Group Selfie by Ideaa
My favorite shot of our weekend together

Our Cousin's Reunion was over way to soon. I'm looking forward to our entire Family getting together for a reunion in 2014 - see you there Cousins!

Visiting DC

Saturday morning, the contingency of girlie Carter cousins were off into the tunnels of the Hilton.

There, with the help of our younger & geekier cousins, train passes were purchased from the big confusing automatic machines. Soon we were off on a train headed for downtown Washington DC.

Down, down, down into the subterranean 

Once in DC we were onto one of the local bus tours that allows passengers on and off privileges.

Settled in on a Tour Bus of DC

Look Familiar? It's where great men & women go to nap.

Hum... I know I've seen this on a nickle...

The Washington Monument is getting a little work done.

Our first stop of the day was to pay our respects at the year old Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

Standing tall with Dr. King.

When we had taken enough photos to fill the Capital Mall, we were back on the tour bus, headed for our next stop - The Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

One of the gems of the Smithsonian Museums

By this time breakfast seemed as if it was days ago, so we started off our Smithsonian visit with lunch at its cafeteria. Once filled and feeling more human, we raced off to view the Inaugural gowns of all the first ladies of the United States - gowns from the 18th through the 21st Century. Here are my personal favorites. Please pardon the glass reflections.

Mary Todd Lincoln's plush purple velvet gown believed
made by her friend, African-American dressmaker Elizabeth Keckly

A blue satin flapper's styled gown, worn by Grace Coolidge

Beautiful yellow silk gown worn by Jackie O., but not at an inaugurate.

 And here is the most recent inauguration gown, worn, of course, by Michelle Obama.

Michelle's Jason Wu Gown

 By the time my cousins and I were out of the Smithsonian, we were whipped! We re-boarded a tour bus and headed back downtown. We were soon within a block of something I'd had my thoughts on since we arrived in DC - getting a chance to visit Ford's Theater and the Peterson House. I begged my cousins to hang tight while I ran into Ford's Theater to soak up a few minutes history and to get my first National Park Passport stamps for the Washington DC area. OH JOY!

We weren't quite finished... Rhonda had her heart set on visiting Madame Trusseau's Wax Museum. We futzed and fumbled outside the museum, then thought, 'what the heck!'. Soon we were rubbing elbows with the rich and famous.

Mr. Lincoln wondering how 'Our American Cousins' got up in the box with him

Idea and Dolores feeling a bit frisky with Mr. Freeman

Carol in good company with Samuel

Cousin Donna and Will Smith seem
a tad too chummy, don't they?

Whew! I was pretty tired by the time we got back to the Hilton. We rested up a bit, but we were, believe it or not, not quite done for the day. Around 6 PM all the girlie cousins were chauffeured by our Cousin Jackie and her husband, to their lovely Chevy Chase Home.

Let me tell you, Cousin Jackie outdid herself in preparing a dinner for all of her cousins. The meal was Caribbean in theme and quite drool worthy. Following the awesome feast, we settled into puzzling over where we might hold a Carter Family Reunion in 2014. The final local options were a bit of a surprise for me, as I visited the first two for the first time, only last spring.

• Savannah, Georgia
• Charleston, South Carolina
• Fort Lauderdale, Florida
• Other possibility: Island local such as Bermuda or Barbados

Which site will be the venue of our reunion depends on what our honored elders have to say on the matter. Myself, I casting my hopes on either Savannah or, if the elders are up to it, a Caribbean adventure. 

Donna, Yvonne, Rhonda and one of my hairier smaller cousins

By the time we were all chauffeured back to the Hilton at night's end, we were all sated, happy and a little tired. I haven't had such a cousin filled day since the days before my family left New York City in 1967.