Week Four: My Mom Visits-- Part Two!

Monday, though I had planned to take a day off, I went into work. With The Planner not back to work yet and a fundraiser to set up (by the way-- did I mention my boss is giving me jobs other than answering the phone?!? YIPPEE!!!), I could not afford to take the day. Mom didn't mind-- she took the opportunity to explore the National Mall and the U.S Botanic Garden. We decided to meet up after my fundraiser at Union Station, and find dinner after that. Unfortunately, my fundraiser went a little late. Fortunately, I had decided to take Mom to the Dubliner for dinner, which is right across the street from Union Station.

The Dubliner is crowded, the food is...edible, and the floor in the bar area is permanently sticky. I don't care. It's a comfortable place, the service is (relatively) quick, there's live music on weekends, and it has the best bathrooms in the city (outside of the Willard). Besides, my friend Crap Bastard loves it, and I love him. So I took Mom there. I had the fish and chips because it was safe, and upon receiving them realized that I'm not all that wild about the Fish and Chips there, I only order them because they're safe. I should have ordered the Sirloin Burger. Mom went a little further out and ordered the Seared Salmon Salad, loved it, and then proceeded to finish off my Fish and Chips declaring that she is always hungry after eating "rabbit food". Mom really liked the Fish and Chips and pronounced them to be very similar to what she had while on her post-doctoral research fellowship in Kew, though she says that the chips at the Dubliner were much better than the ones she had at the pubs in England. I guess nobody really goes to Britain for the food, do they?

After the Dubliner, we planned to go home, but at the last minute, I decided to veer off 395 to the Air Force Memorial. It's the one monument I can clearly see from my apartment windows, and I thought it would be a shame if Mom didn't get to see it up close and in person. Besides, she's been to just about everything else, and I was running out of cool new places to take her. So we went. Unlike the memorials on the National Mall, the Air Force Memorial's location in Virginia ensures that there are no crowds-- except for the ones that really want to be there. It's on a peaceful ridge next to some barracks, and you wouldn't know it, but the view of downtown Washington, DC is phenomenal. You can't really see the green of the Mall, but beyond the Pentagon, which spreads out before you, is a panorama which includes the Kennedy Center, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the Library of Congress, the Washington Monument, the Capitol, the White House and even the National Cathedral (among other sites). The view was worth the trip, but the Memorial itself is beautiful in its simplicity. I wasn't much of a fan when it was first constructed, but it's really grown on me.

By the by, when Mom and I entered the Memorial grounds, we noticed a sign at the entrance advertising free concerts featuring the Air Force Band every Wednesday and Friday night , right there at the Memorial. (weather permitting). Definitely something to put on my to-do list (and I do have one).

If You Go:


The Dubliner
4 F St. NW
Washington, DC 20001

The Air Force Memorial
One Air Force Memorial Drive
Arlington, VA 22211 (use the directions on the website)