Heat Wave

Sunday was smokin hot. We refused to go outside unless forced by 1. the dogs need to relieve themselves or 2.bbq. We took the dogs to the dog park in the morning until Dexter approached cardiac arrest. There were 9 dogs at the park which led to mass confusion when trying to play "fetch".

Sunday we headed over to NW D.C. for a bbq at a friends house. While directions to Debbie's house seemed oh so simple on google maps, it proved to be quite complicated. After evaluating our mistakes, we figured out that after coming off the Metro, we went the complete wrong direction. A few things to note: A. it was 101degrees out, B.Debbie lives in a nice area, however we went in the wrong direction of said area, and proceeded into the not so nice area of Columbia Heights, C. Kelly wore shoes appropriate for a bbq, not for a marathon type walk. Once we reached Debbie's the bbq was great. Ben and I competed in a croquet match against folks we never met.


(Kelly wishing she could use a 9-iron in croquet)

  Much to the despair of our new friends, Ben used any means necessary to come out on top (and did - "If you are not first your last" -Ricky Bobby).
After the bbq, we decided to head to the National Mall for the Memorial Day concert on the Capitol Steps. We were much too late to get a seat, but it was a great walk down the mall at night. As we walked around the Capitol we listened to the Marine Corps Band. Another 10 blocks and 6 blisters on Kelly's feet and we were home.

Memorial Day was hot. So hot there was a heat advisory. We did our best to avoid the weather and stayed indoors. Later that evening, once the sun was setting, we decided to go pay our respects at Arlington National Cemetery.
 It was an impressive sight to see an American flag in front of each grave stone.



 Due to the time of day, there weren't many people at the cemetery, which was nice and peaceful. If anyone wants to go to the cemetery on a future visit, we highly recommend going either earlier in the morning or later in the evening. We stopped by President Kennedy's grave . It was covered with American flags and roses. President and Mrs. Obama had stopped by earlier that day and placed a wreath on the Kennedy's graves.

We headed up to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. There was no one else around and we got to see the guard pacing back and forth in total solitude.

We hung out there until the guard notified that the park was closed. After the cemetery, we made our first venture into Arlington for a few groceries from Whole Foods and a slurpee from 7-11.

Once back at the apartment, Ben did some cooking for the week and Kelly mourned the end of the 3 day weekend. While it went too fast, it was an enjoyable few days in DC. The only thing better would have been getting to go to Mom and Dad's retirement party. I guess that is the price of fame, but it can be weird to see family pictures and not be in them. Hopefully the fam will be making a trip out to D.C. in a few weeks! We have already started to plan the itinerary, specifically the cuisine.