Long weekend: Old friends

We all know people who don’t try to be cool, yet they just are cool personified. For me, one of those people is Michelle, a girl who worked in summer camp the same year as me. She was introduced to me as the example of how to counsel at camp, how to be a leader yet how to have fun with those you are leading. Honestly, I have never seen so many teenagers look up to someone. The girls wanted to be like her, the boys wanted to marry someone like her.

She has the most infectious way of talking you ever heard. Anyone, within about fifteen minutes of meeting her will be talking like her without even realising it. Michelle is the reason why I put ‘super’ in front of adjectives and why I say ‘good work’ amongst a whole host of other Michelle-isms I’m sure I am unaware of. Am I getting the point across that she is just cool? Like most cool people, she has no clue how cool she actually is.

Anyway, we had talked a couple of weeks ago and kicked about the idea of me spending Labor Day weekend with her. We didn’t speak for a while after that so I wasn’t sure if the plan was still happening. Then she called me Thursday and asked whether I was still heading up. Jose’s party caused a bit of confusion but for all the reasons above and then some I was there.

Another dimension of Michelle’s coolness is where she lives what she does (and I think anyway). She works for a big law firm in the nation’s capital, Washington D.C. She kind of fell into it by accident, working there while she was getting her Masters from George Washington University in DC (as well working in the Smithsonian Museums as a researcher, damn girl is smart too).

She is quite seriously someone you cannot help have fun with. So when she asked was I still coming I didn’t even think twice, despite the 1000 mile roundtrip (for the second weekend in a row, just call me Long Distance Clara)

So on Saturday morning I was back on the road, heading north to DC. The journey from Greenville, South Carolina took me through North Carolina and Virginia and again this was not a short trip. When I stopped for lunch I realised I'd pretty much pass through Fredericksburg, Virginia which I knew from my history. So I stopped there for a while.


Fredericksburg was the town where the Washingtons lived. This is me at Kenmore House, the house where George Washington's sister, Betty and her husband, Fielding lived. In olden times the garden backed on the garden of Mary Washington's (Mummy Washington) house. I bet Fielding was delighted. 'Eh...honey there's a great house outside of Fredericksburg you'd love. I mean, sure you have to ride the horse into town to see your mother and you're right she couldn't just pop over anytime...'

After Fredericksburg it was quite a short drive to Washington. I have driven on a lot of road way in my time (especially in the last two weeks) but I seriously doubt I’ll drive anywhere cooler than past…


the Pentagon or...


the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial or...


Pennsylvania Avenue (White House street) The building on the right is the OEOB West Wing fans. Actually it's called the Eisenhower Executive Office Building now, but OEOB is fun to say.

More tomorrow about what Michelle and I got up in DC.