One more DC day

 On Sunday we skipped the bikes and hopped in the car instead. First stop was the George Washington distillery and grist mill. Touring both of the buildings was fascinating. I don't find myself drawn to studying history much but I certainly enjoy learning the things I come across on trips like this. We visited Mount Vernon a year and a half ago and I now know more about George Washington than I ever thought I'd be interested in. He was actually a pretty interesting guy.

We also made a stop at a park with lovely gardens and a pond and lots of cicadas.

A day outside DC

 On Saturday the weather cleared so we piled the bikes in and on the car and headed to the Mount Vernon bike trail. We parked next to the Teddy Roosevelt Island in the Potomac and headed south towards Alexandria. We parked there so we'd have the option of a post-bike hike if we felt like it. I was pretty wiped out by the time we got back to the car so no hike for me but I did take a picture.

We had nice views of the Lincoln and Washington Monuments, the Capital building and the runway at Reagan Airport.

One of my favorite parts was going underneath the roadway where there was play space - bike trail, basketball courts, picnic areas. It reminded me of Taiwan.

We biked past Alexandria before turning around and managed a very nice 22 mile ride.

In the evening we took a chance on an outdoor stand up comedy show in someone's backyard in the Mount Pleasant part of Washington. It was a lot of fun.

Manassas

 Today was a pouring down, all-day, flash flood warning, rainy kind of day. So no biking. But walking is fine so we visited Manassas, site of two major Civil War battles. The visitors' center had an informative but brutal video about the battles and we listened to a park ranger give a detailed overview of the second Manassas battle. I learned more than I'd ever known about the specifics of what the war was like. What an amazing loss of life.

Our walk around the area belied the brutality of what happened here 160 years ago. It was beautiful and it was peaceful.

For dinner we went back to our son's apartment and made lumpia, a traditional Filipino dish that involved a lot of vegetable chopping. Delicious.

Chopping veggies

Rolling the lumpia

Deep fried goodness

Back on the road again...

 It's not post-covid quite yet but it feels like it's time to venture out again. Not a plane yet - but soon! - and certainly not overseas - more thoughts on that another time - but in the car to see a son we haven't seen in a year in a half, that we can do. So we're off to the Washington, D.C. area, Falls Church to be exact.

 We loaded the car with our bikes so we can explore the bike paths of the greater DC area. Covid-19 laid me up for the better part of a year but I'm ready to be back in the saddle. We've done a little bit of hilly road riding but flat bike paths are more manageable. In fact, we did 18 miles the other day and I still had energy to get some things done later in the day. Definitely turned the recovery corner.

I am quite pleased that we didn't miss the Brood X cicadas. I thought we might be too late, but even through the closed car windows we could hear the noise. We've only just checked into our hotel so haven't been out to explore yet but there were plenty of dead critters in the parking lot to take a photo. I believe this lovely beast completed its life cycle as it had been destined to do and its offspring will reappear in 2038. Although the New York Times had some recipes I think I'll forgo the taste test. Unless someone offers me a hot plate of crisp, deep fired bugs with Thai basil and plenty of salt. That sounds good.