Back to the race we all call work...

Well I have just gotten back from a wonderful trip to VA and DC, and I must say a GREAT birthday. John and I got to see and do a whole lot but man the weather was crazy. As we drove up to Charlottesville, VA on Friday it was pouring the entire way up. Needless to say I was grateful for a pillow so I could sleep and not critic the wonderful driving of my hubby :). So back to the rain....so when we arrived to the hotel late that night I immediately wanted to check the weather channel to see if our vacation was going to be ruined and man it looked bad the whole eastern part of the US was green (in case your not familiar with rain colors, that means heavy to moderate rain showers).

Then the next morning we wake up, open the curtains and it's a little overcast but today is our DC day (we were still about 2 hours away but since we were so close we decided to make a long day and just drive up and back on Saturday). Once we got into DC I wanted to make it a good sightseeing trip for John since this was his first time so we started off in Union Station, parked and jumped on their newest transit system (highly recommended, let me know if you are planning a trip and I will discuss). Then we headed off to the National Art Gallery, then started our stroll down the 4 mile National mall - starting at the Capitol. Now here's where it's cute we are steadily walking in the dead heat (no sign of clouds) when I start complaining about how hot it is. Then John tells me that I shouldn't complain about the heat because then it would rain and I would complain about that, aww he knows me so well. **Break for Sappy Moment**So I stop complaining and he tells me that he had prayed earlier that morning that the rain would stop and not bother our vacation and I would like to say it did, we never saw a raindrop the entire trip!! What a thoughtful husband.**Return to story** So we continue down the National mall and see the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, WWII Memorial, Vietnam Memorial and the headed into Georgetown for dinner and lite shopping. We then ended our day at around 9pm and headed back to the hotel. Not a bad start.

Then on Sunday we just kind of hung around Charlottesville, walked around their downtown area and looked at the local used bookstores..it's amazing what you can find. But that was just our lazy day. Because on Monday we went to the University of Virginia to see the sights and get some Masters of Architecture information for John and then we headed to the James River to go canoeing. That was a blast. The funniest part was we could never quite get on the same rhythm so we just took turns rowing and the other would rest and when we checked our boat back in everyone was like "you guys row fast". I just looked at John and said I wonder how fast it would have been if we would have rowed at the same time :).

We both were kind of tired so we grabbed some sandwiches and headed to the hotel to rest up for a "date night for my birthday". **WARNING: Sappy Moment #2** Let me explain the date night. John had called weeks before to make reservations at this fancy steak and seafood restaurant that the locals use (because I have this big thing that I don't like to eat at chain restaurants while on vacation) and told me to wear something nice, so when we arrived to the restaurant and were shown our seats there was a bouquet of a dozen multicolored roses and a little stuffed cat (since we can't get a real pet) that he ordered to have delivered just for my b-day. HOW SWEET! Then after dinner we headed back to change into "comfy clothes" to top the date night off with a movie, "Must Love Dogs". Now for those of you that know me this truly was a great date for me since I'm a stickler for dinner and ANY movie!! **Sappy Moment Complete**.

So to finish up our trip we visited Monticello (home of Thomas Jefferson...really cool) on Tuesday and headed into Charlotte (1/2 between ATL and Charlottesville, VA) and my sister had made a wonderful b-day dinner with the menu being my request. We visited, played Scrabble (the Hill Family game) and then headed back to ATL today. However, we did have a brief stop off in Clemson for John to review their Master of Architecture program to see if he wants to go there.

And that is the end of our trip and a wonderful B-day.


P.S. Thanks for all the birthday shout-outs. It's nice to feel loved :) !