TTT vs FTT

Hello again,



I know it has been a while so I will try to get everyone caught up to speed.



First, I always wanted to bring the boys to Washington DC, but I planned to wait until they were old enough to appreciate it and not whine about all the walking involved in touring the city. Somehow they got to the ages of 19, 21, and 23 and we never made it here. "The best laid plans..." I was lucky and felt grateful that Gareth and Dalen were still willing to come this week even though they were old enough that I couldn't force them. Ian just wasn't interested and at the age of 21 there wasn't much I could do about it except accept his decision (and tell his brothers to punch him in the arm a few dozen times:)). I missed having him around this week, but it was great to see the rest of my family.



I saved some of the most important tourist sites for while they were here--The Capitol, Pentagon, and White House were at the top of the list of tours I scheduled for this week. Even though the 3rd Congressional District no longer has a representative, the office is still open and we had a very nice intern give us a tour. The new Capitol Visitor's Center is open and it is pretty impressive, but it is also where I was reminded of the difference between TTT (Tami Touring Time) and FTT (Family Touring Time). One of the points I made in my proposal for the Lilly Grant was the desire to be able to take my time and really see everything that interested me. If I had been at the Visitor's Center by myself I would have spent a lot more time there, but we were working on FTT so we left before I was ready. I will have to try to get back there before I leave. We also went to the Supreme Court building where operating on FTT was fine because I had already been there, and we went to the Library of Congress on FTT because I will be going back there to do a workshop in July.



Now before you being thinking that FTT and TTT are mutually exclusive, let me tell you that they aren't. When we toured the Hirshhorn Art Museum TTT and FTT were the same, and it worked out well. Sometimes I actually like FTT better than TTT. If I had gone to the Air and Space Museum and the Natural History Museum by myself I would not have spent as much time there and I would not have gotten as much out of the experience. Being on FTT was definitely an advantage.



Thursday night, however, was TTT all the way. I arranged a date night for Tom and I. When I was planning this before I left Fort Wayne a friend of mine from school and I called this "Little Black Dress Night" or LBD night for short. I am happy to say it all worked out the way I envisioned it would. We went to a very nice restaurant for a meal like I have never had before--or spent as much for in my life. It was very nice and everything tasted wonderful. Afterward, we went to the Kennedy Center to see the Reduced Shakespeare Company perform their show One Hundred Ninety Seven Movies in One Hundred Minutes. This is the same company that originally did the Shakespeare play that I directed a few years ago. It was really funny, but I still like their Shakespeare show better. During the intermission we went out to the terrace and were able to watch the sunset over the Potomac River and Roosevelt Island. Aaahhhhhh.......

After the show I wanted to go to the bar at the Willard Hotel for a drink. For those of you who don't know the story, the Willard Hotel is just a couple of blocks from the White House and President U.S. Grant (1868-1876) liked to walk down there after a hard day at work and get a drink. Well, people who wanted to talk to him knew he would be there and it would be a good chance to plead their cases so they waited for him in the long central hallway leading to the bar. This hallway became known as "peacock alley" because anybody who was anybody wanted to be seen there, but President Grant complained about all these people in the lobby who were keeping him from relaxing (and drinking) so he called them (negatively) the lobbyists, and that is where that term originated! The hotel fell on hard times and was almost torn down, but it has been restored, it is still a hotel, and peacock alley is still there as is the bar. I will say this for DC, the drinks are expensive, but they make sure to put enough alcohol in them so you get your money's worth! Whew!! I ordered my first martini (yum) and my evening was complete! My loving husband agreed to be on TTT, and I had a wonderfully memorable night. sigh.....(What a guy!)

The Pentagon runs on Pentagon time so that worked out well, and I have already been to the White House so FTT was fine. I couldn't let them leave town without seeing the National Cathedral, all the monuments lit up at night, and Arlington National Cemetery so we went to these places also. All in all, I think they had a good trip, and I was able to show them the things they really needed to see. Of course I wish they had more time here and I will miss them, but they have to get back home. I will have to go back on Tami Touring Time, but at least I won't have to change any clocks!

Tami