Geek moment with a good friend :)

Hello,

I have company again! A friend of mine from school is here. She is on her way to a family reunion in Virginia, and she came a few days early so that she could visit with me. She got here early enough on Sunday that we could go out. She has never been to the Eastern Market so we decided to start there. The neighborhood around the market is full of row houses with beautiful architecture so it is a neat place to walk. At Eastern Market we went to a farm stand and got peaches that were to die for and some corn on the cob. We also got some fresh baked bread which helped make a great dinner.

Before going home to eat our goodies, I took her to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. She is a big Notre Dame fan so I knew she would like to see this Catholic church. While we were touring there was an organ concert that was really amazing. This church is huge, but the music seemed to fill the entire space. Some of it was heart breakingly sweet, but some of it was booming and so low in tone it seemed to shake the floor. Those parts felt a little like the music that used to be played during silent horror movies (don't open that door!).

We got home in time for a late dinner and had a nice visit, but we had to get to bed so we could get up early on Monday. We had registered for a research class at the Library of Congress. Major Geek Moment! After the class we were able to get our Reader's Identification Cards so we could go into any of the Reading Rooms including the Main Reading Room. This is what tourists can see when they tour the library. I knew exactly what my first research project was going to be. My father's mother had a children's reader called The Rose Primer that was published in 1905. My grandmother's copy was really beat up and many of the pages were torn or missing so it was impossible to read the whole thing. Once in the Main Reading Room I was able to request the Library's copy and read it. Imagine sitting is this beautiful setting reading a book published 105 years ago that you could see and touch but not read. Even now it seems unbelievable and yet I really did it!

After that we took a quick walk through the new Congressional Visitors' Center which is across the street or accessible through a tunnel from the Library of Congress and then we went to get some dinner. We had big plans for the evening. The National Theater, which is about 3 blocks from the White House, is a lot like the Embassy Theater in Fort Wayne. It does have stage shows--Dreamgirls will be there soon- and it shows classic movies for free on Monday evenings. They choose a movie star each summer and show some of that artist's films, and this summer it is Cary Grant. They were showing An Affair to Remember--so romantic...sigh. Anyway, we got to the theater in time to get two of the free tickets, and we were ready to go into the theater when we found out they don't show it on the big main screen. Instead, they set up plastic lawn chairs in the upper lobby and show the film on a screen that is not much bigger than a large screen tv. Very disappointing!! We decided not to stay so instead I took her to the Old Post Office where we could take the elevator to the observation deck and get a great view of the city from about 12 stories up. That was a better way to end the day!!

Love,
Tami