July, July! And a Little Bit of Baltimore...

So after getting back from DC, it's been pretty much business as usual -- or what is usual for the non-travelling times. I spent early July re-reading the Harry Potters (and finishing a tragically early ten days before the new book's release), hanging out, and learning how to be a good Powhatan since being assigned to the Powhatan Indian Village at Jamestown (as opposed to the ships or the fort, etc.). Interesting tidbits and anecdotes to follow with photos as available:

-- Mark's 4th of July party on the 7th of July (photos: Sally, Mark, Ashley, and me; and Jeff (being Jeff), Sally, and me.)


-- My first tomato! I finally decided the best way to eat it was plain, so as to best savour its own flavors and lovely red color. So perfect...

-- We had a couple of special conferences have events at Jamestown one weekend. Since I was working both events working late at these receptions until 9ish, as opposed to the normal 5 or 6pm, I had some mornings free for bike rides on the Colonial Parkway and James River plus fun times in a museum temporarily free of visitors with energetic staff members. The first evening, some of the Village staff had some time to kill after dinner and before the guests arrived. After visiting one of the other sites, one Village employee decided to attack the Fort by scaling the wall and climbing through a gun port, bow and arrow in hand. The skirmish that followed was sadly not captured on film and we wanted John to repeat the event the following evening when we'd have a camera on hand. Brilliant. (photos: Cow on a farm near the Parkway; my bike at a nice picinic spot along the Parkway; and some of the Indians standing around before a night event.)



(photos: John climbing into the fort; the unsuspecting fort staff; John, armed with a garden hoe; Indians to the rescue as John is chased onto the roof of the blacksmith shop by Greg and Brian from the fort; and Greg and Brian come armed with pikes to fend off Indians Justin and Jay.)





-- The other Stephanie and I had planned to go to DC for a couple of days, but decided to visit Baltimore instead for something different. On the 17th, we drove North to her parents' house outside of DC and proceeded on to Baltimore to visit the National Aquarium for the afternoon. I went a bit turtle crazy (my favorite was the pig-nosed turtle!), was fascinated by the bizarre camofloged fish, and got to pet a dolphin when chosen to participate in the dolphin show. After an extended afternoon of fish and such, we made our way to a different part of the downtown/harbor area for a bit of happy hour before venturing back to her parents' house in Northern Virginia ("NorVa" for those Viriginians "down South"). The next morning, after a relaxing morning, were astonished to encounter the worst traffic jam that we'd seen in ages (stopped completely for about two hours and travelled less than a mile on the highway), finally limped into Richmond, exhausted and starving, before making our way across the river to Claremont for a coworkers birthday party. The long day didn't end there as we were strongly encouraged to then head out to celebrate a friend's new job, nearly going to an Eastern European "rave" (club night at a local bar with a ridiculous $20 cover charge -- icky). V. fun trip, v. exhausting... (photos: National Aquarium; Australia exhibit in the Aquarium; a couple of turtles; more turtles! Look at the size of his noggin!; hmmm... pondering (and nearly depressing) thought number one...)





(photos: Inside of the main section of the Aquarium; a frog fish; a rock fish; after all of the questing in Scotland last year, I found puffins at last; and depressing thought number two...)





(photos: The sharks were really big and a bit scary-looking, as Stephanie demonstrates her look of fear; me (my butt in the khaki capris and blue shirt) petting the dolphin; downtown/harbor of Baltimore; and what is this woman doing while stopped in traffic? That's right! She's picking berries by the side of the highway.)




-- Harry Potter! So I became increasingly excited for the seventh Harry Potter book. In preparation, we had a group outing to see the fifth movie upon its realease and I even found a fabulous musical group called "Harry and the Potters" (a punk-ish rock duo of brothers writing Potter-inspired songs such as "Voldemort Can't Stop The Rock," "S.P.E.W.," "Stick it to Dolores," and "Cornelius Fudge is an Ass." Genius.). The night of the midnight release, Heather, her husband Morris, and I went to attend the v. corporate release party at a local Barnes and Noble. The festivites were fun, with partygoers being sorted into houses (I got Slytherin... what the heck?! Really?), costume parades (including a guy with a tshirt that said "Harry is not a horcrux. Get over it!" on the front and on the back "And Snape is evil"), tattoos, and trivia. We were getting tired by 11pm, so the last hour was a bit difficult but receiving the book was well worth it. I finished a couple of days ago and absolutely loved it. I'm still giddy about it on the inside... (photos: Me and Morris getting excited about Harry Potter; we're on the cover of the book! Well, nearly...; Heather shaking it like a Poloroid picture (because it is one); me getting sorted; and Heather demonstrating her pheonix face.)





-- We watched "Victoria Beckham: Coming to America" one night -- also genius. It made us even more glad that we'd registered for the chance to buy Spice Girl reunion concert tickets.

-- Played Laser Tag at a local park one night. Quite intense, but also quite a lot of fun. I was worried that these guys were going to be a bit too into it when they brought out their box of laser tag gear (complete with laser tag grenades), mused over the glory days of modifying various toy guns for laser tag capabilities, and lamented the absence off their friend with the laser tag tank. Much more fun than anticipated.

Folklife-ing it in DC

The trip to DC was great fun and quite fascinating. We left Jamestown early on the 26th to head to the Mall and set up our portion of our tent at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. The festival itself was situated on the west half of the National Mall and consisted of three sections: Northern Ireland, Mekong, and Roots of Virginia (where we were, emphasizing both the parent cultures of Jamestown – England, Africa, and the Virginian Indians – and modern-day Virginia culture). The day was hot, but we quickly unloaded our supplies and had a bit of time to kill before our afternoon orientation meeting. We headed to the hotel, hoping to check-in, but our rooms weren’t ready so it was back to the Mall for lunch and a bit of museuming, including catching a 3-D IMAX movie on lions. After the meeting, we went back to the hotel for dinner and some swimming. (photos: The van is really, really full -- check out how low the tires are!; the view up the Mall from the festival; the view the other way; Jack, Mike, and I standing in the entrance to our section of the festival (our tent is straight behind us); and Kai, Mike, and I ready for some 3-D action (sorry it's a bit blurry!).)





The next day was the opening of the festival. It was busy enough, but towards mid-afternoon, a thunderstorm rolled through with lightening enough to close the entire operation for a brief period. That evening, the Jamestown 2007 and Kent County groups were having a reception at the Smithsonian Castle. Jack, Mike, and I went to enjoy the yummy food and such after cleaning up at the hotel. I discovered some quite delicious goat cheese and some marshmallow desserts on sticks, though after taking a couple of bites the marshmallow things tended to fall all over me or the carpet. Jack actually grabbed a handful for me to take back to the hotel (which was an achievement in and of itself taking them back on the metro), with me finding bits of marshmallow in odd places for the rest of the evening. Upon returning to the hotel, we joined the festival evening social (snacks and drinks in the hotel ballroom each night at which festival participants with musical tendencies were encouraged to jam). It was a neat mix of the Irish and Virginian bluegrass musicians playing with a couple of groups of Mekong people drinking and chanting. Thursday was a bit busier, with us after work swimming, socializing, and shooting some pool. (photos: Jack and his attempts at international relations as he's trying to get the guy from Sierra Leone to take some of our extra peanuts (yes, that's me in the background); the yummy marshmallow things with the photo of the inside of them on the food blog; one of the many "tennis" games we had going -- tennis without rackets, with the teams sized more appropriately for volleyball, and with people like me holding our baggywinkle as a net; the guys next to us building a cabin and, yes, making dove-tail joints!; and Jack with a look that lets you know he's up to something...)





Friday I was able to have some time to explore. I went to take a tour of the Capitol, since I hadn’t been on one in ages, and had hoped to catch someone in session (since the Senate actually was in for part of the morning). I got into the empty House of Representatives hall, but couldn’t find a way over to the Senate… bummer. From the Capitol steps, I had noticed the heavily-decorated Canadian Embassy and decided to stop by to inquire about potential Canada Day celebrations in DC for Canada Day on Sunday. However, upon arrival, I discovered that the Embassy actually was having their big celebration that day and I’d only just missed the big singing of “O, Canada!”. The Embassy itself was giving out free food and beer, had free activities, free temporary tattoos, and free photos of your face as one of the Mounties. I hung out there for a bit before continuing my wanderings over to the National Archives. Besides seeing the Declaration of Independence (and having delightful “National Treasure” flashbacks), etc. there was also an exhibit on 20th-Century Presidents and their schooling. After that, I was a bit spent and headed back to the hotel for some relaxation before meeting with Mike and Kai to go back to the Natural History Museum to catch their new Cherokee and British exhibit and the evening IMAX show of the fantastic “Night at the Museum.” (photos: A valid question from in front of the National Botanical Gardens; inside the Botanical Gardens; one of the coolest tables ever from the exhibit featuring various botanical gardens, including the Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids; view from the Capitol steps down the mall, including the Folklife Festival on the last half of it; and the Capitol rotunda featuring the "Baptism of Pochahontas" on the left -- dodgy portrayal of Jamestown history.)





(photos: Hey! I know that guy... Wisconsin's statue of Fr. Marquette as seen similarly both on Mackinac Island and in Marquette, MI; another dodgy representation of Pocahontas history representing her "saving" John Smith from the rotunda of the Capitol; me at the Canadian Embassy, eh!; Gerald Ford from the Hall of Fame section of the Michigensian, the UofM yearbook; Gerald Ford someplace else familiar; and the National Archives.)






Saturday was back to work (though much cooler than it had been the past few days, was the busiest yet – supposedly 100,000 people through the entire festival that day alone!). After work, I was off to meet Joe (from Get on the Bus, my civil rights class from UofM) for dinner. It was indeed great to see and talk with Joe, especially to do so more than just the usual once a year in December. After having my first go at Ethopian food for dinner (delicious!), we stopped for ice cream and parted ways.

Sunday, Canada Day, was a bit more intense. It was busy at the festival, and then after work, we were planning to find some Canadian festivities. Multiple people pooped out of the plans for various (and mostly legitimate) reasons, so after going to a yummy dinner at Tyson’s Corner, I arrived back at the hotel after 10pm and determined to make the festivities happen. I persuaded Kai to come with me to a bar she’d found back at Dupont Circle and we set out, not getting there til almost 11. The bar, called Brickseller’s, is pretty well known as it has the largest selection of beers commercially available and delicious (and affordable) food, including pirogies! After a few beers and some temporary Canadian tattoos left over from the Embassy’s picnic, we hiked the two miles or so back to the hotel through Georgetown and Embassy Row (the Metro was closed for the night and I was too cheap for a cab). (photos: Despite what it may look like, the Ethiopian food was delicious; Mike and two of our tent neighbors from Pamplin Park singing some Stephen Foster before the festival opened; Jack waiting in the wings with a good view of our part of the tent; Kai showing her Canadian pride; and me showing an apparently frightening side of mine.)





Monday, the festival was closed. Kai and I got up early, which was fairly difficult given our late night previously, but we were hoping to get to the Washington Monument and get tickets. However, after only being open for about 45 minutes, all of the tickets had already been dispersed for the day. Bummed, we went to an exhibit at one of the Smithsonians about Portuguese exploration and colonization before heading over to the National Museum of the American Indian. It was my first time there and I thought it was fantastic. We ate in the café, which serves mostly traditional or inspired-by foods from various American Indian tribes. By the time we got halfway through the museum, we were starting to itch for some fresh air, so as our friend Mark joined us, we left and headed over to the Old Post Office to grab a snack and take a tour to the top of its tower before doing a bit more wandering and returning to the hotel. Kai and I took the evening monument tour that night, as arranged by the festival for the participants. (photos: The Smithsonian Castle again; the National Museum of the American Indian with its cool outdoor exhibits of native plants (corn/beans/squash, tobacco, etc.; Kai really excited for her tamales; the beginning of the history section of the NMAI; and a statue of Ben Franklin outside the Old Post Office where he looks more like a zombie than anything else.)





(photos: All photos from the evening monument tour, during which I got very photo happy -- A family at the Jefferson Memorial at dusk; more of the Jefferson Memorial; visitors at the Lincoln Memorial; view down the Reflecting Pool; and getting a bit more experimental at the WWII Memorial.)





Tuesday, the festival was again closed and I spent the day on my own wandering all over. I walked from our hotel to Theodore Roosevelt Island, over to Arlington National Cemetery, back past the Iwo Jima Memorial and our hotel to Georgetown, before coming back to the hotel for a nap. That evening I was off to Bethesda to meet Jack for Trivia Night (which turned out to be cancelled) at a pub. (photos: TR at Theodore Roosevelt Island; walking along the George Washington Memorial Parkway; Pierre L'Enfant's grave by Arlington House overlooking the city; and the C & O Canal through Georgetown.)




Wednesday was my last day in DC. The festival re-opened, but Lara had come up from Jamestown and was taking my place for the second half of the festival, allowing me to wander around DC on the 4th of July. We made it first to the National Archives for a public reading of the Declaration of Independence (as read by special guests John Adams (!!!), Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Ned Hector), and talks by Cokie Roberts and Ken Burns. I didn’t stick around for the parade, but instead went to explore the areas of the festival I had not yet seen and to find the information booth to get my National Parks passport stamped for the week. After trekking all over in the sun and through all the roundabout security barriers, I caught a shuttle to the hotel to collect my bags before catching the Metro to Union Station for the train back to Williamsburg. Once home, I dropped off my things and met some friends for an evening show of “Transformers” before collapsing into my bed that night. I was also off the following two days (we were strongly encouraged to use a lot of our comp time in July and August) and spent them mostly cleaning my apartment and relaxing at home, under no real obligation to do more than lay around and read my books. Lovely. (photos: Prepping for the parade, this float just seemed a bit out of place; the National Archives for its big 4th of July shindig; John Adams, TJ, and Ben Franklin reading the list of abuses by the king with John Adams' face on the screen screwed-up in freedom-loving frustration; and one of the parade balloons on the Mall.)