Parents' Visit
My parents visited me last week. We had a great time. They flew in Saturday (the 5th). We ate at Patio Loco (on Cinco de Mayo), then I took them contra dancing. They'd never been, but they enjoyed it--although Mom got a blister on her foot and we left early.
Sunday I took them to church, and they got to meet a lot of my friends. Nathan, David F., and David D., along with lots of other church friends, went to Panera for lunch. Later on Sunday, we went to an Indian restaurant (Azitra's) in Raleigh with Prachi and Russ. Monday, we had lunch at Sutton's with Sasa, then Dad and I played disc golf while Mom shopped in downtown Carrboro. Monday night, we got a group together for Elmo's Diner, including Sushant, Paul, Stephen, Andy, and Abbi. Later on Monday, I worked frantically to finish a paper submission that was due at midnight while the parents watched "Next" at a theater.
Tuesday, we went to Wilmington to be tourists. We ate at Sticky Fingers (good, non-NC-style barbeque), and took a bus tour of downtown. We went to the aquarium south of there, which was fascinating. I think the eels were my favorite, but the jellyfish were close. (It's amazing to me that the jellyfish are actually alive!) We then went to Wrightsville beach and walked a while. After eating an awesome meal at the Oceanic, we headed home. I was a bit disappointed to have missed an important G-net meeting at church, but oh well.
Wednesday, we left for Fairfax, Virginia, to see the Remers, our close family friends from Arkansas. That was such a great visit. We got to see where the eldest 2 daughters, who are both married, are living now. Scott (the 3rd-oldest sibling, and oldest son) and I really connected; that was great. Thursday the 3 of us got up early and caught a train into DC. We saw Union Station, and hopped on a bus tour. We drove by lots of places, but we got out to see several places in detail.
The Air & Space museum was cool, and that's where we had the cutest moment of our trip: a little girl stopped by a model of a satellite, with antennae poking in several directions. "What is it, honey?" the dad asked. "It's a needle shooter!"
We also saw the museum of natural history, with lots of life-sized models of various animals. We could have spent a long time in there, but we didn't. We drove by the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial, but we didn't get out at either. (Did you know that the Washington Monument is crowned by the most precious metal of the early 19th century, aluminum?) We did get out at the Lincoln Memorial, though. That one really made an impression on me. A giant Lincoln, pensive and restless...wow. The speeches, too, are incredible. I've heard the Gettysburg Address before, but it meant a lot more to me this time. And his 2nd inaugural address, written during the civil war, is almost equally impressive, and carved into stone on the opposite wall. I took the time to memorize a part of the latter that struck me:
Fondly do we hope--fervently do we pray--that the mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet if God wills that it continue until all of the wealth piled by the bondsmen's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn from the lash shall be paid by another drawn from the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, "The judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."
Wow. After that, we saw the Reflecting Pool, Vietnam Memorial, and Korean Memorial, all of which were kinda unimpressive after Lincoln. We transferred buses in the Arlington National Cemetary, headed back to Union Station (our bus broke down just short of there), and then back to Fairfax. Mom and Dad had a dinner with Jason and Gina (the Remer parents) that they couldn't stop raving about, and I followed Scott to a singles-group night at his church. (We had some pretty good food of our own!)
Friday, we drove back to Chapel Hill. When we got there, I detoured to Maple View Ice Cream to treat them, and then I dropped them off at my apartment. I rushed to Durham to get the car to Daniel F. so that he could take the drivers test to get his driver's license to drive my car this summer. On the way back, I sneakily stopped by the mall and picked up a Mother's Day gift. I picked up the parents, and we ate a great meal at Carolina Brewery, then walked around Southpoint mall for a while. Saturday, we slept in a bit, then I took them to the airport.
What a great week to punctuate the transition to summertime!
Sunday I took them to church, and they got to meet a lot of my friends. Nathan, David F., and David D., along with lots of other church friends, went to Panera for lunch. Later on Sunday, we went to an Indian restaurant (Azitra's) in Raleigh with Prachi and Russ. Monday, we had lunch at Sutton's with Sasa, then Dad and I played disc golf while Mom shopped in downtown Carrboro. Monday night, we got a group together for Elmo's Diner, including Sushant, Paul, Stephen, Andy, and Abbi. Later on Monday, I worked frantically to finish a paper submission that was due at midnight while the parents watched "Next" at a theater.
Tuesday, we went to Wilmington to be tourists. We ate at Sticky Fingers (good, non-NC-style barbeque), and took a bus tour of downtown. We went to the aquarium south of there, which was fascinating. I think the eels were my favorite, but the jellyfish were close. (It's amazing to me that the jellyfish are actually alive!) We then went to Wrightsville beach and walked a while. After eating an awesome meal at the Oceanic, we headed home. I was a bit disappointed to have missed an important G-net meeting at church, but oh well.
Wednesday, we left for Fairfax, Virginia, to see the Remers, our close family friends from Arkansas. That was such a great visit. We got to see where the eldest 2 daughters, who are both married, are living now. Scott (the 3rd-oldest sibling, and oldest son) and I really connected; that was great. Thursday the 3 of us got up early and caught a train into DC. We saw Union Station, and hopped on a bus tour. We drove by lots of places, but we got out to see several places in detail.
The Air & Space museum was cool, and that's where we had the cutest moment of our trip: a little girl stopped by a model of a satellite, with antennae poking in several directions. "What is it, honey?" the dad asked. "It's a needle shooter!"
We also saw the museum of natural history, with lots of life-sized models of various animals. We could have spent a long time in there, but we didn't. We drove by the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial, but we didn't get out at either. (Did you know that the Washington Monument is crowned by the most precious metal of the early 19th century, aluminum?) We did get out at the Lincoln Memorial, though. That one really made an impression on me. A giant Lincoln, pensive and restless...wow. The speeches, too, are incredible. I've heard the Gettysburg Address before, but it meant a lot more to me this time. And his 2nd inaugural address, written during the civil war, is almost equally impressive, and carved into stone on the opposite wall. I took the time to memorize a part of the latter that struck me:
Fondly do we hope--fervently do we pray--that the mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet if God wills that it continue until all of the wealth piled by the bondsmen's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn from the lash shall be paid by another drawn from the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, "The judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."
Wow. After that, we saw the Reflecting Pool, Vietnam Memorial, and Korean Memorial, all of which were kinda unimpressive after Lincoln. We transferred buses in the Arlington National Cemetary, headed back to Union Station (our bus broke down just short of there), and then back to Fairfax. Mom and Dad had a dinner with Jason and Gina (the Remer parents) that they couldn't stop raving about, and I followed Scott to a singles-group night at his church. (We had some pretty good food of our own!)
Friday, we drove back to Chapel Hill. When we got there, I detoured to Maple View Ice Cream to treat them, and then I dropped them off at my apartment. I rushed to Durham to get the car to Daniel F. so that he could take the drivers test to get his driver's license to drive my car this summer. On the way back, I sneakily stopped by the mall and picked up a Mother's Day gift. I picked up the parents, and we ate a great meal at Carolina Brewery, then walked around Southpoint mall for a while. Saturday, we slept in a bit, then I took them to the airport.
What a great week to punctuate the transition to summertime!