After our fun trip to Rehobeth Beach, we spent another day at the farm, and then John & Bonnie chauffeured us to Washington to meet Erin, not an easy task given DC’s well-known traffic congestion. Our trip this time was no exception.

Rather than make John drive all the way into the center of town, we opted for parking at the New Carrollton Metro station and Ubering into town. Little did we know that since last visiting the station, so much construction and redevelopment has taken place that it was going to be a trial of our patience. We missed the turnoff for the station, forcing us onto the Capital Beltway and a twenty minute (3 mile) detour, and once we arrived back at New Carrollton, the signage was so bad it took us three trips around the block to finally find the parking garage.

Fortunately, the Uber ride to the Old Ebbitt Grill, where we were meeting Erin, went smoothly, and we enjoyed talking with our driver, Stanley, who hailed from Ghana originally. Sue & I shared with him how much we had enjoyed visiting Ghana, some 25 years ago, when Erin was spending her semester abroad at the University of Ghana at Accra. Stanley tells us that Accra has grown and changed so much that we wouldn’t recognize it. I am sure that is probably a good thing for Ghana, but we enjoyed our time in what was then a sleepy tropical capital and remember it fondly.

Erin feted us all at the Old Ebbitt Grill–we feasted on oysters and delicious crab cakes. Maryland crab cakes are the best, at least in our opinion; fortunately these met our high expectations. In addition, they offered a wonderful dessert menu from which I chose a seasonal peach bread pudding. It arrived with a candle and everyone singing Happy Birthday. It might have been the best bread pudding I have ever had. This was the first of three birthday celebrations for me…each one better than the last, perhaps.

The next day, Friday, July 18, Sue and I met up with some longtime friends and colleagues from my Library of Congress days. Barby & Howard Morland made the arrangements for all of us to meet at Poets & Busboys in Shirlington. For us it was a great and long overdue reunion.

We were seated at a long table accommodating all seven of us, including Barby & Howard, Abby Yochelson, Tori Hill, and Kathy Woodrell, and us.

We spent more than two hours eating and laughing, with only occasional digressions on our concerns about the current state of affairs and the damage being done to the Federal workforce. Back in the late 1980s, Tori & I hired Abby and Kathy, along with a number of other young librarians, after a long hiring freeze. It was a great decision, especially after Barby joined us, and my experience working at the Library was a highlight and joy of my career. We are all retired now, but we still hold dear the time we spent working or researching at the Library of Congress, one of the World’s great libraries and research centers and a national treasure .

But even treasures need to be cherished and nourished and can only function and prosper with a dedicated workforce and management. Like so much of the Federal work force, however, the Library of Congress and its employees are under siege. Most recently, the Librarian of Congress was fired, without cause. The reason given was ,that children were being exposed to unsuitable content about transgenders and drag queens. The White House clearly isn’t aware that the Library of Congress is not open to anyone under the age of 18.

Later that evening, Sue & I, along with Erin & John, met up with our niece, Susie and her husband Gerry at the Bangkok 54 Thai Restaurant in Arlington for my second birthday celebrations–how lucky can a guy be? Another fantastic meal & a great time for visiting and catching up. I ordered a Whole Fried Flounder, which was perfectly prepared, but also almost too much, even with everyone sharing.

It was our last event with John as he was heading out the next morning for a wilderness camping trip with friends in Colorado, but we enjoyed being with him for even a limited amount of time. We miss Erin and John not being in Denver, especially as it has proven next to impossible for us to visit them in Cuba.

For our time in DC, Erin booked us into the AKA White House, a residence hotel where she and John were staying. It provides roomy and comfortable apartments and is a great retreat in downtown DC, just a couple of blocks the White House. Several mornings, before the heat of the day set in, I was able to take a walk around the neighborhood usually walking through Lafayette Park and by the White House. There are surprisingly few tourists around at 7:00 am.

All good things, though, do come to an end, but before we left town on June 21st, Erin took us to the Taverna del Albardero for one final delicious meal to commemorate my birthday a third time. We can’t recommend the restaurant too much. All of us ordered an “arroz” (think a Spanish version of risotto) with lobster and shrimp–melt in your mouth delicious. Flan de la abuela was the chosen dessert to share, although I ate the lion’s share. The next morning Erin went off to training, and Sue and I finished packing and ubered to National Airport for an afternoon return flight home.

And thus ended our lovely Summer’s Interlude.