My fiftieth birthday was a best day.
We, just my husband and I, were in DC. He was there for an annual business conference and I went along. I loved the approach over the water coming in ... turned out the guy at the aisle on our row was a pilot for that airline ... he spoke up when he caught a glimpse of my delight ... those big wings have a lot more tricks in their bag then my little airplanes do. So the whole thing started off really great.
We stayed in a very nice historic hotel ... I had forgotten my charger and they sent one right up. My husband got us all checked in then he left to meet up with his buds for a while. Perfect ... I like to get "situated" as soon as possible in a new place ... everything from water temperature to the fire exits comes in to play for me. (If I have to McGuyver something I gotta know what I'm working with!) I was surprised and delighted to see the variety of treats supplied by the hotel. "And they say Southerners are hospitable", I thought as I planned to open everything up and arrange it on the coffee tray as a lovely surprise for my husband. Hmmm, letsee here, maybe just a salty and a sweet ... I carefully selected just two, pairing the others for some other time. Ahhh ... and a fully stocked frig.! Well, I don't know much about beer ... he'd rather choose his own there.He was really enthusiastic about the little snacks. "You think of everything" he said (assuming that the surprise came out of my suitcase). I shrugged, smiling ... no big deal ... I was pleased with the compliment ... "Maybe you'd like a beer, or I think they put some little bottles of wine towards the back ... ". I'm trying to be cool ... nonchalant. "What?! Baby, whatcha say?!" he says. I'm clipping on earrings ... getting ready for dinner. "If you want a beer or something ... the frig is totally stocked ... guess they knew you party boys were in the house. (kind of a Engineer joke) He just started laughing. I was a bit surprised that my little joke hit his funny bone, but ... this is a sort of a vacation ... . He's still laughing. I come out of the bathroom all set to go and he's still laughing. "What?" I ask. "The hotel had these waiting in the room?" he asked still smiling. "Yes," I say,"And ... there just may be more where those came from... ." "Oh, I'm sure there are" he replies helping me into my coat.
Yeah ... I find out later that the little teeny tiny can of salted nuts had a price tag associated with it that should have covered at least the first leg of the airfare home! I think I'm going to replace it with a can from one of those little grocery stores wedged in between Starbucks and Starbucks. Uh uh ... no go. It's a special hotel size can!
Well, live and learn. He still laughs about it occasionally so I guess it was worth every penny.
We enjoyed a couple of those famous DC brunches while we were there. And some truly memorable dinners. I loved walking all over the place and riding the subway was fun too. It was really neat to experience the big city vibe. Everybody looked so cool. The city was preparing for the new president's inauguration ceremonies. We had a week there before the festivities began. I had a blast! Everyday.
Saved the Air and Space Museum for my birthday. I bought tickets to the special shows ... joined a tour group ... lagged behind and rolled up under one of the airplanes to quickly check out the flaps. I stopped when I wanted to ... read everything as slowly as I wanted to ... dozed through a tiny part of one movie ... rode the sims (extra cheesey) ... I spent the whole day there. Kinda perfect.
For dinner that night we found a wonderful tapa place that made very credible margaritas and served a single piece of birthday cake in a handblown glass platter that was almost as big as the table.
I saved the ticket stubs from The Air and Space Museum and put them in my top drawer to remind me of how much I enjoyed that day ... turning fifty ... not bad at all. Great, in fact.