Cumberland to DC

Checked out for my morning train. There weren’t very many of us on the platform, I think in all about a half dozen of us boarded at Cumberland, two of the passengers came with bicycles at the end of their tow path run. 

A seasonal display

The ride was uneventful, meandering our way down the Potomac while I napped in my chair. We pulled into DC just after lunch, I dropped my bag, and went off to kill some time. First stop, The Smithsonian! I went to DC as a tourist fairly often when I was younger so for many years I felt I’d had my fill of our capitol’s monuments and museums. This trip seemed like a time to revisit them as an adult. The moment I started looking into it I was confronted with the fact that my government was still shut down. “Congress shall make no law.”

Not a seasonal display

Since most of the city was shut down I decided to do a little mall walking. Seniors like it, why not me. I meandered the city to the mall making a few stops along the way. I’d just finished my book on project Azorian so I stopped in a bookstore for another. The Power Broker called to me until I saw how thick it was. Too much paper for travel. I cozied up with my new find at a loose leaf shop. The owner tossed me an gaiwan full of flower and talked to me about the difficulties of importing these days. I don’t envy him. 

How I try to spend my time

Not long after that, my friend Cage had freed up and it was time to go back to his. I went back to his apartment to meet him, his girlfriend Emily, and their cat Mac(aroni) for dinner. Some Caribbean food was in order followed by taking a bottle of raspberry lambic up to their rooftop. Elsie’s has this beer on tap and it reminds me of California.

They get along fine