1989

Mom and Dad Visit

Anne, Mom, Me, Julie, Julie's sister Louise
In front of White House in Washington, DC
(Dad took the picture)

Mom and Dad with cherry blossoms and Washington Monument in back

In April Mom and Dad drove their camper up from Florida and spent several days in Virginia with us.  They arrived on Wednesday afternoon stayed at the Lake Fairfax Park campground which is adjacent to Reston and was convenient as it is only a ten minute drive from our townhouse. At the same time Julie’s sister Louise was staying at our place for the week as she was interviewing for jobs in the DC area. This turned out to be a good thing as it gave Julie a reason to spend time with Louise instead of with Mom.  I was a bit apprehensive about Mom visiting as Julie always felt that Mom didn’t accept her which was true. Mom had always envisioned me marrying a nice Baptist girl from church and having kids and Julie with Anne didn’t meet her vision.  Although Mom was civil towards Julie, she never made Julie feel comfortable and her disapproval would show.   Dad on the other hand was always nice towards Julie.

It had been cold and rainy week and Thursday was no exception.  I took the day off from work and Mom and Dad came over to our house at 8:30 in the morning then we drove to the nearest Metro subway station which was in Viena then took the Metro into DC as it was easier than trying to find a parking place in town.  After arriving in DC, we walked around the tidal basin and looked at the cherry blossoms, in spite of the somewhat dreary day, the blossoms were beautiful. Around noon it started to rain so we rushed over to the Natural History museum where we ate lunch.  Mom couldn’t believe the price, $25 for sandwiches for the three of us.  After lunch we looked at some of the museum then headed to the Metro to go home around 3:30 to miss the rush hour.  After arriving home, I made chili for dinner and I asked Mom what she thought about DC and she said her favorite thing was riding the Metro.

Mom at Great Falls

I had to work on Friday so I suggested some things that that Mom and Dad could do and they decided to go see Great Falls on the Potomac river but after an hour or so there it started to rain so they went to Tyson’s Corner mall where they walked around, had lunch, and stopped to see Anne who was working at the Walden Book Store before returning back to the campground. After Julie, Anne and I got home from work we met Mom and Dad at a restaurant for dinner after which they we returned to our house where we sat around and talked before Mom and Dad returning to the campground.

Page from Mom's log of the trip

Click for recipe

On Saturday Mom and Dad again came over at 8:30 in the morning and then we all, Julie, Anne, Julie’s sister Louise, Mom and Dad, again took the Metro into to town where we walked around the Mall and the White House before the Cherry Blossom Festival Parade which I had got us all reserved seats in the stands.  That night Julie and Louise went out for dinner as it was Louise’s last day with us.  For the rest of us, Mom, Dad and Anne, I made The Enchanted Broccoli Forest for dinner.  It is a recipe from the cookbook by the same name. The cookbook was one of Julie’s favorites, all vegetarian recipes, the namesake recipe is a casserole with a rice and cheese filling in which you stick standing up broccoli stalks, thus the Broccoli Forest.  Dad didn’t think much of it, although he said it was okay, he didn’t consider it a full meal with out meat.

On Sunday Mom and Dad came over mid-morning. We had planned to go into see the National Zoo but no one felt like going with it still being rainy and cold so we just hung out at the house.  Around 11 Julie left to go have lunch with her Aunt so Mom, Dad, Anne and I went to Pizza Hut for lunch and then stopped at the grocery store on the way home.  We didn’t do much that afternoon, took a nap and watched TV.  Julie got home around five and then I helped her make a broccoli quiche, salad and bran muffins for dinner.  After cleaning up after dinner, Mom and Dad said their goodbyes as they were leaving the early Monday morning to head back to Florida.

On the way home Mom and Dad stopped and spent a at Williamsburg for a day, then the Outer Banks for a couple of days before returning home.  In Mom’s logbook for the trip she recorded they traveled 790 miles to Reston, $107.45 for gas, $120.10 for camping, $233 for tickets, eating out and miscellaneous things for a total for $560 over the 10 days of their trip.

I had been a little worried about how Julie and Mom would get along but there were no incidents although Mom did comment about Julie not being at home much, having Louise their and going to see her Aunt gave Julie a reason for time away.   Mom later said they had a good time, but we ate dinner much to late for them.  Mom and Dad usually eat dinner around five thirty or six and we didn’t usually eat until seven to eight. 

After returning to Florida, Mom and Dad went to see Brenda and Tom for three months in Linz, Austria.

Julie Working