Washington, DC

Sunday, July 15th - Tuesday, July 17th
Rather than try to update each day I’m going to try to catch up on the goings on of Pete since the School of Public Service has ended. The rest of the wek is coming

Sunday, July 15th
After a rather lazy morning and day for Pete the faculty and staff got together for a program debriefing in the afternoon. The goal is to go over all the information from the exit interviews that were conducted on Friday. The session went well with some great suggestions for next year. After the session there was cook out in one of the courtyards of the St. Albans. The cook out included steaks, brats, burgers, corn, and potato salad on the side. The cookout was a great way to end the program.

Monday, July 16th
Spent the day lounging around DC. In a way it seemed like two days. I woke up this morning around 5:30am and drove down to the Lincoln Memorial to watch the sunrise. Yes, I know a bit cheesy but it was well worth the early wake up call. It is nice to be there when it has virtually no other people. Sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, watching the sun rise, while drinking a cup of coffee, awesome. I went back to Albans pretty soon after sunrise to beat any traffic and went back to bed.

After knocking around I met Norm, Virginia, Fran, and Norm’s Mom and friend fro a couple of drinks at the Hotel Monaco in downtown DC. The Monaco is where Norm and Virginia’s wedding will be. It looks like a great place for a wedding and the location is ideal. After drinks we went back to Fran’s, a block and half up the street, for dinner. Fran outdid himself. The menu; steamed mussels in a tarragon cream sauce, broiled potatoes, and crab cakes. The food was scrumptious. We hung out and had a few drinks. Another great night.

Tuesday, July 17th
Tuesday was a great day. Woke up late and spent the morning drinking coffee and reading the Washington Post. After seeing Amelia, a fellow SPS staff member, off for the summer Todd, Hilary, Melissa, and I went to lunch at the Tombs down in Georgetown. I went there earlier in the summer for beers and wanted to eat there at least once. I made quick work of my roasted turkey club with red onions and avocado. We saw Melissa off as she headed back to Richmond, Va.

Hilary dropped me off at the Metro where I timed my meeting with Ryser perfectly to head to her and Micah’s place in Germantown, MD for dinner. While Ryser and Micah did a conference call for a project they are working on I went to the grocery to pickup Micah’s supplies for the meal. I followed Micah’s orders and chopped some stuff up and then got out of the way. The menu; Cucumber Soup, served chilled, BBQ Burgers, a Ryser family recipe, and homemade strawberry and rhubarb pie with ice cream. The crust was made with about a stick of butter. Got to love the French style cooking. Billy and Amanda drive out to have diner with us. The food was incredible. I am quickly becoming very spoiled in the culinary area of my life.

What I enjoy the most about my month stint in DC is getting to do precisely this stuff. I get to hang out with two of my best friends from high school. We have known each other over twenty two years. I always leave DC wishing I had more time to hang out with all of them. On top of all that both Ryser and Billy married incredible people. They do not come much better than Micah and Amanda. Days like this are why I look forward to DC and miss it when I’m gone.