Happy little tree

When I first moved here ten(!) years ago, I didn't have a car (or money) with which to get a real Christmas tree. So I settled on an artificial $17 tree from Target. We had some good years together, but it just wasn't the same as the real thing. This year, however, I decided I would finally take the plunge. I went down to my local tree lot and picked out the cutest little 5-foot frasier fir (say that ten times fast). And it turns out real trees aren't that heavy; I was able to haul it upstairs all by myself!

Isn't she beautiful? It just makes me smile.

Fall colors

I took a stroll through Arlington Cemetery yesterday to check out the fall colors. Most of the trees were rather lackluster, and some had lost all their leaves already, but there were a few that stood out with their bold colors.

October Baseball

This month has been a roller coaster for Washington fans. I'll start with the good: after seven miserable seasons, the Nats finished with the best record in baseball and the NL East title. For the first time since 1933, there would be postseason baseball in DC. I was thrilled to be a part of it.

I was lucky enough to snag tickets to Game 4 of the National League Division Series. And as luck would have it, it turned out to be the most exciting game of the series, if not of the entire season or maybe even the lifespan of the Nats.

Washington Senators legend Frank Howard threw out the first pitch.

There was a constant excitement in the air.

The late afternoon sun created some interesting shadows (and photo ops).

The Nats were down 2-1 in the series and needed a win to stay alive. So in the bottom of the 9th, Jayson Werth hits a walk-off home run to win the game. I guess it's not the posteason without a little drama, huh?

The celebration...

And the post-game interviews.

The euphoria lasted for the next 24 hours....well into Game 5, which the Nats were winning handily. Until that awful, dreadful, horrible 9th inning. And then, the gut punch. Now I know what old baseball guys mean when they talk about a team breaking your heart. But, as in all things in life, I guess you have to experience heartache to appreciate the good times. And to quote one of my favorite literary figures, Scarlett O'Hara, "tomorrow is another day."

Only 121 days until spring training starts....

President Lincoln's Cottage

A few months ago I visited President Lincoln's Cottage and I'm just now getting around to posting some photos. Lincoln's Cottage is located in Upper Northwest DC on the grounds of the Old Soldier's Home, a convalescent home for veterans. To be honest, I wasn't all that impressed by the tour - there wasn't any furniture in the house so there wasn't much to see - but I did learn some interesting facts. Back in the 1860s, the property was outside of city limits, so Lincoln used the cottage as sort of a country getaway. This is where it's believed that Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. I also learned that freed slaves would set up camps just outside of city limits, which is how areas like U Street became large black communities. The More You Know!™

Wine country

One of the great things about living in Virginia is the fact that it's an up-and-coming wine region. (And if you know me at all, you know that I love my wine.) There are a ton of wineries about an hour's drive away; unfortunately I don't take advantage of that often enough. But yesterday, Audra and I drove out to Chrysalis Vineyards for a wine and bluegrass festival. It was a nice, relaxing day, despite the fact that the wind picked up and it got a little chilly. We had some good wine, some BBQ, and we got to take a hayride through the vineyard.

They let us sample some grapes off the vine. These are Norton grapes - the only wine grape that is indigenous to North America. They were incredibly juicy, so much so that they stained our teeth and lips purple.

And then on the way home we passed this store called The British Pantry out in the middle of nowhere. Of course I had to stop.

I bought some Sticky Toffee Pudding in a can (made by Heinz, of all people). I'm really curious to see how that is.

Stay classy, San Diego

The Society of American Archivists (SAA) has a conference every summer in a different city (the only one I've attended has been the one held in DC two years ago). This year, the conference was planned for San Diego. So when my boss asked if I wanted to go, I think I said yes before he even finished asking. And we would be killing two birds with one stone; with so many Navy communities out there, we would have the opportunity to do some site visits and spread the gospel of good record-keeping.

My colleagues and I were going to start the trip in Port Hueneme, but I flew out a few days early to spend some time with the family. We celebrated my sister's birthday by seeing Pixar in Concert at the Hollywood Bowl. It was actually my first time at the venue, and it was a great experience (the seats got to be a little uncomfortable though).

We could see the Hollywood sign from our seats!

After all the fun and games with the family, it was time to go to work! We visited the Seabee Museum in Port Hueneme, one of the many Navy museums within our command.

Then it was on to beautiful San Diego, where we stayed at the lovely Hilton Bayfront. (Don't worry, there was no "wasteful government spending;" we paid the economical government rate.) Our hotel was right on the bay across from Coronado Island and just "upstream" from San Diego Naval Base.

The view from my hotel room:

Across the street from our hotel was Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres. We attended the Padres vs. Cubs game on our first night in town.

It's a pretty nice ballpark. They have a picnic area and whiffle ball field in back.

There's a "beach" in the outfield.

And they incorporated an old industrial building - the Western Metal Supply Co. - into the structure of the ballpark, which I thought was really cool.

The Padres ended up winning (7-4, I think).

The next day we conducted our site visits to the fleet. Our first stop was Naval Air Station North Island on Coronado, where we got a brief tour of some of the helicopter operations.

Then we went to Naval Station San Diego to get a tour of USS Independence (LCS-2), one of the Navy's newest littoral combat ships. I'd never been on an active-duty ship before, so this was pretty exciting.

 The cargo hold - pretty much the only place inside where I was allowed to take pictures.

The following day was a half-day at the conference, so we spent the rest of the day at the zoo. 

 They had a baby giraffe!

After the conference was over, my buddy Ryan came down from LA and we hit some more hot spots around town. First we went to Coronado Island and sampled the brews at Coronado Brewing Company (the Orange Avenue Wit was delish). Then we ambled around the island and took in the gorgeous scenery.

The famous Hotel del Coronado.

Our final stop was Old Town, which is where the Spanish originally settled. Old Town is allegedly the "birthplace of California."

After nine days of fun and sun in California (and work, of course), it was time to come back to DC and back to normal life. Overall, it was not a bad way to spend a work week!

Stay classy, San Diego. And thanks for stopping by.