Graham's Visit

For the past three years, J and I have begged G to visit us in D.C. Finally, he was able to work us into his busy schedule and gave up his spring break (March 26th-30th) to fly across the country for a long weekend. His stay was somewhat unusual (I managed to not pick up my camera once), so I was excited when G emailed his photos from the trip last night.

J and I were so happy to have him all to ourselves. We picked his brain on all the exciting things going on in his life, and of course showed him all of our favorite places around town. Naturally, J expressed enthusiasm for having his little brother around by arranging two epic runs around the city. I think they totaled over 20 miles that weekend. I hurt just thinking about it.

In order to ensure that G's brain wouldn't atrophy on his days off just before finals, we decided that the weekend would definitely have to be about education. G is a no-nonsense dude, so naturally he wanted to absorb as much info as possible. On Friday, with plenty of sandwiches and snacks in hand, we drove out to Monticello for a day trip. Upon arrival, we had an hour or so to walk around the grounds before our house tour. Unfortunately, it was a little early in the season for the gardens to be in bloom, but the walk was a welcome change after 2.5 hours in the car. The house tour was pretty interesting and I am always amazed at how Jefferson spent his entire life perfecting his house and grounds. We didn't finish at Monticello in time to make it out to Mt. Vernon, but I think that was probably for the best. It was a long day.

Instead, we took an alternate route home and stopped at Manassas battlefield. You can't visit Virginia without going to at least one battlefield. If you look hard enough, you can see the excitement on my face. Look a little harder! I'm not sure if we were standing next to a confederate or union cannon. I didn't pay very much attention to the 6 minute audio program about the Second Battle of Bull Run, and refused to take 1-mile Henry Loop Trail that may have given a bit more context. So, the men settled for a quick walk around the close-in battlefield and opted to play around with the cannons.

Depending on which Civil War scholar you consult, I'm sure they'd agree that G is depicting a relatively accurate account of how "Stonewall" Jackson led his infamous charge at the First Battle of Bull Run. Since I am a historian, and qualify to be a member of the Daughters of the Confederacy, I felt it was my duty to tell him that it was much more likely that Jackson rode the cannon like a horse (he was, after all, a cavalry man). For the sake of getting home before dark, we had to agree to disagree on that minute detail of history. G opted for his pose instead. I still feel that General Jackson would never have stooped to the level of a "foot cavalry" man. The mounted pose would have been much more accurate.

We continued our weekend of learning with additional coursework, which included a seminar on the wonders of Bourbon, and a hands-on workshop aimed at obtaining the maximum potential of your falafel pita (without embarrassing blow-outs). G even played schoolmaster and taught me a thing or two about rap music and the emotional roller coaster that is the big-budget movie soundtrack. We closed our eyes while listening to clips from Dragonheart and I imagined men in armor and damsels in distress, or Civil War soldiers (to tie it into our weekend lesson plan) marching off to battle. It was very epic. I don't think I'll ever be a soundtrack convert, unless The Ark miraculously takes on movie making, but it was fun to listen to new things.

I think I got to know G better in those 4 days than I have in the 4 years that I've been visiting California for the summer and winter holidays. I think we sent him home completely worn out (at least I was completely worn out), but it was so much fun. I certainly hope he will have more time to visit us in the future!