and I recently left the house behind and went traveling the old fashion way – by plane and ship. We had two missions in mind – I needed to teach a class in DC for a client, and we had missed the holidays with family due to work commitments in the San Francisco area. So we decided to join my parents on their Bahamas cruise, spend a few days in Florida catching up with friends and then head up to DC to teach the class while we were on that side of the country.

We dropped Kiki off with and before we left out, who graciously offered to kitty-sit. And then we BARTed to the San Francisco airport to catch our early morning flight to Orlando. We arrived to my very happy parents and spent time catching up.

The Cruise

Monday morning, we headed up to Port Canaveral to board Royal Caribbean’s Monarch of the Seas. At the last minute, we discovered that the folks who run NuRVers.com were camped at Jetty Park – so we Twittered back and forth and waved to each other as we headed out to sea (him from on top of his RV). How fun!

Our itinerary included a stop at their private island of CocoCay, a day in port at Nassau and a day at sea. Our day at CocoCay resulted in me getting a sunburn so I mainly stayed on the ship while we were in Nassau (*yawn* I’ve been there too many times to find it exciting) while Chris went exploring. Our day at sea was divine.

All and all, the cruise was great. This was my second time on this specific ship (my brother and his wife got married on it back in 2002), and my fifth time on this class of ship. (I’m a bit reluctant to mention that I’ve lost count of how many cruises in total I’ve been on at this point.. let’s go with a dozen.) Royal Carribean had become to me a ‘run of the mill’ cruise line, but something has changed since my last cruise with them. The service was exceptionally friendly and the live entertainment onboard simply outstanding. We enjoyed a live piano bar, a classic rock band, a lively dance club and great shows (comedey and music/dance). We even took salsa and swing dance lessons, and Chris got to go rock climbing.

Oh, and it’s quite interesting to stay in a cruise cabin after living in a small RV. The 119 sq feet of cabin space seemed downright huge compared to our normal ~85 sq feet of living space.

But please, please.. no more Bahamas cruises for me for a while!

Back in Florida

Our time in Florida involved dinner with , and then a day at ‘s joined by and . I also got some time in with at our favorite spot on the beach. And Cec & Paula hosted a gathering at their place, and I got to catch up with folks I hadn’t seen in far too long.

Washington DC

Early Sunday morning, it was off to DC. The day before, I discovered that was visiting DC too – so I got in touch, and they had time to pick us up at the airport and have breakfast before they needed to head on. I love serendipity!

Chris and I then spent the rest of the day roaming around the Mall area of DC. We tried to stop in at the White House for Obama’s Superbowl party, but our names didn’t seem to be on the list. But we did call Nyla & Keith (our hosts during our campaign time in Fallon, NV) from Obama’s new home.

On our last day in DC, we had a couple of hours to hit the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. Never before has a museum sucked me in. I just loved how all the exhibits combined a sociological aspect to the technology. Chris was actually tapping his foot as I was reading all the signs! On our last evening, we meet up with my friend Anita Wagner for dinner – it was good to catch up!

The Intown Uptown

While this still involved our DC trip, it’s worth its own section.

When I was searching around for a place to stay near my client at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, all I could find was either Motel 6-ish sort of places or higher end & overpriced hotels. Until I came across the Intown Uptown Bed & Breakfast Inn. It was highly rated, and seemed way too good to be true – in room jacuzzi?? Free wifi?? Breakfast?? I was also skeptical to stay at a B&B on taxpayer dollars – but shiesh, it was much cheaper than other options I was finding and way less than standard per diem for the area. So, what the heck… I took a chance on it and booked.

This turned out to be the highlight of our trip. The inn is absolutely fabulous, a beautifully restored 100+ year old house with 8 meticulously decorated rooms. It was a low season for them, so we got a lot of time to spend chatting with the innkeepers, Sandy & David. They are amazing people who we hope to keep in touch with. We took the whimsical ‘Wysteria’ room with a double jacuzzi tub, which was great after cold snowy days. The inn was also right along the bus route that went both down to the Mall and right up to Walter Reed – so we didn’t need to rent a car to get around. Our breakfasts were amazing, and at night – we’d come ‘home’ to a roaring fire and wine. If you’re ever in the DC area and want something out of the ordinary – consider this place. It’ll knock your socks off (which is a handy feature before soaking in a tub).

We reluctantly left the warmth of the Intown Uptown to head home to San Francisco.

It is good to be home, and I’m the most rested and relaxed that I’ve felt in a very very long time. I don’t know what did, but Kiki is somehow substantially sweeter (as if that was possible) and more mellow. Not to mention, almost double the size!

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