Something Squirrelly this Way Comes

Late Friday night, my phone rang. I'm not used to the phone ringing so I jumped. I had been watching (and rewatching) Edge sing the end of In A Little While from the U2 Boston Elevation DVD. Slow down my beating heart, slowly, slowly love. (oh wow. Love that Man!) A strange, yet familiar voice said "We're here! In your parking lot!" and I was brought back to planet Earth (bye bye Planet Edge) with a thud.

My friends were here. I knew they were coming, had been excited all week. Impatiently waiting for Friday to get here. They thought they'd be at my place around 9, twas after 11 pm when they did get here. My impatience had outdone itself. So, in goes Elevation DVD to improve my mood and spin the hands of time faster. Two were coming up for the Bon Jovi concert at the MCI Center on Saturday night and one was along for the ride.

I meet them in my parking lot, much hugging and shivering (freaking COLD out!) and unpacking. After toting their assorted belongings back to my place (two girls, one boy) we headed out to Ireland's Four Courts, an Irish pub. Despite MaqQuest's directions, we found the place. Great atmosphere! Lovely stained glass in the windows, creaky wood floors, tables and chairs. Live entertainment (older guy and his acoustic guitar) was good, the other patrons were having fun. Good food. Definitely a place I would visit again.

We take a detour back to my place (read: we went around our elbow to get to our nose - thanks again MapQuest!), chat for awhile and then hit the sack. Saturday morning comes and I discover that my friend E has never been to DC before. Much shock! So we eventually, gradually, hop to it and head out. I drive us to the metro station and we set out. We go to Chevy's for breakfast/lunch (it's after noon at this point). Good food, CRAPPY service. Back on the metro and go to the Smithsonian exit (puts you out on The Mall, closer to the Capital Building) and see the sights around there. Washington Monument (all tickets to go in it are gone for the day), WWII Memorial (thank you Tom Hanks et al for getting this built!), Lincoln Memorial (under construction), Korean War Memorial, Vietnam Memorial (I still get teary eyed when I let myself see how many names are carved here), White House and The Ellipse - some kind of holiday/Christmas event going on here. plus one tree that was decorated badly. Lights should be wrapped AROUND the tree, not strung from top to bottom in rows people!!!.

We follow S's directions (yes the sole boy in our group) and then ask a cop (yes, male) for directions and end up walking way out of our way (easily an extra mile) to get to the Hard Rock Cafe. But wait! We never make it there! It's an extra four or five blocks further and half the group is in agony with every step (yes, I was one of them). We veto the HRC and stop into a brewery - standing room only. It's 6 pm and everyone is killing time before the Bon Jovi concert. So we decide to head towards the MCI Center (yet another two blocks from our current location) to see if there are any seats available at any restaurants there.

We ended up going to this Fabulous Thai restaurant (Thai Chili) in Gallery Place, which is attached to the MCI Center. Such good food! The two Bon Jovi peeps each got a Mai Tai and were much impressed. Told the servers/host that it's the only Mai Tai to actually taste the same as the ones they had in Hawaii (they both lived there nearly five months). The other friend (E) got a Flaming Volcano and we were curious as to why it was called flaming, as it was just 151 rum and fruit punch. Then the drink comes out, on fire. It all made sense then.

They go in to the concert and E and I head back to the metro and the Pentagon City Mall and kill some time. I buy a couple of Christmas gifts and then we metro back to my car and I drive her through Old Town Alexandria. We've killed enough time and I drive back to the metro and pick up the two Bon Jovi peeps and go back to my place. We stay up chatting again.

Sunday morning is spent sleeping. They had originally wanted to leave around noon but we didn't even leave to get breakfast until after noon. We take both cars and go to IHOP. We have a good breakfast and then they head on home. I go to a mall and try to knock out some more Christmas shopping. I don't fare so well as I forgot what exactly certain people wanted and the people who might know weren't answering their phones. So I get one gift card, visit with a coworker who has a part time job at a bookstore there, and then head back home and nap.

Historic monuments/memorials visited: 6 (plus several others seen from a distance)
Laughs shared: Infinite
Photos taken: over 100 (none by me)
Miles walked: 5+
Number of times where someone mentioned my meeting The Edge: 20+ *grin*
Food/Drink/Metro cost (myself only): Roughly $85
Time spent laughing with friends: Priceless
Cheesy blog entries about the weekend: 1 (so far)