Last Thursday PB and I headed up the NoVA (that would be Northern Virginia, for those of you unfamiliar with how we refer to the other part of the state. Seriously, it is separate from us.) for a little mini-break.

First stop was the National Museum of the Marine Corps. The building is an arresting site from I-95. And by arresting, I mean that your first thought is, “What the hell is that building and why does it look like that?” Then you take a minute to think about it and realize that it is meant to evoke the Iwo Jima Memorial. (Also, I just learned that it is actually called the Marine Corps War Memorial.)

In the museum you learn that that was not the first flag raised on Iwo Jima, if you didn’t already know that. Well, you learn many other things too, actually. It’s a good museum.

Oddly, the day we went the Army Band was setting up in the lobby.

We toured the museum for several hours. I was getting cranky because, hey, when I don’t eat, I get cranky and it was oh, 2:30ish. So, we hit a McDonald’s on the way north/back to the highway. PB managed to drip ketchup on his lap from his quarter-pounder. I had my Tide Pen, but he was driving. Of course, the ketchup was on his left side. And my left hand is my dinosaur hand, so I was forced to used my right. Which meant I had to lean over. Into the driver’s seat. Facing his lap while trying to get the ketchup out with the Tide Pen. Luckily from this position I couldn’t see the faces of the other people on the road.

We went to a concert at Wolftrap (Honor by August and Pat McGee, if you’re wondering) with friends of his that night. Here’s a little tip from me to you: when you go to an outdoor concert to which you can bring a picnic, make sure to bring your own caterer. To do this, you need to make friends with (or have one of your friends date) a caterer. Trust me on this one.

Oh, and then make sure to arrange it so that you are in charge of beverages and not food.

Friday we hit DC for some touristy things. Library of Congress (excellent!), the Capitol Visitors Center (on a whim ‘cause there’s a tunnel from the Library of Congress, fairly interesting, although we toured the exhibit of the Capital through time backwards), the Smithsonian Museum of American History (meh. The New York Times agrees.) and the World War II Memorial.

Although, the highlight for me was watching the Uruguay-Ghana World Cup game in a restaurant while we had lunch. With Uruguayans. And a table rooting for Ghana.

When we returned (earlier than expected. PB’s done something to his back.) I took the ketchup shorts and washed them. I haven’t done boy laundry in forever and forgot about checking pockets.

PB has a new cell phone now.