Archive through April 09, 2002
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Archive January - April 2002:
Archive through April 09, 2002
Juju2bigdog | Monday, April 08, 2002 - 08:07 am     Hey, Twigs, I got the hotel name. Neener.
Went to the holocaust museum last time I was in D.C. It was brand new then. It was almost too much to bear. I started crying not long after I got inside and cried the whole time I was in there. |
Urgrace | Monday, April 08, 2002 - 08:39 am     Tess I can't imagine why you wouldn't want to just tell us right out the name of the hotel. Word of mouth is the best way to advertise and to let people know the worst of things too. It looks like a Marriott to me. Have a wonderful fun time in Washington DC and your visit with Queen Zed. Merlin, you are the first person I thought about this morning! Ha! Hope you and Gail are having a wonderful visit, too! (go away fog!) |
Twiggyish | Monday, April 08, 2002 - 10:43 am     Well I can't figure it out. I thought Holiday Inn. Juju, that museum would get to me, too. |
Labmouse | Monday, April 08, 2002 - 11:57 am     The tricky part of the name is the middle word...try "By". Somebody else probably correctly guessed the 3rd part of the name...I know this is cryptic...but so are the other hints. |
Labmouse | Monday, April 08, 2002 - 12:00 pm     Bad service should be exposed. It might save someone else from a similar bad experience. |
Merlin | Monday, April 08, 2002 - 12:02 pm     Courtyard By Marriott |
Twiggyish | Monday, April 08, 2002 - 01:39 pm     Got it  |
Merlin | Monday, April 08, 2002 - 01:56 pm     I'm just saying....I like this living near an airport that people fly through and have layovers. If you are out there reading this Pammie, thank you for tipping me off to this idea. It was a good thing that Gail was able to arrange for a later departure because her arrival was delayed by an hour due to the weather and her layover was originally for only an hour anyway. It was great meeting her after exchanging emails off and on since I joined TVCH. Not too long after I started posting at TVCH, I started a thread (the one and only I will ever have started)and it was not well received by the masses. Most people didn't get the point of my inquiry but Gail did. Maybe it is because she spent all those years in the military surrounded by men. We had a very quick lunch so she could make her connecting flight and I had a chance to get some TVCH history from someone who is one of the historians. Of course I brought the handy camera and asked Gail for a picture. She said okay and immediately turned her back to me. In the tradition established by the Florida Trio, I took a snapshot of her backside. If this persists, I am going to delete my user name and change it to SeymourButts.
Oh yeah, all you folks out there with handcrafted soaps.......I now have possession of some manly fragrances hand delivered without sitting in an ice cave. |
Soeur | Monday, April 08, 2002 - 03:54 pm     Fantastic post Merlin. That was a great update. Gail looks pretty good from behind and I think those steps are amazing.
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Lancecrossfire | Monday, April 08, 2002 - 05:19 pm     Merlin, thanks for the great summary of your short meeting with Gail. Congrats on the soaps too. Good idea for the new name--now if you can just get her to approve it! No telling what you'd be called in chat---oh wait, yes there is. LOL |
Twiggyish | Monday, April 08, 2002 - 05:34 pm     Merlin, if we are talking about the same Pammie, she has met many people that way..LOL I've met her, too. (When she and family came to Orlando) |
Gail | Monday, April 08, 2002 - 05:41 pm     Hi everyone! I just wanted to peek in and see what Merlin had to say about me. I had a really terrific time in Houston and Merlin was the perfect host. In a word . . . charming. I had fun I just wish we could have had a few more hours. I'll bet ears were burning like crazy here and there. My next plane was actually yet another hour delayed in taking off. Lots of turbulence but I made it to Florida safe and sound. I am with a group of 3 others and we hit Crabby Bill's about 1 block away. Excellent shrimp and crab legs. I did okay on the crab legs except for the claws. Great dinner though. The beach - ahhhhh - beautiful!! I was out for a while after dinner just enjoying the noise and the sunset. All in all, it was a pretty terrific day! I haven't decided on a name for my soaps yet (I will in a month or two ) but am thinking of a slogan - "from my hands to your body" or something like that. |
Lancecrossfire | Monday, April 08, 2002 - 06:08 pm     Hey Gail--great to hear the saefood was great and you are enjoying the beach right away. Glad you and Merlin had a good (although short) visit. Keep on having a good time Tess--how are things going in your part of the country? Looking forawrd to hearing more of how things are shaping up. Hi to Charlie and Sarah. Stay safe Tess |
Egbok | Monday, April 08, 2002 - 06:17 pm     Good job Seymour...ummm, I mean, Merlin! I enjoyed your post, thanks! Gail, I'm so glad you are enjoying the ocean once again and those crab meals - YUM! I loved your backside picture.
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Gail | Monday, April 08, 2002 - 06:44 pm     I just went back out - it's dark except for the stars. i wish i could just sleep out there, it is so peaceful. |
Myjohnhenry | Monday, April 08, 2002 - 07:04 pm     Gail, Sounds like a wonderful day to me!! The ocean and seafood are high on my list of favorites...not to mention that I like to travel and to meet new people. |
Misslibra | Monday, April 08, 2002 - 08:03 pm     SeymourButts, that is pretty good Merlin. Tessy from what I read it sounds like your having a ball on your trip. Good for you! Ummmm... Gail what are you doing away from home?  |
Urgrace | Monday, April 08, 2002 - 08:54 pm     Thank you Merlin for a real belly laugh! I enjoyed reading your great post. Gail, I'm glad you had a safe air trip despite the bumps, and know you are enjoying the beach and seafood - yum. You know what I found here at a local winery shop? Soaps made with champagne and wine! Didn't buy any though, because I wouldn't want to smell like wine! Wonder how Alib is doing on her trip.... |
Tess | Monday, April 08, 2002 - 09:02 pm     Hey Seymour, great guess on the hotel! Yes, it was the Courtyard by Marriott in Harrisonburg, VA which will no longer be getting our business. After talking to the hotel manager on the phone this afternoon, I know exactly why his employees act the way they do. When I get home I will do a little investigative work and find the address for the head of guest relations and the regional manager. All I have is their phone numbers right now. I was able to get a partial rebate on the first night stay but of course, according to the manager, it was all my fault in the first place. grrrr..... Today I slept in for the first time since we left home and that felt wonderful. Sarah also slept late and then they all went to two different parks to play. After lunch my friend Carole and I went out and about for awhile and then she and I and another friend went to a series of recitals and dinner up in Alexandria. In the meantime, Charlie and Sarah went with our host and his older daughter out to dinner. It was such a beautiful day and evening that they walked to the restaurant. This is a lovely part of the country. Tomorrow afternoon we're going into D.C. to see the Botanical Gardens, the cherry blossoms and the Jefferson Memorial. Then we're going over to Maryland to see one of Charlie's brothers and his family which includes his wife and 4 daughters. We'll be back here in Fairfax after dinner. Gail, I'm so glad that you and Seymour finally got to meet. I don't know who Pammie is but she had a wonderful idea!! Sounds like your trip is fantastic so far. As for you, Mr. Seymour, I can't wait to meet you myself!! |
Gail | Tuesday, April 09, 2002 - 03:29 am     one thing nice about being along a beach - it sure does make your hair nice and curly with no effort. i forgot about that. being at sea level is nice too - big change from 6000+ altitude. |
Twiggyish | Tuesday, April 09, 2002 - 05:31 am     Gail, FL is nice, until you get into July and Aug..then it becomes too hot to even think of the beach. I love going during the winter and spring, because of the breezes. Tess, I believe Merlin was referring to Bamagirl (Pammie). I've known her for a long time (prior to TVCH). She's a very nice person. |
Buttercup | Tuesday, April 09, 2002 - 06:25 am     Tess, I am so glad you are having such a wonderful trip! I know you will be on the road again tomorrow, and my Butter-phone is all fired up and ready for you Gail, glad to see that you are having such a wonderful time as well! Having just moved to the south, I can relate to that curly hair business. However, it sure doesn't look too good when the curls and the hair gets too big--well, at least not on me Thanks for the reports!
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Tess | Tuesday, April 09, 2002 - 10:47 pm     Gail, I'm so glad that you're getting time to spend at the beach. Having grown up 1/4 mile from the Pacific in San Francisco, I long for the ocean quite frequently. I'm hopeful that our next visit out east will include a trip to the Carolina coast. I the meantime, our trip out west next year will surely include Sarah's first look at the Pacific! I hope you have a very enjoyable time the rest of your stay. As for my little family, I spent the morning resting again which was a good idea since we had quite an active afternoon and evening. The weather was pretty gloomy but still warm so we headed into DC to visit the Jefferson Memorial which was stunning! The crowd was very light so we could really take our time and read Mr. Jefferson's words which were etched into the walls surrounding the bronze statue. A very nice lady from eastern Europe took our picture in front of the Potomac River with the Washington Monument in the background. I took pictures of all the writings as well as the rest of the memorial and the beautiful cherry blossoms which were all around. I even got under a tree in the rain and got close up shots looking straight up at the branches of blossoms. Hopefully some of these will turn out. This time I also purchased a book on the art and history of Washington D.C. We plan on taking Sarah to something different in DC on each visit we make. Since she is still quite young, we've been sticking to the monuments themselves and as she gets older I know she'll love the Smithsonian, etc. By the time we were ready to head over to the Botanic Gardens it was raining heavily so we opted to go straight to our relatives out in Maryland instead. On the way we showed Sarah the house where her daddy grew up as well has his high school and parish church. She was fascinated by that! We had the best visit ever along with a delicious meal with our relatives. The 4 girls were lovely as always and they are so good to Sarah. My brother in law has done extensive remodelling on their house so Charlie got some excellent ideas for our own home renovations. He's ready to get started as soon as we get home. Tomorrow morning we head out of Fairfax by 7am board time if all goes well. It's 400 miles from here to there so we're hoping to get to Zed's by 6 or 6:30pm and we cannot wait!! We get to watch TAR together!!! yipeee!!! Zed graciously invited us to spend the with her and then Thursday, it's off on a race across Tennessee so we can see our good friend, TK. It's 360 miles from Zed to TK so we'll be flying down the interstate that day!! Then it's a night of Survivor and good ole Tennessee BBQ with Tnt and Marm!! One of the best things about this trip is that Sarah's old enough now that she'll be able to remember much of it when she's older. The last time we were out here she was 3-1/2 and she only remembers through all the photographs we have the the stories we tell her. Now she can have her own memories. In addition to her cousin, grandparents, aunts, uncles and old friends, she's made new friends on this trip. She absolutely adores Kep and Marm and I know she will feel just the same about Zed, Tk and Tnt!! I'm ready to roll now but I guess sleep first would be a better option. Gail, Alib and anyone else who's out and about, have a continued safe journey. Butter, and Juju, we'll be in touch!! |
Tess | Tuesday, April 09, 2002 - 10:54 pm     I forgot to mention that the D.C. drivers are downright scary, to say nothing of the roads!! Much as I would love to live in northern Virginia, I could not stand driving here every day! Lanes come and go willy-nilly. There are so many places to "can't get to from here" that it's just plain nuts trying to plan a route. I lost count of how many times we had to go north so we could go south and vice versa. It's extremely fortunate that DH grew up in the DC suburbs. The unfortunate part (according to him) is that there has been little progress on the roads since he moved away. Then there are the train derailments a bit south of DC. We were re-routed to a narrow 2-lane road on Sunday night because of the 7th train derailment recently. These tanker cars were carrying propane (or some other fuel) and they had to close an entire section of the highway. Finally found out tonight what happened when we read the Washington Post at our relatives' house. What a mess!! |
Lancecrossfire | Tuesday, April 09, 2002 - 11:07 pm     Tess, thanks for popping into chat to say hi. Glad you all had such a good day today. I bet Sarah will remeber this trip for awhile! Sleep well and drive safely. Gail--hope all is well on the beach front. Have more seafood Alib, if you are still out and about, I hope things are going well and most of all safely. |
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