OK - back to finish my travel monologue! I think I left off on Wednesday at the Supreme Court and Library of Congress. After our day of sightseeing, we met some of Ashley's friends for dinner at the Quarry House and had an old friend join us. One of my son's friends happened to be in DC for a couple of weeks also. Sam works for NASA in Houston and was in DC for the moon launch so it was perfect! He met us for dinner and also was able to come to Ashley's party on Friday.
Here we are with Sam -
Thursday: We took Thursday off and relaxed. We had lunch in Georgetown at Old Glory and then dropped Ashley off at Walter Reed for graduation rehearsal. It was a much needed day of leisure!
Friday: Finally .... graduation!! Imagine my surprise when I opened up the program and saw a wonderful write-up about Ashley winning two of the awards! She was totally surprised. When she filed in with the others, we ended up sitting about 2 rows behind her and she asked for a program. We didn't give it to her because we didn't think she knew and we were correct. She won the Bailey K Ashford Clinical Research Award and the General Graves B Erskine Fellowship Award. Here are a few of the excerpts from the article:
"As a clinician .... she is superb. She is an astute and confident diagnostician who has earned the confidence of her patients and parents as well as her attending physicians. ... Residents pursue our rotation when Dr. Maranich is on service as she is renowned for her level of instruction and mentorship... Ashley has taken the role of "physician-scholar" to new heights.... she has published four peer-reviewed articles and two book chapters during her fellowship..... she has proven to be one of the most accomplished graduates from a training program in the National Capital Area in recent history."
Friday night we told Ashley that we were meeting Sam (Jeff's friend that was in town) at a local Mexican restaurant where her friends and colleagues were waiting. Three of Ashley's good friends had planned a surprise party for her! She didn't catch on until the hostess said something about us having reservations for dinner .... we're not a reservations making family! But that was ok - it was a great party!
Here's Ashley with Beth, Debbie & Laurie: 
Saturday we drove to Alexandria. We wandered around town and grabbed some lunch. That night we attended the End of the Year Pediatrics party held at Indigo Landing. The view from the deck of Indigo Landing was magnificent - we had a great view across the Potomac River of the airport (National) and the planes landing and taking off as well as a lot of the DC Monuments.
We spent the night in Alexandria at Best Western Old Colony Inn. If you ever plan a trip to the DC area, I highly recommend this motel!! It had complimentary WI FI, fitness center, flat screen TV in the rooms, hot breakfast in the a.m. but best of all was the Snack Kitchen on each floor! It is a fully-stocked kitchen open 24 hours a day with soups, snacks, fruit, sodas, water, gourmet coffee, ice cream, cookies, and much more. The concept is designed to reflect how kitchens might be stocked in a guest's own home. Check it out HERE! If you were visiting DC for a few days, you would only need to buy one meal a day!! A great deal! And the price of the room was very reasonable.
Sunday, we explored Alexandria a little more, touring Gadsby's Tavern Museum which consists of two buildings, a ca. 1785 tavern and the 1792 City Hotel. The buildings are named for Englishman John Gadsby and was a center of political, business, and social life in early Alexandria. Some of the patrons of the tavern and hotel included George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the Marquis de Lafayette.
We also drove to the George Washington Masonic Memorial and took a tour of it. This is a magnificent building!! It was difficult to get good pictures inside but you can take a virtual tour HERE. 
We celebrated Father's Day at an Irish bar in Alexandria with some great fish and chips!
Monday was another "veg out" day while Ashley went to work. That night we went to Wolf Trap again to see Creedence Clearwater. They performed all their hits including “Bad Moon Rising,” “Have You Ever Seen the Rain,” and “Fortunate Son.” They were led by the band’s original rhythm section, Stu Cook and Doug Clifford. It was definitely a step back in time as these were the songs popular when Sonny and I were dating and first married.
Tuesday we drove to Baltimore where we ate lunch and then headed to the airport to catch our flight back home.
All in all, we had a great time!!
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