about the trip

On the first day back in the good ole USof A... it was a strange feeling have your kid picking YOU up at the airport (seems backwards)... we didn’t go to the hotel, but instead went straight to Target. “Tar-jay” takes on a new meaning! It was very strange there too... we were walking the aisles and I was having visual overload as we stood in the grocery aisle...and then...at the end of the row, there was a kid with his dad. He started talking to his dad in French. My mind just couldn’t process this – seriously – I had a moment of utter confusion as I heard French being spoken in an American Target store! Jeff had to remind me that “D.C. is an international city, mom.” And then, as I walked past a woman blocking the aisle, I caught myself saying “pardon” en francais. It was all very bizarre.

I loaded the shopping cart with Bisquick, chocolate chips, brownie mixes, cake mixes, soynuts, spaghetti sauce mixes, BIZ detergent, and other such oddities that I haven’t yet learned to live without. I was really tired from the long trip and it just made “shop till you drop” have a whole new meaning.

I spent the next day at Books-A-Million and other small bookstores around the hotel. I think I came home with about 10 new books, including 'Tale of Two Cities' and 'The Three Musketeers'. I bought a few magazines too. I also bought 'Goodnight Moon' and 'Green Eggs and Ham' as baby gifts for a French friend who is pregnant and married to an American. I figured that kid needed to grow up with some good American culture.

While there, we enjoyed fine dining at Chipolte, Krispy Kreme, Fudrucker’s, Best Bagels, California Pizza Kitchen, Subway, and Quiznos. I drank a Root Beer and a Dr. Pepper.

And had to have Starbucks coffee, but surprisingly.... it tasted pretty weak!