In between states

We said goodbye to Mannie and Virginia and their new home in Boonsboro, Maryland head south and east toward Washington, DC.

The plan for the day was to meet up with Ann C at her home in Arlington, have lunch, drive to Alexandria National Cemetery to visit several Third Michigan Infantry buried there, then on to Pennsylvania to stay with Dick and Kathy.

You know what? It worked just like it was supposed to work. Plus we had another beautiful day to work with.

The drive into Washington went smoothly, traffic was light -- we pretty much beat rush hour snarls -- although construction near the city center held us up for a few minutes. Anyway we met up with Ann and the three of us walked to a nearby Metro stop where we caught a train just two stops to Farragut West. (Made us feel like we were back in Paris, sort of.) A couple of blocks later we swung into the Bread Line, a funky salad and sandwich shop where the three of us sat and ate lunch and caught up with all the news. (By now we had become experts in catching up it seems.)

Ann and Susan had been students together at Le Cordon Bleu and became fast friends. Ann quickly found a job in Washington working for one of the major hotel chains and enjoys it. She was eager to hear all about Susan's upcoming pastry job in Maine and of course Susie wanted to hear all about how pastry life was in the hotel business. It was good to see Ann again -- she has one of those infectious personalities that just exudes enthusiasm and optimism and is a just a pleasure to be around.

But then we've been so very lucky to find ourselves surrounded by people who have constantly shown us nothing but encouragement and support. From Maine to Michigan to Virginia to Maryland to Pennsylvania, New Jersey and beyond.

After leaving Ann back at her apartment we drove a few short miles to Alexandria and quickly found the national cemetery but fumbled around the city center looking for the entrance. The quirky thing is that this small cemetery is in fact part of a complex of 13 cemeteries in Alexandria.

We spent about a half hour looking for a half dozen Third Michigan soldiers whose lives ended in nearby hospitals and whose remains rest quietly in the shadow of skyscraper apartments and boutique shops. (Rather like the military section of Vaugirard cemetery in the 15th aqrrondissemment in Paris, where the remains of soldiers who died in the nearby hospital of Les Invalides are buried.)

Leaving the cemetery we quickly found our way to I-95, conveniently located nearby in fact, and headed north to the Mason Dixon line and Pensylvania.

Next stop Pennsylvania!