Washington DC with my Mom

I had a business conference in Washington DC March 14 - 16 so like tradition in the past, I asked my mom to see if she wanted to join me (after I asked Mike if he wanted to - of course - but he didn't want to). And she did want to join me! So we flew out early on a red-eye flight to Baltimore (since that's where the cheapest airfare went to from Salt Lake City), and then rented a car and drove down to Fredericksburg, Virginia to sight see and visit one of my dear London buddies (from my study abroad to London in Fall 2000), Natalie.

The red-eye flight was pretty taxing on both of us, but mom mostly. I slept a little; she didn't sleep really at all. So when we arrived at our first sightseeing destination in Fredericksburg, a Civil War battle field, we took a nap in our rental car at the back of the parking lot. :) And then we checked into our hotel in downtown Fredericksburg and walked around their quaint downtown area until mid-afternoon, after which we came back to our hotel to take another nap. Then we met up with Natalie for dinner that night and had a wonderful time gabbing, reminiscing, and catching up.

Cute little, original house on the Civil War battlefield. 

Our yummy lunch place: FOODE

Pretty church with pretty flowers in downtown Fredericksburg

Me and Natalie! 

On Sunday, Mom and I left Fredericksburg to go to Mount Vernon where we just barely beat the rain - we had a tour of the house, visited the grounds, and while we sat in the restaurant for lunch it started to pour! Then back to Baltimore to drop off the rental car and catch our shuttle into Washington DC. Our shuttle driver was a maniac!! He would zip in out of traffic, give us all whiplash as he changed lanes, cut off semis who would rightfully honk at us. Ugh. I'm glad we made it to our hotel alive. 

Mom and I at Mount Vernon

Cute little lambs at Mount Vernon

My business conference was pretty good and interesting - it was all about all the employment law changes and predicted changes. Mom walked around the neighborhood while I was in my conference and she even went into a nearby art museum too!

In the evenings, we went to dinner at Legals Seafood one night and then met up with a dear friend of mine, Camille and her boyfriend. Camille picked us up at our hotel and then we went to dinner, visited the Pentagon Memorial, and then went to a park that was right below where the airplanes take off from the Reagan airport to feel the thrill and rumble of those planes overhead!

Mom and I with Camille at the Pentagon Memorial Park

Wednesday morning, before our flight left that afternoon, Mom and I walked down to the "Mall" and went to the Museum of American History. Last time, we were in DC, it had been closed but had a few of its more popular exhibits in another museum. So I wanted to try out the whole museum now that it was open since I loved the few exhibits I saw last time. Well . . . I have to say it was a bit of a disappointment. It was not quite what I was hoping for. Oh well. After that we caught our much more pleasantly timed flight back to Salt Lake - although I got quite sick on the plane (light-headed, feeling nauseous and hot . . . lovely morning sickness . . .).