Friendships & Flowers

I’ve just returned from a long weekend in Washington, DC to see the cherry blossoms!   What a lovely weekend!   I spent 4 days with 4 wonderful women.   Three of them were friends from high school…YES, friends I’ve known for over 45 years and one was the sister of one of the girls who has become a friend.   

First…I would like to just un-wrap that whole thing.   I am so grateful for the friendships that have grown over the years with people that went to high school with me.   These girls were part of the “popular” group so we didn’t really hang out.   None of them will admit to being part of the “popular” group, but from where I stood, they were!   Fast forward to our high school reunions, held every five years, and we have truly become good friends…really good friends.   I love these girls!   The love that some would call unconditional love, exists between us.   

We may have different political views.   Some of us may be rule followers while others push the envelope to maybe break the rules just a little.   Some of us can wear jeans and look like a fashionista and others go no where without a hat and never have hat hair.   Some of us have better memories than the rest of us.  I am certain that if any of us needed something, we would easily be available to the others.  Some of us are married, divorced, and/or widowed.   We know each other well and after this weekend, we know each other even better. 

Even the best of friends can have trouble traveling together, but this group…well, we were great travel buddies!   Our Airbnb in Georgetown was beautifully selected and our schedule was mapped out with the understanding that nothing was set in stone.   There may have been a lot of vodka in the house!   There was a beautiful patio that was perfect for enjoying cocktails when we were home and we were able to enjoy lots of good conversation there!  The dining was fabulous…each restaurant provided its own history and Washington, DC is full of history!

We were Uber/Lyft queens and I can honestly say it’s the best way to get around…worth every penny on a very busy weekend in the city.   That brings me to a public service announcement.   Some of you may have recently seen the news story about the young adult who mistakenly got into a car she thought was her Uber ride.   It is a terribly sad story and one we can all learn from.  We were a group, keeping safe together was on our minds.   We routinely did the following: 

1 .  Checked the license plate to make sure it matched what we had on our app

2.  Asked the driver’s name

3.  Asked where we were headed

Those are things you should be doing, at the very least.   I’d like to recommend that you follow your app as the ride continues…That way, you know you are going where you should be going.   I would add that it would be wise to look at the Uber or Lyft app and find the “share” status with loved ones.   You can enter names/numbers and on any trips, you can have them know where you are and where you are headed.   Some may not like sharing this with everyone, but I’m all about making sure someone knows where I am supposed to be. 

With our airport runs and our usage over the weekend, I’d say we had 15 runs with Uber/Lyft.   With five people, we had to have a bigger vehicle so we were in Suburbans, Yukons, Explorers, and Mini-Vans.   Sometimes, these larger black vehicles made us feel like we could get mixed into a motorcade at any minute.  Most of the drivers were kind, safe, and enjoyed our antics/conversation.  However, we had one driver that was not good.   Maybe one driver out of 15 isn’t bad, but it is memorable.   He chose not to share his name, and chose to be combative and rude.   We walked away, planning to let the ride go, but changed our mind.   He was a jack-ass, period.   Suffice to say that it was bad enough that I’m still talking about it.   The good thing about these ride-sharing apps is that you can review your driver, and you can control the tip amount.   Rest assured that both of those things were taken care of but because of him knowing where we were staying, we waited until we were out of town to move forward on a review.  

I won’t waste anymore time on negativity because it was a lovely weekend!   We were able to enjoy the cherry blossoms amongst the throngs of people who were there and we were able to take in some of the many historical sites.   We saw a couple of motorcades (not sure who they were for, but exciting just the same!).  And the food…we ate at Martins, where JFK proposed to Jackie.   We ate at The Hamilton, Piccolos, Founding Farmers, The Peacock and RiRa.   Every bite was tasty and fun.   The crafted cocktails were amazing and so were the desserts.

We splurged on a limo tour of the city last night...the limo was decked out with a red carpet entry, colored lights, driver with top hat, and of course, our bar!   It all started so great, but it became quite the adventure...first, the driver took his "narration" way too serious...I mean we wanted to see the monuments at night, but little did we know, we wasn't allowed to go anywhere close to them as a private limo.   He liked to show off his knowledge of DC, while we wanted to sing "Benny and the Jets" and "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover."   We got close enough to a couple of sites to get some pictures, but James said he couldn't pull over, so most of our pictures are blurry.   The limo had brake issues and James had a way of making the limo ride feel like an amusement park ride.   There were lots of laughs in that car and there is no doubt people all over DC were wondering who was riding in that black stretch! 

Our final stop was the patio bar at the Watergate Hotel.  We found a table near an "igloo" which was basically a clear plastic tent with seating inside for a private party.   This igloo was reserved for Megan's Sweet 16!  WHO HAS THEIR 16 YEAR OLD BIRTHDAY PARTY IN A BAR AT THE WATERGATE HOTEL?   It was then that I realized I wasn't in Cincinnati anymore!!   We watched these teenie boppers eating birthday cake and fancy appetizers.  Then headed back to our "home away from home."   The weekend was ending and we had lots of stories to tell!!

I am grateful for safe travels for all of us and as exhausted as I feel right now, I am smiling and feeling so happy!!   Let this be a reminder to all of you that girlfriend getaways are important…they don’t have to be elaborate or overnight, but they need to be!

Have a great week friends!  

Our Airbnb in Georgetown!