Back of a Double Decker Bus

Allowed ourselves a bit of a lazy morning knowing it would be a long day. After bowls of cereal we cleaned ourselves up, made our way to Victoria Station and caught a bus to Liverpool Street. Being a little early to meet Dan, Sophie, Carol, and Rich, we wandered around the streets outside of the station taking in the architecture and taking photos. After meeting the others we grabbed another bus to a pho place Rich suggested once he realised his favourite spot was closed.

The food was delicious and we all enjoyed ourselves, but the restaurant made things a little difficult by refusing to honour our American credit card. Rich said they can’t legally do such a thing, but ultimately we decided to repay Rich and Carol later rather than argue.

After lunch we  parted from the group to go to St. Paul’s Cathedral to do a little site seeing. Neither of us had been inside St. Paul’s so we were curious about the London skyline landmark.

Different Footprints

Once inside, we paid our fee, picked up the iPhone audio tour device, and made our way through the beautiful space. Eventually we climbed to the top and made our way around the dome, dodging other tourists, and taking photos of the stunning views of the city.

With the closing hour nearing, we made our way toward the exit, stopping by the gift shop and restrooms before heading out into the dusk. We made our way to the Tube stop and head toward Oxford Circus to have dim sum at our favourite place, Ping Pong.

The closer we got to Oxford Circus the madder the Tube trains and stations became. When we got off the train and made our way to the surface it was wall-to-wall people moving in every direction. We stepped against the wall to check the iPhone map and then did our best to stick together as we moved with the crowd.

We ducked down and alley seen on the map and found a less busy route to the restaurant. Ping Pong was busy, but we were shown to our table right away. The table was small, making it a challenge for the wait staff to find places for our items, and as more people poured in the service got spottier. We eventually got our puddings, settled the check and scrambled to get back to the flat so we could make the MetaFilter meetup.

London Skyline

Once outside the crowds seemed larger and when we got to the Tube we encountered long queues at all the Oyster ticket machines. It took 20 minutes just to get a top-up so we were definitely running late. Glad we called the meetup for a place close to where we are staying!

We got back to the flat, dropped our packages, freshened up, changed clothes, and dashed out to Pimlico The Queen’s Arms to meet the others. As we were walking, I sent a Tweet asking for someone to post updates from the Arsenal/Chelsea match that was about to kickoff. The Queen’s Arms doesn’t have a television, and I wasn’t about to be rude and be glued to the phone for updates. Someone offered to send me direct message updates shortly after we arrived at the pub, and we settled in at the large table set up for our group.

View of St. Paul's from St. Paul's

We got to meet some new people; however, we found it amusing that very few of the attendees were actually British! Other Americans visiting — including Rich, Carol and Dan — plus an American who works in London, a few Canadians, and at least one lovely Irish musician were there. The Mear brothers, Sophie, and some bloke were the only proper Brits!

Some people ordered food, most had drinks, and everyone had a good time. The staff was great to us; Ollie and Rosie really took care of us. Rosie was curious about brewing beer, so I helped explain the basics to her, and at last shout bought the two of them a beer of their choice. Rosie opted for an Anchor Steam just as I had just ordered. We also learned that Arsenal had upset Chelsea, 3-1, so we were chuffed … and surprisingly not too drunk.

We said our last goodbyes to Chris and David, and Rich and Carol for this trip, and made our way back to the flat for the last night in London, where we got ready for bed immediately.

Thursday we spent most of the afternoon braving the crowds in the shops and on the streets near Oxford Circus. At times it was so crowded one could leave their feet and be carried by the crowds. The shops were mad! But one of the things I noticed while holiday shopping in London was that the stores were all very well staffed and that staff were significantly more helpful than I have encountered in the states at similar times. All the registers were staffed, people were nice and efficient, and if you looked lost someone approached you and asked if they could help.

After shopping we took advantage of a little downtime before heading off to the MetaFilter meetup. The meetup [Meetup Flickr set] was held at Dovetail, a small bar that seemed to cater to a business crowd, that is known for its fruit beer and Belgian ales. When we arrived, cillit bang, and a few others were already there and had managed to stuff many people around the reserved tables. The drinking had begun, but we weren’t too far behind.

When we first arrived, randomination greeted Sarah with “they have fruit beer!” which bewildered her. Sarah’s more of a dark beer drinker after all. David and I decided to share jugs of Leffe Brun, which was delicious, but, in hindsight may have gone down a bit too easily.

We had a great time getting to meet all of these nice, intelligent people, but the bell rang a bit sooner than we expected. A few people joined us for an afters party at Chris’, which was funny as we all wove our way to the tube stop and eventually stumbled the few miles to Chris’ once we arrived. Thank goodness Chris had the forethought to stock up on beer and scotch!

The afters party went on until about 5 a.m. and did we ever pay for it the next day.

Next: Meeting Nick & Jess

Our trip began with a 12-hour train ride from Vermont to DC, as we decided to save some money and the hassles of airport security. With prior proper planning, not to mention knitting, reading material, snacks, and a laptop for watching movies, we managed the trip fairly well. When we pulled into Union Station it was just a quick 4-block walk to Josh and Lori’s Capitol Hill townhouse.

On Friday we grabbed breakfast at our favorite bagel/croissant shop on the Hill before heading into town for a meeting and lunch date. Later, we met up with our dear friends Chris and Nicole and got to meet their new daughter, Emma, for the first time. Emma is a cutie pie who has her father’s coloring. After some quality time, the five of us headed down to Atomic Billiards for a recreation of what at one time was our weekly Happy Friday ritual. Soon we were joined by other friends for tasty beverages, games of pool, and lots of catching up. We missed seeing Fil, Homer, and the other folks who were up at Otakon in Baltimore, but are glad they were out having a good time too. It was great to see our favorite bar tender, Rich, again after a long stint away. (There is nothing quite like being a regular at an awesome bar where the bar tender remembers your name and your drink.)

Saturday we awoke and made a bee line for a greasy spoon favored by our hosts, after which Sam and Michael were kind enough to meet us at a metro station and drive out to Rick Jones piano warehouse so that I could look at some of their pianos. (I’ve been on their mailing list for some time but wanted to check the place out for myself, so thanks to Sam, Michael and Rick for indulging me!) Afterward, we piled in the car and headed out to Wheaton, MD for the main event and the reason we chose this particular weekend to visit DC: a huge party that an old buddy of Ricks’ throws every year, a combination of lots of people from all over, live music, great food and drink, and general good time being had by everyone. The weather was incredible, clear and mild with low humidity, which made for a brilliant afternoon. We chatted, took silly pictures, drank tasty beer, ate delicious food, met new people and re-connected with old friends. Rick even got to sing a song with the band. Happy and exhausted, we made our way back into the city and decided there was one more thing we couldn’t pass up while we were in town: the chance to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at the historic (and hugely-screened) Uptown Theater. We enjoyed the film, though of course some of the more subtle plot points and character development had to be left out due to time.

On Sunday morning I packed while Rick procured baked goods and coffee, then we headed back to Union Station for our train to New York. The three and a half hour journey was a snap compared to the grueling ride we’d taken on Thursday, and before I knew it we were pulling in to Penn Station. It was an easy walk to our hotel before meeting up with Kevin Murphy of Ghost in the Machine for coffee. Rick has known Kevin casually for years and introduced me to GitM a couple of years ago. I’ve been a regular reader ever since, and so it was a pleasure for me to get the chance to meet Kevin in person. We talked about politics, pop culture, and growing up in South Carolina before Kevin had to catch a train and head to a friend’s wedding. (Here’s hoping he was able to dance with a couple of bridesmaids!)

Rick and I then made our way to Brooklyn to meet up with some friends from MetaFilter as well as my cousin, Esther Bell. We started with drinks at Iona before heading to Aurora for some awesome upscale Italian cuisine. After a very long evening of chatting and several bottles of wine shared at the table it was time to head back to our comfy hotel room at the Colonial House Inn in Chelsea (a very comfortable and reasonably priced hotel for the gay and gay-friendly traveler).

Waking to torrential rain on Monday, there was nothing to do but catch a cab back to Penn Station and take our train to Vermont. For some reason, the ride seemed longer, even though we had a shorter distance than the straight-shot from Vermont to DC on Thursday. The crowding and the delays might have made the journey feel longer and more exhausting. We were very glad to pull into Randolph and make our way to our cozy house. Many thanks to everyone who took time to host us and help us plan and organize our trip. We had an awesome time and look forward to another annual pilgrimage next summer!

P.S. Now it’s your turn to come visit us in Vermont!