Next Stop: D.C.

We call this the 80-60-30 year. My grandmother's turning 80 today. She'll shoot me for writing that and would insist that I say "It's the 51st anniversary of her 29th birthday!"

In any case, the family's converging on Arlington, Va., this weekend. I'm flying out Thursday. My sister flies in from Miami on Saturday. My cousin in L.A. flies in Friday. And the rest of the crew drives on up Friday. Should be fun. I don't think this many of us have been together since e&j's party and that wasn't even all of us.

Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we'll be able to do more than just sit by the pool and veg and talk politics, as this group is so prone to do. Who knows what we'll end up doing, I would place bets on shopping and site-seeing. Maybe even get to spend some time in Old Town Alexandria. Or, maybe we should go see the pandas, just like we did, oh, prolly 20 years ago. Dad might not go for it (I think he's thinking Mount Vernon, which is a wee bit of a drive).

Fave visuals in the capital area: the mall - deceptively short walk but some of the best people watching around, not to mention some of the best museums you'll ever come across. Don't miss sitting on the steps of the Lincoln memorial for a great all-American feeling. I haven't been to the Jefferson in a while. Cousin L in d.c. is a volunteer for the Kennedy Center, maybe we can get behind the scenes for something totally different.

Smithsonian National Zoological Park Photo