Secret Service

I wanted to call this Virginia, but had to title it after the most memorable moment of the day: when the secret service searched our car.
But, I will begin at the beginning (you know how I like to Tarantino-it). We woke up in North Carolina and had a fun breakfast in the room before leisurely departing for Richmond, Va. It was a great ride, the kiddo slept almost all of the way. He woke up happy and excited for his next stop. Going to Richmond was a great idea - the only bump we ran into was the exciting hidden toll at the end of the exit. I had never seen this before - drop .33 cents into a container at the end of the exit ramp. This caused me to fluster, and I ended up just throwing money in until it went green. I will be better prepared next time.
We walked around Cary Street, saw the Jefferson Hotel and ended up eating at an EXCELLENT place - Tarrant's Cafe. Really, really good. The kiddo ate a ton. Avocado, grilled cheese, egg yolk, you name it. We walked a bit and then back in the car for our trip to DC.
I was anticipating traffic, no. I was thinking the kid will probably scream the whole way, no. I thought, hmmm... this may actually work out, a most perfect day of travel... no... Getting closer to DC I notice signs everywhere that say "convention in town, expect delays." Closer yet and they change to "Major convention, extreme delays." Nice.

But, we rolled in, no problem. Straight past the mall, up past the signs for the White House. No problem, I thought. 1 mile a way, no problem, we are almost there. Actually, big problem.

Now, I watch the news. I knew there was a nuclear summit. But I did not pay attention that it was in DC. Even better, I did not pay attention that it is 1 block from my hotel. 1 block! Of course, the block my hotel is on is closed off. Well, a lot of blocks are closed off. But the one where I need to lug all of my things, my baby, etc. is also closed off. We drove around in a circle. Asked for help, and someone told us to find parking and then walk there and ask if we can get in. I knew we needed to call the hotel first. So, I parked on a side road that was empty and my mom got in the back with the little guy, and I called the hotel. Meanwhile, come to find out, this street was closed... As I am talking on the phone, some major dignitary (Hedy thinks it was Obama, but I do not think so) - comes out of the closed off area with a giant motorcade. Awesome.

The hotel just tells us to come on down. So, we do. The secret service guy was very nice. The military policeman was nice, but a bit scary. They kept making me move my car and then finally they were ready to search. First, it was a dog. German Shepherd. I laughed when he practically got in the trunk over the baby stuff to sniff. Then, it was the "bomb squad." They asked me to pop the hood, and as I am driving Joel's car I just said "I have no idea what that means." "Get out of the car, Ma'am." At this point my mom and I were still having fun though. J was having the best time of his life. If only he got to pet the doggie! As you can see from the photo above, my mom is holding the baby in front of the car as they search it.

Once they gave us the all-clear, we parked. It was a bit of a challenge to get into the hotel with all of our bags. It is a nice place though, and I guess we should feel comfortable knowing we are secure. All is supposed to be over by tomorrow afternoon, so that will be nice too.

Now we are watching DWTS. Kiddo is safe asleep in the bedroom area of our suite. What to do tomorrow...