Mr. Behrendt Goes To Washington: Office Decoration, Mary and Gail's Visit, and Meal of the Week

I have not posted in awhile because my Aunt Mary and Gail visited me in DC for a week and I have been studying for the USPTO Registration Exam, which I will be taking Friday, 29Mar13.

Decorating My Office
I have started decorating my office so it does not feel like I am in a prison cell with help from people. However this piece I added myself.

Beach Poster

Mary and Gail's Trip to DC

Mary and Gail vistited all the way from frigid Milwaukee, WI to visit me in not frigid, but still cold Washington DC. We did so many things and had a great time! We went to Arlington Cemetery, Grayline DC at Night tour with an informative tour guide, Annapolis, Arundel Mills Shopping Center, and Old Town Alexandria.

On Thursday, 14Mar13 we went to Arlington Cemetery. The first major site we saw was the Kennedy grave site with the eternal flame. From the Kennedy grave site you look directly down the Arlington Bridge at the Lincoln memorial. As we walked from the Kennedy grave site to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, we passed by other grave for the Kennedy family. On those graves where at least 20 nickels or pennies where dispersed in the grass. I was not sure why they were there. Later I found out they are there so the dead person will help them. The tradition came from the same folk lore of putting a coin in fountain and making a wish. While we were at the tomb of the unknown soldier, we say the changing of the guard ceremony. You can see on the stone where the ceremony takes place because the stone is worn down or deposits of material where the guards march. It was much longer than we imagined and we almosted walked through the ceremony. Next we went to the Lee Mansion where Robert E. Lee lived. Our last stop at Arlington Cemetery was actually outside of Arlington Cemetery because it is the Marine Mermorial. The Marine Memorial is a statue of the famous picture of 6 marines planting a flag on Iwo Jima. The stones used to represent the ground where the flag is being planted are stones from Iwo Jima. At the base of the statue is a list of all the conflicts Marines have been involved with since its inception. When we were there I found out Gail's Dad was a Marine.

Later in the day we went to the American History Museum. We saw the First Lady exhibit. This exhibit showed the gowns of different First Ladies and some of there accomplishments. We also saw the Hall of the Presidents and Transportation. However my favorite exhibit was the Julia Child exhibit. I do not know much about Julia and what I do know is derived from the movie "Julie & Julia". The exhibit has her kitchen on display! They also play some of her cooking shows. She was one of the pioneers for cooking shows. Now there are entire channels devoted to it!

In the evening we went on the Grayline DC at Night Tour. It is a great tour to see many of monument in DC without walking (walking becomes an issue very quickly to anybody seeing things on the National Mall. If you don't believe me, please come out here, go to all the places you heard are in DC (Lincoln Memorial, Tidal Basin, US Capitol, Smithsonian, etc.), and then talk to me that walking is not an issue) and to see them in a different way at night. As much as we all enjoyed please be warned, the bus runs a tight schedule and you may not be able to see a memorial you want to see or stay as long because the bus is going to leave. This happened to us when we wanted to see the Lincoln Memorial longer and we were not able to see the Vietnam Memorial.

Arlington Cemetery

Eternal Flame

JFK Grave

View of Lincoln Memorial down Arlington Bridge from JFK Grave Site

Amphitheater

Guard for Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Marine War Memorial

Julia Child's Kitchen

On Friday, 15Mar13 we went to Annapolis to see the Naval Academy and eat crab. On our way back we stopped at the Arundel Mills Shopping Center. The parts of Annapolis we say looked like Old Town Alexandria with older styled brick buildings, brick sidewalks, streets not made for the large cars of today, and a trolley to drive people to the waterfront. Our first major stop was Naval Academy. It is alma mater of Jimmy Carter and John McCain. The midshipmen of the Naval Academy are paid $900 month while in school and then have a 5 year commitment to the Navy. However when they come out of the Academy they are an officer. We were lead on a tour of the campus by a form midshipmen. He showed us the old armory, the houses where all of the faculty live, church, sports facilities, and the largest dorm in the US. All of the midshipmen live in the dorm all 4 years of there enrollment.

Next we had lunch to eat some crab! The only crab I have eaten in my life was out of a can, which covered a block of cream cheese and ketchup mixed with horseradish. Unfortunately it was not blue crab season, so we had to settle for Alaskan crab legs. Gail showed me how to properly east the crab using a cracker. The legs were not brittle enough to break completing in half using the cracker. I had to use my hand to create torque to break the leg to gain access to the meat. I hurt my fingers a few time because the crabs have spikes all over its leg. Once the crab leg was opened, I used a mini fork to get the meat out. After dipping the meat on the fork in butter, I was finally able to eat the crab! I never had to work so hard for so little food in my life! It did taste good.

To attempt to avoid rush hour traffic we spent some time shopping at Arundel Mills Shopping Center in Hanover, MD. This was a large shopping center with many stores. My Aunt Mary's favorite store was Moddell Sporting Goods. She liked the store because she liked what she saw about the store on Undercover Boss and it had an actual clearance rack with a large selection. Arundel Mills also had a Medieval Times Dinner & Theater.