Cherry Blossoms on Tidal Basin
The weather finally turned to Spring in DC. This means the Cherry Blossoms are out! It came at the same time as my Dad arrived in DC. What a coincidence?
Washington Monument
Tidal Basin with Cherry Blossoms
White House from the North Side
On Thursday we drove to Charlottsville, VA. It was about 3 hours away from where I live. The time included the 30 minute wait we had in traffic getting out of DC. The traffic backs in DC are due solely to the shear number of cars on the road. Once past DC, the roads to Charlottsville are 2 lane with limited passing surrounded by farms, wineries, or small towns. To say the least, UVA is in a rural setting.
Our day was full once we arrived. First we attended a Property class. It is a first year course all law students are required to take. Based upon the answers the student provided, Dad and I thought I would be able to compete academically with a fair number of students in law school. The professor had real life experience and it showed through his comments and questions he asked the student. Next, we went on a student led tour of the law school. The law school had about 10 interview rooms. It is no surprise because UVA prides itself on having one of the highest employment rates of its graduates. Finally we met with the senior assistant dean for admissions to answer my questions. Throughout the visit my Dad took pictures as seen below and we talked to student who were not coached up by the admissions department to give the party line. One thing we did learn is people at UVA love softball. Everybody in the fall of their first year are encouraged to play on a softball team formed by their section. Games are played all fall. Also UVA hosts a softball tournament in the spring where over 100 law schools send teams to compete.
UVA Law Building
UVA Hallway
UVA Dining Area
UVA Open Area
UVA Law UVA Store
UVA Law
Duke Law
Right after visiting UVA we left for Durham, NC. The entire time we were on roads like the roads we were on after getting out DC to go to UVA. We had no idea where we were. Luckily we had the GPS. One thing we picked up is towns in Virgina like to end in "ville". Scotsville, Fisherviller, Danville, Martinsville.
The next day we visited Duke. It rained off and on all day. We tried to attend a Property class, but it was cancelled because it was the last day before the reading period before finals and it was alumni weekend for the entire Duke University. It gave us some time to explore the law school on our own. We talked to third year law student and met the manager of the restaurant in law building. We were able to get a free sample of the cheese grits and baked oatmeal. By talking to the third year law student, I found out it would be a little more difficult to live without a car at Duke as compared to UVA or a school in a major city. However it would be doable. Eventually our student led tour started. It was similar to the UVA tour with respect to what we saw. However we did not move as fast because the law school at Duke is smaller because it has a smaller student body. I did learn Duke has a bonding activity like UVA's softball. It is bowling. So if I go to Duke, I will have to practice and get better at bowling. After the tour we met with an admissions counselor and met the Dean of Admissions as Duke Law. As with UVA, my Dad took pictures and some are reproduced below. Then we went home.
Before we left, we went to the student union and I picked up some Blue Devil gear for my Blue Devils, Jake and Gabe.
Duke Law
Duke Law
Duke Classroom
Chapel at Duke
Duke Law
Duke Law Moot court
Me at Duke Law
Jake and Gabe's Gear
Nationals Game
We went to a Nationals game on April 13th. The weather could not have been better. It was in the 70s with no clouds. Our seat were fantastic as well. We sat in the first row in right center. I had my glove. I was more than ready to reach over and grab a home run ball. However a home run ball to our section during the game was 20 yards to our left. The National played a really bad.
One of the highlights was Dad getting a baseball from the field of play. During the Atlanta Braves batting practice, a player hit a ball that one hopped the outfield fence. Next one of the players threw the ball into the stands. The ball ricocheted off the ground, off a seat squarely into Dad's chest. It was exciting! He has never gotten from the field of play before. He would not have gotten the ball, if the couple to our right didn't leave 5 minutes earlier. It all worked out.
Me and Dad at the Nationals Game
Food
On this trip, we had some great food. We ate at the Original Q Shack where we had NC BBQ. We ate at Al's Steakhouse where we had great Philly Cheese steaks. Each of us ate a large sandwich even though we were both full. The sandwich was so good, we could not resist. We also enjoyed because that is where real people eat. For dessert that night we had Dairy Godmother. It serves really good custard, almost as good as Kopp's. They do carry Sprecher Root Beer. So I know where to go to pick up some food that reminds of Milwaukee. Possibly our favorite spot was Lumpkins. It is in Scotsville, VA in the middle of no where. It is a combination motel and restaurant Both of us had a BBQ sandwich on a Kaiser roll. Then for dessert I had warm, melt in your mouth pecan pie and my Dad has chocolate caramel cake.
Bethany Softball
On Friday, April 18, 2013, Bethany Lutheran Church tried to have its first meeting/practice of the year at Beulah Field. However the weather was non-compliant. However I did learn the softball league has rules I have never played under before. For example, each base is treated like first base. This means you can run through the bag at 2nd and 3rd base. Also at most 5 men can be in the field and the batting order has be boy, girl. The batting order has to have the alternating gender even if there is less of one gender than the other. If there are less girls than guy present during a game, all of the women will have the same or more at bats as every man.
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