With my brother Tim going though some life changes lately – a new house, a new girlfriend, even a new kid and a dog in his life – we’ve aiming for a visit to Washington DC (technically, Northern Virginia) to see his new haunts.

So we finally got it together and actually planned a summer trip with the whole family to check out (or “Czech out”, as Tim would say) Tim’s new situation.

This audacious plan included getting myself and two other generations (Claire and Molly along with my Mom, aged 82) on an airplane to DC, during what turned out to be a worldwide computer outage affecting, largely, airlines. Our flight was delayed by a few hours, but luckily, we got to while that time away peacefully at home. 🙏

This was primarily a family trip, and we enjoyed exploring Tim’s neighborhood, getting pizza by the Potomac, swimming, playing board games, and getting attacked repeatedly with a rubber snake and a fart gun (thanks, Avett 😜).

Claire and I have also been on a Lincoln kick due to the incredible show Manhunt about the Lincoln assassination and the ensuing hunt for his elusive killer. So we did make a trip into downtown DC to see Ford’s Theater, the infamous site of Lincoln’s murder. Claire and I both got chills as we stood beside the very balcony where the great man was slain. 😢

We also checked out Lincoln’s summer cottage, the pastoral alternative to the White House, where Abe spent much of the Civil War.

Tim heroically drove us all there and avoided crossing some theoretical red dotted lines on a paper map (unmarked in the real world) that would mean his immediate arrest as a the federal offense. Federal law apparently does not take kindly to trespassing on the surrounding US Army retirement home. Good driving, Tim!

I’m so glad we got to visit Tim in his natural surroundings along with Claire 2, Avett the maniac, and Waffle the monster, while it’s still possible, before Claire goes off to college and starts getting busy with her own summers.