Alexandria and Susan Makara

We flew out of the Dallas-FtWorth airport on Sunday before Thanksgiving. All the news had been about the new full-body scanning and pat-downs, accompanied by newscasters predicting chaos/trouble/crowds at the airports. Our flight left at 8:00 a.m. so we prepared for the worst by arriving at the airport at the Crack of Dark, approximately 6:15 a.m. WHAT!?!?! There was NO ONE standing in line at the security checkpoint and we were waiting at our gate by 6:30. Needing coffee desperately.

Once we got to Washington DC it was an easy hop on the metro to Alexandria where our hotel was. From there it was an easy hop on the free trolley to go down King Street to the Torpedo Factory.  Go here to see what it's all about.  [Note to Washington DC people: You have no idea how fortunate you are to have such a convenient metro, bus, and trolley system. It is a big deciding factor in us choosing to be tourists in your area.]

Our original plan was to first find a nice restaurant by the river to eat a late lunch. Susan took one look at the menu that featured Lunch Entrees starting at $26 and pivoted over to Starbucks where we got more caffeine and sugar goodies and found a public bench by the river to sit on. The leaves do turn colors in Texas but usually not this bright of a red.

At the Torpedo Factory we found Susan Makara painting an interesting piece.  Go here to see more of her work. We enjoy talking to the artists there and they are always helpful and informative about their art.