bobanddenisewanderlust

Saturday-  We were out the door a little later this morning. We stopped at the College Park Farmers Market to pick up a large tomato, cantaloupe, and corn. Then we went straight to the Laurel Walmart. The BW parkway was back up, southbound for miles, so we reversed our usual order. The Walmart was not as busy as last week, and we only spent about 10 minutes in line. The only other problem was that the shelves were not stocked and the aisles were full of boxes.

Next we went to The Dutchman for shrimp salad, turkey for sandwich meat, chicken, bread, rolls, and some cookies. The bread and rolls were still warm from the oven!

We headed home and ate lunch, took a nap, then went to Shop-rite for milk and the other items that were not on the shelf at Walmart. We also picked up some steamed spice shrimp for dinner.

We sat out after dinner, reading our books. At least the weather had cleared up some, as it had been raining this morning.

Sunday- We paid bills, updated the budget and did some work around the motor home. At about 11:15 , we drove into DC to  Buca Dibeppo for lunch. I had never been on to one, but Bob had and said he really liked it. The GPS took us on an interesting route through DC. We finally ended up on Connecticut Ave, parked at a free meter, right across from the Washington Hilton ( where Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr). On our way through NE Washington DC, we passed a sign for Lincoln’s Cottage.

Anyway, we arrived at the restaurant, and it was pretty empty. Since I had never been there before, the hostess took us for the tour, which consisted of going through the kitchen, the past some of the memorabilia, and past the Pope’s table. the Pope’s table is round and seats 17 people, with a ‘lazy Susan’ in the center, with a bust of the Pope on it.  The nun in the background in the picture is watching Wheel of Fortune on an old TV.

There were several menu’s: lunch, summer and dinner. We chose the dinner menu and had a ‘small’ meal, which was for two. We had a coupon for $10 off any $20 meal, so we bought the baked rigatoni ($19.99, go figure) and Bob had a salad, total cost with tax was $13.00. Not bad! In fact the meal was good and here is what the leftovers looked like!

We decided, since it was a nice day to go in search of Lincoln’s Cottage. We had never heard of it! It is located on the grounds of the Airman and Soldiers Home in DC. We set the GPS and off we went. When we arrived, we went to the visitor center and discovered that the tours were all sold out. We were able to go through the exhibits in the visitor center. It was pretty interesting. Lincoln stayed there about 13 months during his presidency, which was a little over a quarter of his term. He stayed there primarily during the summers ( June to November in 1862, 63 and 64., starting after his son, Willy, died from Typhoid at the White House, secondary to drinking the bad water in the District. The “cottage’ if you can call it that, is located on the grounds of the Home, at the top of the third highest hill in DC. So it supposedly gets nice breezes there. His last day there, he rode his horse over the grounds, the day before his assassination. While living at the Cottage, he developed his Emancipation Proclamation and plotted Union wartime strategies.

When we entered the gift shop, I asked the gal behind the counter about the Cottage. It was used for various purposes over the years, and was only put into service by the National Historical Trust four years ago, in 2008. Several other president’s stayed there during their terms in office. It was the “Camp David” of the 1800’s.

Daily, Lincoln would ride his horse or take his carriage to the White House. Walt Whitman said that the President passed his home ( on Mt. Vernon Street) every day, and that they had a nodding acquaintance.  He said he could set his clock by Lincoln’s passing his home.  Whitman would go out and nod at the President, and he would nod back! 

Many times Lincoln would take off, without his security, and his wife Mary Todd Lincoln was concerned for his safety. One day, on his trip home, on horseback, without his security team, someone shot a hole through the top of his Stove Pipe hat! He thought it was just an errant bullet, but evidently it could have been an assignation attempt!

The route he took was down Rock Creek Church road to 17th street, left of 17th, then right on Mt. Vernon St. to the White House. He took this predicable route back and forth daily. We hope to get back there to take the “cottage’ tour!

We left there and drove through the grounds of the Home, then back onto Rock Creek Church Rd. We found the entrance to the  first National Cemetery. During Lincoln’s time, the Civil War soldiers were buried here, temporarily, then moved to the current National Cemetery. Soldier’s and Airmen (and women) who died/die at the Home are buried here.

We continued back to Rt. 1, and stopped at Rita’s for some frozen custard. We returned home to our happy puppies and watched for the thunderstorms to start to pop up!

Monday- Pretty much a normal day at work. Bob did laundry and cleaned inside the motor home. I had been sneezing a lot at home. so he dusted the whole motor home, top to bottom. We were still able to sit out side. but the heat and humidity are coming back.

Tuesday- Awww, the nursing students gave Sabbena and I  this torte as a thank you for teaching them this semester. It came from Wegamens and was soooo good! We

saved if for the afternoon and shared it with the PA, OT, PT and the nurses. Wasn’t that sweet of the nursing students!  I went to a two hour in-service in the morning, so I never got to say good-bye to them…

Wednesday-  Another quiet day for us. We are relishing the quiet days, as they do not last for long. I have been teasing the PT that she must be going out and tripping up little old ladies, as I have three 94 year olds, and two 92 year olds. That is unusual for the trauma floor. Usually our patients are motorcycle or car accidents, plus gun shot and stab wounds or other sorts of accidental trauma’s.

It remains hot and humid, with thunderstorms in the evenings.

Thursday- Another relatively quiet day. I had  a nice hug from one of my patient’s mother as they were wheeling her son out the door. A motor cycle accident, where he had two broken wrists and two  broken ankles.  No insurance, but I found them a discounted wheelchair, a bedside commode, and transportation home. So she was very grateful and her son was a really nice guy! I have been lucky, most of my patients are very nice. Occasionally there is a pain in the behind, but most of them are pretty  nice. Funny, how it is usually the ones without insurance that are the non-nice ones.

The talk of the hospital was that the US News and World Report had come out with their list of the hospital rankings. Prince George’s Hospital Center is listed as #20 in the Washington DC area, out of 59 hospitals.  That puts it in the upper third. I looked up the article when I arrived home. Interestingly, the report does not count Trauma centers, which is too bad, as it might have pulled us up even higher.  We were tied in 20th place with INOVA Alexandria and Calvert Memorial, plus one more I don’t remember. Number 1 was INOVA Fairfax, # 2 was Medstar Hospital Center. Civista and Southern Maryland were not in the top 20!

We went out to dinner a a Chinese Buffet in College Park. It was mediocre, so we will not go back there again, since for the same price we can go to the Szechuan  Sea Food  Buffet, which is a lot better. More storms this evening. We even lost electric for about 10 minutes.  We also loss the local NBC channel on the cable.

Friday-  This whole week has been nice. Hopefully it is not the lull before the storm, and next week ends up being crazy. When Bob stopped in to pick up our mail and to pay the RV park, they asked him if he was still interested in a job. They asked if he can drive a tractor. Huh? My Kansas farm boy? He told them it was the same tractor he drove as a kid, back on the family farm. Plus they will want him to take people to their site and to help guide them into the site. He told them yes, so they said they will be in touch! We have 6 more weeks here, so that would work out nicely. Plus he would still be here for the dogs… So he is waiting to hear. More thunderstorms this evening.

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