Two Beers and a Pretzel

I went to Richmond for Asa & Bekah’s wedding.  Since I got there early, I took a side trip to see my cousin Nat in Annapolis, as well as play tourist in Baltimore and DC.  Nat plays french horn in the Naval Academy Band, and had a full dress parade with the academy in the afternoon, so I went to Baltimore for the day to see the Aquarium and the Harbor area.

The Baltimore Harbor district:

Then I drove back to Annaoplis just in time for the parade.

Naval Academy  Band (Nat is on the right)

Guests of honor: Jim Lowell (Commander Apollo 11), Admiral James M Loy (former Deputy Secretary, then Secretary of Homeland Security), Neil Armstrong (1st man on the moon), and Gene Cernan (last man on the moon).

Cousin Nat

That night we went out for dinner and drinks, then went home to bed.  Nat had an earl day, and I was going to DC to see the sights.

The US Capitol Building

Smithsonian Air & Space Museum

The Washington Monument

The WWII Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial

The view from the Lincoln Memorial

The Vietnam Memorial.  They had just dedicated a new statue of soldiers and had flags made of flowers.  No one could identify one of the flags…  it was South Vietnam’s old flag.

The Whitehouse

After all that walking, I was beat.  I got back to Nat’s, had dinner, played with his dog, Winston, and crashed.  The next day I headed back to Richmond for the pre-wedding festivities and the wedding.  I was the quasi-official wedding photographer, so I have to let the bride and groom see all the photos before posting anything, so you’ll have go trust me that Asa looked dapper and Bekah was beautiful…