Here are some pictures of Jack and Batman outside Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. The tour was mind-blowing and worth every penny and every mile out of our way to get there. The home and grounds are lovingly preserved by an army of skilled people who–and I did not know this was possible–love Thomas Jefferson even more than I do. I had a complete fangirl meltdown out on the lawn where, on July 4th, 800 immigrants will come to take their oath of citizenship. Once I had recovered, I took these pictures of my guys

I noticed the lady on the right edge of the frame. “She looks just like Steve’s wife,” I thought. Steve, a Scouting friend from Tampa, grew up in Maryland. We had spoken about how we were both going to be in the DC area at the same time. Scouting is a very small world, but this is ridiculous. Sure enough, there’s my Bobwhite buddy Steve in the blue shirt and navy shorts walking from left to right behind Jeff and Jack.

This next photo is of me and my sweetie and this very cool house. While taking this one, Jack said, “Mom, is that your first selfie? Good job!” He’s so proud of me.

After Monticello, we drove to Cherry Hill RV Park in Maryland, just north of DC. We had dinner at Timbuktu, famous for their crab cakes. They did not disappoint. My mechanical pencil is on the plate for scale. It does not fully convey the 3- or 4-inch height of the crab cake. Or the way the sweet crab and touch of fiery spice dance across your palate. Ooooh, baby!