The Manic Mechanic

Today's trip to DC did not turn out quite as planned. While I knew this was Veteran's Day weekend, and that crowds in and around the Mall and the various memorials would be pretty big, I did not count on one thing.

The parade.

I thought the parade would have been held tomorrow. Instead, it was held today, and this caused traffic to be rerouted all around the areas we were interested in. Parking nearby was nonexistent, of course, but even being able to drop Jeff and crew off nearby was a no-go (this being necessary because of his mom's disability and unable to walk long distances). So, it was off to get some lunch. We had planned to eat at Annie's Paramount Steakhouse. Of course, parking in the area was a nightmare. What I thought was a good spot a couple blocks away was actually a no parking zone. So I let my passengers out to walk to Annie's. I scouted areas several blocks far and wide with no luck (typical). After frustration began settling in I drove up to the restaurant itself to tell everyone it's going to be a while longer, and wouldn't you know...


Rock Star Parking!
(or, better for the Gay D.C. area, "Doris Day Parking")

In all my years of eating at Annie's, I have never parked this close. Over lunch of open faced turkey sandwiches and Annie's signature "Bull In The Pan", we decided to try again another time, when Jeff's nephew can join us and there is less insanity around the memorials. We did some shopping after this and took it easy at home the rest of the day. Everyone needed it.