DC and Back Again--The Last Day!

We woke up to our last day in Washington DC to a lovely spring-like temp--it actually made it up into the 50's! (and I thought Minnesota weather was unpredictable!) It was a nice relief since we would be out again to film a couple more commercial spots. Since it wasn't to be such a long day, we decided we'd ALL go along.

After breakfast we all crowded into the van again and again drove over to the Whitehouse. From there we decided to take a scenic walk to the next location, the Lincoln Memorial. I was really glad we walked through by the Wall at the Vietnam Memorial, that was something I had really wanted to see. You just can't imagine the scope of it until you see it with your own eyes....all of those names, and realizing most of those guys were just babies at 19, or their early 20's. There was definitely a sombering mood as people passed through the walkway, despite the crowd it was eerily quiet. There were people there making rubbings of names, or setting photos and trinkets down at the bottom of the Wall. I started to realize with all of the memorials that are there in that city, beneath the excitement of the beautiful monuments and sentiment of new beginnings, there is definitely the overall feeling of mourning the past as well. It definitely made me feel thankful for my ultimately simple and blessed life.

Our feet then brought us to the Lincoln Memorial, which is quite breathtaking. The statue of Lincoln is so beautiful and regal, and I got a total feeling of calm as I looked up into his face. We spent a couple of hours there while they got Vivian's final shots. Right there at the foot of the memorial area is the reflecting pool. Whenever I think of that I think of Forrest Gump--Jenny walking through it to get to him. "Run, Forrest, Run!" Well, we actually got to be like Jenny because there was no pool in the reflecting pool! For whatever reason it had been drained of water, and Neel said it was the first time he's ever seen it empty. Bizarre. Of course Sullivan wanted to go in there, and I have to admit, I did, too. How many people can say they've been in the reflecting pool?! (well, and have not gotten arrested, that is...!) As we stood there Sullivan said, "Hey look! A penny!" I looked down and realized that there were coins everywhere. Of course! People throw money into these kinds of things! It was so cool, most of the coins were hardly recognizable they had probably been in there for so long. We actually found a very cool coin, Neel said he thought it was a freemason one. Sullivan also found a penny from 1953. I let him take a couple--and I took one, myself!--but I have to admit it felt a bit funny to take them out of there, like they were sacred or something. Hopefully those people's wishes have already come true. :-) It sure made Sullivan happy to have them!

We all walked through the pool down to the Washington monument, which is at the other end. The kids really wanted to go up in it, but I guess they only sell so many tickets to do so each day and there weren't any left. They were bummed, but I sure wasn't! Not my idea of fun. At that point we all split up to do some individual sight-seeing. Cory had wanted to experience the Holocaust museum, so he, Char and Lisa all went to do that. Neel kindly offered to hang out with the kids and I, and we went back to the Natural History museum. Even though Sullivan had already been there, Vivian and I had not. I really wanted to see the Hope Diamond--of course! I have to say, it wasn't what I expected. All I could think of was The Titanic. Maybe everyone else knows that they obviously made Rose's trinket to look like that in the film (I'm guessing here, but, don't you think?!) but I was clueless. I guess I expected this HUGE, like as big as my fist, cut diamond. huh. I guess I'd rather have a grill.

We also checked out the dinosaurs--of course!--and a bug exhibit. The actual bug exhibit was closed, but they moved a few things to another area. Sullivan held a huge African walking stick bug--and I 'pet' it!!! Spiders and centipedes make me shiver, but this thing had a face and he was cute to me. Go figure. Neel kindly bought us all treats and had to duck out to go teach a swimming lesson. :-) The kids and I cabbed it back to the hotel to meet up with Coreman.

There is one thing I will interject about the museums. I realized that as cool as everything was there, our little ol' museums in the fair city of Minneapolis are really just as cool. We have many of the same things, some even on a grander scale than the Smithsonians. It made me proud to live in the Minneapple.

Our last night in DC. We decided we'd ALL go out for a final dinner together. Neel had told us about this cool place his friend owns called Comet Pizza. Cory and I both agreed that it would go over fabulously here in Minneapolis! It had a very Uptown-y type vibe. It looked like someone's basement with booths and long tables, and the back room was set up for ping pong! We ate delicious thin-crust pizza and went back for some good old fashioned table tennis. Cory and Char were getting quite cut-throat there for a while. I seem to recall bets were made, but I don't know if anything was ever coughed up?? :-) Our little family, + pregnant Char, decided to call it an early night and get back to the hotel, leaving the rest of the crew behind.

We had a pretty early flight the next day, so it was up and at 'em. The Fallon team were all on the same flight, so that was fun. Char, Simon, Bobby, Lisa, Micheal. What a great group of people--they were so fun, so kind. We couldn't have spent a week with finer people. We didn't all sit together on the plane, however, which was fine...I think everyone just wanted to zone out and relax after such a busy week. What a week it was. What an experience! Back to COLD Minnesota, sigh. I sure could use a 50 degree stroll in DC right about now....

DC and Back Again--Day Four

...and another day of commercial shooting for Viv. This time Cory went with her, so I don't have as many details about this day. I do know she did some 'man-on-the-street' interviews and was completely comfortable with the idea of approaching complete strangers and asking them questions. Amazing! They spent the second half of the day indoors at another location. (thank goodness, as it was another cold day!)

Sullivan and I had a nice breakfast at the hotel restaurant, The Palette. I had to laugh as Sullivan scoffed out loud to the server about the five dollar glasses of juice. My beloved oatmeal was $7. Of course I'm sure a lot of it had to do with the fact that we were at a fancy hotel, but overall food is very expensive in Washington DC. I suppose this is how they make their money, as most of the museums are free and amazingly enough the souveniers in the museum gift shops are surprisingly inexpensive as well.

After our meal we walked three blocks from the hotel to the nearest Metro station. I was quite proud of myself, I was determined to figure this out all by my little self. Hey, I used to be on my own here and in L.A., took the train from New Jersey into NYC all by myself without knowing where to go or what to do years ago....but that was years ago. It's funny how once you get older, and especially when you have children, you get more paranoid and afraid to do things. I guess you just pay more attention to all of the bad things that could happen to you along the way as you get one day closer to death and have someone else to watch out for. But! That was not going to stop me! We found the station and took the escalator down. I had no clue how to work the ticket system, luckily there was a group of people who had just figured it out and were very helpful. Before I knew it we were on the blue line making for the Smithsonian stop. Fun!

I have to say, it was not easy to tell which way to go once we got off the train. There aren't many signs marking the way, and the signs that are there are pretty vague. All of the museums are in a row, and they are not well marked from across the way--so it's hard to know what's what. Luckily being a woman I have no problem asking for directions, so I just stopped some passerby and they were very helpful. (everyone was very nice in that town, I will say.)

Knowing what a little scientist my son is and how he is fascinated with the solar system, Sullivan and I went right to the Air and Space Museum. What a cool place! He was definitely in his element with all of the airplanes, space shuttles and paraphernalia, models of the solar system. There were many 'hands on' things for kids to do. I have to say though, my personal favorite room was the one that had choice things from the American History Museum temporarily housed in it, as it was being renovated at the time. Dorothy's ruby slippers, Lincoln's top hat he wore the day he was shot, R2D2 and C3PO, even Carrie Bradshaw's laptop were among the many cool things displayed. I was pleasantly surprised at how cool it was to actually see those things in person.

After lunch at the in-house loft-style McDonald's which gave a great view of the area, we jumped back onto the Metro and headed back to the hotel. Mission Accomplished! At that point Sullivan and I just chilled at the hotel until Vivian and Cory got back. Once again we were pampered with room service as the celebrity and her dad came back right at dinner time, and once again an early night was called to get some sleep for the next busy day. Barbara stopped by the hotel room with a fruit basket to say her goodbyes as she was leaving the next day. She was so wonderful! Even though she was done with her part, it had been decided that the Fallon team would indeed shoot a couple more spots on their own--cameraman Josh stayed another day, which was great. The days had flown by, it was hard to believe we were approaching our last already!

DC and Back Again--Day Two

Ahhhh. It's so nice to wake up in your own bed and house after being away. It doesn't matter how enjoyable your trip was, Dorothy was right-on when she said "there's no place like home." (although I will say I do miss the room service coffee that was brought up to me in a silver pot. that rocked.)

Day 2 of our Washington DC adventure was basically a 'free day', as the actual shooting of the commercials didn't start until the next. They wanted Vivian there early for her to have the fittings and meetings with Barbara, so the great thing was that she had that day to do some sight-seeing. Even though she wasn't on set, Vivian was still under SAG guidelines to have some 'school time', however. Thankfully Lorena agreed with our thinking (and Vivian's teacher's, as well) that taking in the educational opportunities that are abound in that city would definitely quality as learning! So at 10:30 Lorena met Vivian and I in the lobby for just that. She had Vivian pick 2 things that she wanted to see the most, and she chose the National Aquarium and the Holocaust Museum. (you gotta love that about my girl.) Obviously even an entire week isn't enough time to see everything!

Our hotel was in a great location, definitely walking distance to the Whitehouse. We started off there, before we went to the nearby Aquarium. At first look the Aquarium was not all that impressive, both Vivian and I agreed. Even our Discovery Bay at the Minnesota Zoo seemed to have more to offer, as the Washington version consisted of only a semi-circle of small tanks in the dingy basement of a building. Upon a closer look, however, we ended up really enjoying our stay there. Since the tanks were so small, each one only had a few specific things inside them and the creatures were so easy to see. I saw things I've never seen before...mollusks, a four-eyed fish, a small red octopus...even two (dare I say cute?) alligators named Munchy and Crunchy.

After some lunch at a nearby food court we decided to jump onto the 'Tourmobile', a bus which takes you all around the sites. It's a very cool thing, as you can ride the entire way around which takes about 2 hours, and also have the option to jump on and off at any time to check out the various places. Since we didn't have much time left, we decided to try this to at least see what we could see. We got about 2 blocks, and then we were at the Holocaust Museum. Knowing this was something Vivian wanted to experience--and probably the one thing I wanted to do the most while I was there, as well--I suggested we at least hop off and just take a quick peek. Well, let's just say that one can not take a quick peek at the United States Holocaust Museum. We were probably there about 2 hours and still felt like we rushed through a lot. I was totally impressed with it, it was amazing. The main exhibit spanned three floors, you started at the top and worked your way down from how it all started to the liberation. Then it opened up into the Hall of Remembrance, where there was an eternal flame in the back center of a circular room, and all around candles one could light in honor and/or memory of a loved one. I held it together up until that point, it was quite emotional. Poor Lorena, I think we sort of took her through that against her will but she seemed genuinely glad she did it in the end. Not exactly an uplifting afternoon! Vivian and I picked up some cool necklaces that were made by a survivor, and I also bought a car mezuzah! :-) May We Never Forget, indeed.

Needless to say Lorena was way past her time (bless you, Lorena!) so we hustled back to the hotel. Vivian was to have her 'getting to know you' time with Barbara and we needed to get back for that. I left them to hang and went up to the room to meet up with Cory and Sullivan and hear about their day spent at the Mint and the Museum of Natural History. Anyone who knows Sullivan and his fascination with money and coins can only imagine how he was in his element at the Mint!! When Vivian returned Cory's friend Steve Tulk, who lives in DC, came to the hotel and we all went for dinner to the Old Ebbitt Grill. It was such a cool place! The food was great and it had a fun historic atmosphere. After eating, it was relaxing and having Vivian go through her lines for the next day--her first day of shooting! Coreman had drinks with Steve down in the lobby as the rest of us went to bed early--call time was an early 6:30 AM. I had planned to go with Vivian for her first day, Cory would go with her the second. Once again Sullivan was making DC the Windy City instead of the Capital City, and it took a while to settle him down so we could get some sleep!

Oh hey, I forgot to mention also that the night before Cory and Vivian went with a few of the Fallon folks to get some footage of the President's motorcade as he sped by for the State of the Union speech! I guess that was quite cool to see. Whew, all of the days and events are running together, even as it's fresh in my mind I'm still trying to remember what happened when.

DC and Back Again--Day One

Hey there! Here I am, back from a whirlwind week out in Washington DC. We were living large, let me tell you. First the Upper East Side, and now this. Two high-falootin' trips within 6 months, how lucky am I?! This one was courtesy of my amazing daughter, who landed the role of spokesperson for a very important campaign and it involved 3 days of filming for some upcoming commercials. That my friends, is all I can tell you about it...but it could very well be a pretty big-time thing. It's very exciting! Since we really had 5 jam-packed days I won't try to cram it all into one post, but go day by day instead. (knowing how much I can blab I'm sure all of you are wiping your brows and saying, "whew!")

So! Let me start by saying that he flight into DC was uneventful...and that is wonderful news. As many of you know, we tried flying with Sullivan 2 or 3 years ago and it did not go so well. Let's just say we were on the plane maybe 10 minutes and had to convince the flight attendant to open the door back up and let us out. You can imagine that they frown upon that, so in turn you can imagine just how freaked out Sullivan must have been. I swear I could hear a silent cheer from the other passengers as we carried our screaming panicked toddler down the aisle and out the door. The poor guy. But that is all in the past now, as he flew like he'd flown all his little life. No problems at all-- in fact, he had a ball. He got his flight certificate, his wings, even a free bag of trail mix and the pilot's autograph to boot. I also had a great flight. I was a ball of nerves up until I got on the plane. Then upon sitting down I had the weirdest calm just come over me. I don't know what happened, but I'm not going to question it! It was great!!!!! We landed and I was feeling pretty spunky indeed.

We flew with Char, one of the many wonderful Fallon team members that went along on the trip. (Fallon is the advertisting agency) There was a van driver there to meet us and we got our luggage lickety-split. Before I knew it we were at the Madison Hotel, on 15th and M Street. We met up with more Fallon people in the lobby and then went up to check into our room. I have to say our room was quite small, especially for the 4 of us. But no matter, we weren't going to be in the room much anyway! Overall it was a very nice hotel, and the people there were fabulous.

After getting unpacked a bit and taking a peep at the production office, Vivian and I met the studio teacher down in the lobby. Vivian was required to have a certain bit of schooling each day, and the first order of business was to get over to some office building to get Vivian her work permit which I guess is required of any under- aged child about to do some kind of work. Teacher Lorena Bow was fabulous. I knew I liked her right away. A retired school teacher from right there in DC, she had never done anything like this before...but that didn't stop her from taking care of business and being right on top of things. She was amazing. We found our way around the building and it took a while to get the permit. Meanwhile Lorena's hugging just about everyone we passed by, she knew everyone! We got back to the hotel and by that time they only had a little time to get some studying in before Vivian's fitting. They went down to the lobby and got to work while the rest of us just hung out in our room.

We all went up to the 15th floor of the hotel for Vivian's fitting, which was basically in a hallway right outside of a meeting room! Vivian would dart into a nearby bathroom to try on different outfits for Ellen, the wardrobe person, and then she'd take her into the meeting room where everyone from the production was talking about the upcoming shoot. That was the first time I got a glimpse of Barbara Kopple, the acadamy award winning director that was working on the commercials! Very exciting!!! After they decided what would work best we went back up to the room and ordered room service for dinner. Nice! Nothing like sitting on your bed and eating delicious expensive food on silver platters. You gotta love it. We all tried to get to bed early, although sleeping was not easy. Not only were we in a new place, different beds and excited about the days to come, our gassy boy made sure we were all down-wind, so to speak. Never a dull minute in a hotel room with a family of four, that's for sure.

My next post will be Day #2! I will let you go with this revelation...for whatever reason I can honestly say that my Fear of Flying is completely gone. I don't know what happened, but I was not even nervous one bit before the flight home and it was the easiest thing ever. ?? I feel like a new person, FREE! It's the best feeling ever.