At the Sackler Gallery: Buddhas from Qingzhou, China.
On Sunday, following another spectacular Jacques & Val-prepared breakfast, Marti & I headed down to visit her parents in Charlottesville, Virginia. We made a couple of stops enroute. First we went with Jacques to the Sackler Gallery on the Mall in DC to see an exhibition of 35 extraordinary 6th-century Chinese Buddhist statues that had been accidentally discovered in 1996 by construction workers in Qingzhou, a city in Shandong Province on China's northeast coast. We were overwhelmed by the beauty of these limestone statues of Buddhas & bodhisattvas, which are believed to have been ritually interred during the 12th century. They may have been buried as a demonstration of respect for broken or obsolescent images, but experts have suggested that their interment could also have come as a result of Buddhist persecution.
We installed a dashboard Buddha in the Deville.
At the Sackler gift shop I bought a dashboard Buddha -- "Enlightenment on a Spring" -- for a bit of a spiritual lift. Another great addition to help pimp our ride! He turned out to be a constantly-bobbing, perpetually jolly companion on our journey.
Jacques hailed a taxi home from the museum while we headed down crowded Interstate 95 toward an outlet mall in Dale City. The traffic back ups (on a Sunday, no less!) reminded me why it wasn't so hard to move away from the Washington area 13 years ago. Marti & I had lunch near the mall & did a bit of shopping, but we totally hated this retail misadventure. Unlike the compact outlet complex we were familiar with in Lee, Massachusetts, this behemoth was so spread out that you had to drive from place to place! We got the hell out there toot sweet & continued our drive to Charlottesville.
John, Nan, (another) John, Marti & me at lunch.
Marti's parents & brother John welcomed us warmly & fed us a delicious turkey dinner. We spent a relaxing evening together, then resumed our shopping with a vengeance the following day. Thanks to the weakened (Bush) dollar, Marti & I were spending 85-cent bucks. We had a long list of items we were after: blank CDs & CD envelopes, Mach 3 razor blades, Clinique products, Pam vegetable spray, no-salt chicken broth powder, etc. We all shopped till we dropped, then had lunch at a Red Robin restaurant, a higher-end burger chain that I had discovered a few weeks earlier while watching CNBC. Pretty decent hamburgers.
A toast to 59 years of marriage!
Nan & John were celebrating their 59th wedding anniversary, so we enjoyed a Champagne happy hour on their porch before going out to dinner.
Down the hatch.
Because he hardly drinks, I asked Marti's brother John to be the designated driver for the evening. We would be dining later at the Boar's Head Inn, one of Charlottesville's better restaurants. Let's go places and eat things!
At the Boar's Head.
Marti had set up the celebration dinner a few weeks earlier via phone from Paris. Everything went off without a hitch. Having been unimpressed by the food at the Boar's Head many years ago, I had been skeptical. Happily, this place has undergone a gastronomic transformation, thanks to Executive Chef Chris Ferrier, a graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America & a veteran of the 1990s Washington DC restaurant scene. Hey, anybody whose cooking has been praised by Beloved President Bill is fine with me!
The Johnnys liked it.
We were graced with excellent service all evening, the food was great & the 2002 Penfolds, Rawson’s Retreat, Cabernet from Australia was a fine accompaniment.
Starters.
Main courses.
Desserts.
It was a memorable meal & a marvelous evening. Congratulations, Nan & John!
Prince at the MCI Center.
Marti remained in Charlottesville for a few more days, but the next morning I returned to the DC area. I hung out at Gina & Aaron's empty house for a couple of days, did additional shopping, saw more friends & caught Prince in concert. Though I had originally planned to take in this one on my own, our friend Jim showed up at Jacques & Val's one evening with spare tickets. We wouldn't be able to sit together, but now I was able to go to the show with Jacques & my cousin Christine.
Keep your tongue in your mouth, Mr. Phil. Chris & Jacques. With Chris.
Before the show I was interviewed (as an old-school Prince fan) by the lovely Rane from The Home Team on WPGC-FM. A real cutie. I geezed her with my recollection of seeing The Purple One twenty years ago at the Capital Center. Rane smiled sympathetically & sent me on my way with a promotional cap.
Prince rocked da house that night. Maceo Parker & Candy Dulfer on saxes were no slouches, either. The mid-show solo acoustic set featuring chill-out versions of "Little Red Corvette" & "Raspberry Beret" was sweet & the full-bore "Purple Rain" finale kicked ass. Go, you little purple freak!
After the show Christine Metro'd home while Jacques & I went to the last dive in Chinatown for a delectable aftershow dinner. It was a trip to be out on the town with the DC Krew again.
