The Distracted Wanderer

Located across the Potomac River from Washington DC on the grounds of Fort Meyer and sitting atop a promontory that overlooks the Pentagon, the United States Air Force Memorial holds a special place for me not just as the daughter of a decorated 22-year Air Force veteran but as an Air Force veteran myself - though I've certainly got nowhere near as impressive of a service record as my Dad what with only wearing Air Force blue for 5 years before leaving the service upon the birth of my son. In the past few years I've had the opportunity to visit twice but sadly my father never had the chance to see the memorial dedicated to "honor the men and women who have served, are serving, or will serve in the United States Air Force and its predecessors, such as the Army Air Corps” as he passed away in February 2003 from the effects of Agent Orange that he was exposed to while serving at Da Nang Air Force Base in South Vietnam in 1966-67. Part of the reason that my Dad never ...

As part of our trip to Baltimore a couple weeks ago, Amanda, Darci, and I took the MARC train from Baltimore to Washington D.C. to spend a bit of time walking around our Nation's Capitol. I probably could have driven but I've always heard that driving in D.C. is a pain in the place you sit as well as parking being downright impossible to find so I decided that the MARC was definitely the way to go. The price is quite reasonable ($7 one way) and it's a rather relaxing ride, too, while you glide through about an hour's worth of Maryland countryside en route to the former swamp upon which our forefathers built the seat of our country's government. We started our day by taking a taxi from our hotel to Pennsylvania Station in Baltimore. Darci had asked why it was called Penn Station when we were in Maryland and not Pennsylvania and the reason is actually pretty simple - the station was previously known as Union Station when it was owned by the Northern Central Railw...