Exes and patriots

What a fun day!! The morning was devoted to visiting some of our exes (um, yes … only some, because the day wasn’t long enough for all of them). Our exes are actually terrific people, and we’ve remained cordial and friendly. Our first stop was Burke Jewelers, owned by my former husband, Larry Baldwin. We brought him some photos of Cooper, admired Larry’s beautiful wares (including some gorgeous ice-blue aquamarines and a stunning Spessartine garnet surrounded by diamonds), and chatted about the economy and his future plans to stop selling jewelry and start digging up archeological artifacts.

Hopping back into our rental car, we dutifully followed the instructions of our GPS (because everything is SO DIFFERENT we were totally disoriented) and headed out for lunch with Janet Strafer. Janet is Bill’s former girlfriend and current friend who works in the Pentagon as the chief of the Counter-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Policy Office. Janet has been busting gender boundaries her whole life. We laughed and chatted our way through lunch at Mimi’s and enjoyed ourselves immensely.

After lunch and a nostalgia tour to some of our former homes (we even barged in on an old friend, Michael Rierson, who was washing his car and not expecting visitors), we hit one of my major objectives: Loehmann’s!! Oh ... I LOVE that store! Racks and racks of luscious (discounted) designer clothing. Why is there nothing even remotely similar in Jacksonville? I could have spent the entire day reveling in my style options. Bill was remarkably patient (he found a chair and a book about paella … thank the gods of serendipity) and so I went in and out of the group dressing room wallowing happily in the fashion trough like a little piglet. Given our looming European expenses, I was quite restrained (gosh, no business or evening clothes), but I did pick up a few items that will be useful. Feeling quite satisfied, we got back in the car and headed to Old Town Alexandria.

I am an historical-church-and-cathedral fanatic, and part of the reason I am keeping this public journal (besides the fact that I love to write and always do when we travel) is to fulfill the agreed-upon requirements for my directed independent study in Religion (love you, Laura Ammon). Well, I reasoned, why not start off the Grand Tour of Churches with an historical church in the United States? So we went to Christ Church in Old Town.

This beautiful old Georgian style edifice was built between 1767 and 1773 as a parish church of the Church of England. George Washington was a parishioner with his own (purchased) pew which has been preserved without restoration. The pew (really, a little enclosed box with bench seats) has since hosted other presidents and dignitaries including Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, who attended a service on January 1, 1942 accompanied by Winston Churchill. There are little silver plaques commemorating the event, the World Day of Prayer for Peace. I only know this because a sweet little old caretaker let us inside the closed church after Bill tracked him down and I told him I am a history student. Oh yes ... George Washington's funeral was conducted in the church on December 18, 1799. A bronze plaque in the portico of the church honors his pallbearers, all Army officers. You can click on the photo to enlarge it if you want to read the details.

Christ Church had another famous parishioner: Robert E. Lee. General Lee was confirmed here in 1853; a small silver plaque on the chancel rail marks the spot at the altar where he knelt, and his pew is preserved as well. Also of Civil War vintage is an ivy-covered mound in the garden, under which 34 Confederate soldiers, POWs who died in the Federal hospital in Alexandria, are buried.

Back at the hotel, we enjoyed our second bottle of LaRue wine while we repacked for our flight to New York tomorrow. We also Skyped Ashley, Jackson and Cooper and got to blow kisses and identify body parts (nose, eyes, ears, “eat”) over a video connection. We love modern technology!