Young Ben has truly been the toast of DC. He’s taken our nation’s capital by storm! His socialite status has almost eclipsed that of Paris Hilton (let’s just hope that the evil paparazzi don’t publish those up-diaper photos of him when he was a bit tipsy and exiting a limo on K Street…).

His recent adventures started with spending the afternoon with our friends from home, Sean and Dana, and their two utterly fantastic daughters (honestly, if I could be guaranteed that my next child would turn out like either Abigail or Phoebe, I would get pregnant tomorrow [er, or perhaps not; Kurt's out of town on business for the week. That could be awkward]). We visited Arlington National Cemetery and I committed a parental faux pas: I accidentally left the camera at home. Nooooooo! I must document every nanosecond of this child’s life! Photos probably wouldn’t do the place justice. It is impossibly huge. We witnessed the very somber changing of the guard ceremony at The Tomb of the Unknown which Ben, inexplicably, found hilarious. Any tourists videotaping it will play the tape back later and wonder where the hysterical belly laughs were coming from.

The Death Tour 2010 continued with possibly my favorite place in DC so far: Rock Creek Cemetery. That might sound weird and morbid but, honestly, it isn’t. It is beautiful beyond words and features a statue by Augustus Saint-Gaudens with the catchy title The Mystery of the Hereafter and The Peace of God that Passeth Understanding. It marks Henry and Clover Adams’ graves. There is a semi-circular stone bench across from it (you can see both of these in the pictures below) where Eleanor Roosevelt used to visit here and meditate when she felt troubled. Tim Russert and Upton Sinclair are also buried nearby. Those reasons alone would justify a visit but that wasn’t why I was so hell-bent on going.

You see, I love Gore Vidal like some people love Jesus. If you haven’t read any of his dozens and dozens of brilliant books, you should stop reading this blog right now and immediately buy his autobiography, Palimpsest, and then spend the remainder of your life kicking yourself for having not done so before. He is my idol. Sadly, his partner of 53 years, Howard Auster, died of cancer a few years ago. He was buried here and the lovely Mr. Vidal will be as well (although hopefully no time soon). I paid my respects and by ‘paid my respects’ I mean ‘freaked out completely, rolled around in the dirt and acted like a hyper 8 year old’. Told you I loved the man.

We also had the opportunity to meet some of Kurt’s fantastic co-workers after work for drinks and dinner. He’s so lucky to be working with such smart, funny people (although one of two of them weren’t entirely sure who Duran Duran was. A mix CD is coming your way, Heather!).

Need I bother mention how much we love DC?

In stark contrast, the move to Alexandria couldn’t have been smoother. What little of the city we’ve seen so far, we absolutely adore. With so many exotic food options, there is a very real chance that I will soon tip the scales at 400 lbs.

Once were fully settled in, there will be a massive new post complete with pictures galore of an increasingly cute Ben (who seems unfazed by all this change). In the meantime, please check out some of the links posted on the right side. They’re blogs by friends of ours and links to various causes we support. Enjoy!