Washington D.C. Day 3: Clarendon (VA) and a Wedding

On Saturday, we had some time to kill before the wedding. Some friends and I went to Arlington for brunch. In particular we went to the Market Common in the Clarendon section of Arlington. On the way we got lost around the Dolly Madison, Chain Bridge area, names of roads of recognized from my youth (but that didn't help getting us un-lost).

I discovered Arlington is nice, quaint, and manicured. The retail area puts its parking above the stores, allowing for nice views of shops' facades to remain unblemished by visible large expanses of asphalt.

We ate in Harry's Tap Room. I started taking pictures at this point. Harry's specializes in local, organic, natural food. I'd give it a 3 on my rating scale (which is pretty good). For details see the pictures.

After lunch, we walked around the area. The temperature was in the mid-80s, which was actually surprisingly pleasant in the shade or when clouds covered the sun.

We then returned to our hotel to prepare for the wedding. I don't have much to say about the wedding; it's a private affair. Where it was held, the atrium in Meadowlark Botanic Garden in Vienna, is a lovely setting for a wedding. I wrote down at the time that I wanted to comment on the vows, toasts, icebreaker (!), seating arrangements, and the style of wedding. However, as I'm writing this years after the time, I don't remember anything in particular I wanted to say. I think by "icebreaker" I might have been referring to a crossword puzzle they handed out. Entitled "Fuzzy and Techie", it was a neat combination: every answer was clued twice, once using fuzzy (humanities-oriented) hints and once using techie (science-oriented) hints. These reflected the background of the couple. Many fuzzy clues centered on the law and many techie clues on chemistry. I did a run-through of the crossword for the groom to verify everything worked and made sense. As an example of one of the wittiest clues, the same answer was clued both by "group lawsuit" and "taking a test." I think I called this puzzle an icebreaker because it got people to talk to each other regardless of whether they spoke the same academic language or not and help each other answer questions.

I participated twice in the wedding events, once reading a cute Ogden Nash poem (Reprise), and once giving a best-man-type-speech for B. The Nash poem was even funnier in the context of the ceremony because it immediately followed the reading of one of Shakespeare's sonnets. Ogden Nash, by the way, is a witty poet; I like much of his work.

On the way back to the hotel from the wedding venue, we crossed over a nice river. I guess I didn't notice it on the way.