Happy Birthday, America

This week, or at least the beginning of this week, I am in our nation's capital for a conference. The conference is being held at the brand spanking new Gaylord National Hotel. This is the second time that I've had an opportunity to help open a Gaylord resort. They are amazing. More like little cities than large hotels. This one has a huge (read: IMMENSE) window that opens to the National Harbor. It is a site.

On the flight in, and on the drive over to the hotel, I saw the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, The Capitol, and a bunch of other assorted unidentified "monuments". I forgot how beautiful Washington DC is, as it's been several years since I've been here. I'm thinking a family trip is in order within the next couple of years, so the kids can get a glimpse.

While here, I turned 39 years old (Monday, May 19). This is not the first time I've blogged about being on the road for my birthday - a couple of years ago I spent the day in Cincinnati for one day meetings. This one isn't so bad, although I sure would have like to be home for Angie's arrival back to Dallas from Mexico. The reason it hasn't been so bad is because of what I did last night - I had dinner at the Capitol View Restaurant, which is aptly named since it looks at the Capitol Building. If you've never seen the dome, it is awesome. Really pretty, especially lit up at night. We had drinks on the veranda of the 11th story overlooking the Capitol.

The dinner was a vendor event to which I had been invited. The guest speaker was the former White House Pastry chef, Roland Mesnier. Not only did he regale us with an amazing desert, but with funny stories from the past 25 years in the White House, encompassing five administrations. Two of the funnier stories were how Rosalind Carter wanted to hire him, but he wasn't an American Citizen, so he was whisked to the State Department. After answering ALL of the Citizen test questions incorrectly, they asked him who the president was. He knew that, he was just at the White House. With that, he was granted US Citizenship.

The other is a story was about how Ronald Reagan was eating chocolate mousse out of a huge mixing bowl with a large serving spoon. He dropped some on his shirt, and proceeded to eat if off his chest. I'd do the same thing, but to hear the "Great Communicator" do it is very funny.
We had a great meal, good conversation, funny stories, and were given a signed copy of Mesnier's memoirs on our way out.


All in all, not a horrible birthday.

SL