Mini-London: a 24-hour course in Best-Friending

Those of you who have been around this blog longer than I care to remember (for posts were not in those days what they are today) might have lived through the days of my Georgia Campaign. On that campaign, I met my "crazy single friend," Katie Frost. Only back then, of course, she was not my best friend. In the two and a half years since Georgia, though, we have grown to be the best of the best sort of friends. Katie is my mainstay and I am hers. She has inspired me in so many ways though our lives run exactly opposite direction most of the time. I'm a nanny, novelist, and blogger while Katie runs statewide campaigns and hobnobs with the rich and famous. She was the main inspiration behind the Cinderella-figure in my contest-winning novella, The Windy Side of Care. In short, Katie's amazing. Which means that when we discovered her family had planned a trip to Washington D.C., it was imperative that I come.

It was the twenty-four-hour trip of a lifetime. We stayed at the Willard Inter-Continental with her family, met oodles of congressmen, pretended we were rich and chic, ran from the Library of Congress to the Rayburn building in high-heels, watched the Government Shutdown vote (and numerous congressmen of interest) from the balcony, rode the little train that is strictly Members Only (with a Member) from Rayburn to the Capitol, went on the Speaker's Balcony and through No Trespassing places, ordered hot cocoa from Room Service at 2 AM, and generally acted as if we were Eloise of the Plaza. A few pictures from the thingamajig:

stalker shot like a pro

Mini-Katie and I on the Speakers' Balcony. DC behind us. Best vantage-point ever.

Lady Alis in the flesh

 

See that tam? It is somewhere on the White House lawn.

The Hill was WINDY the entire time, except for the magical half-hour in which snow fell just for us.

 

Poor lighting, but we had to get a picture on the Congressmen-only train!

 If you ever get a chance to step into the Willard at Christmas, do so. It is beautiful beyond imagining. I was there for under 24 hours and had enough plot material for a novella which I am executing in 12 parts on my other blog. I'm not sure what a week would do for me.

ain't nobody got time for more than some iPhone shots

The Frosts are so involved in politics that they know pretty nearly everyone. Only a slight exaggeration. Though I have been to DC numerous times, I had not gone in the company of a Congressman, which made this a special trip. We saw many lovely hidden places such as the chapel where the Congressmen go to pray. Actually had to wait for one to leave before we could go in. I'm blessed to have been considered an honorary Georgian and a temporary Frost! :D

How beautiful is the Willard, even in a blurry phone photo?

There is one picture that Katie and I snapped of ourselves at 3 AM that night...after hot showers and hot cocoa and getting all the little girls changed and bathed and in bed...and trying to begin watching Decoy Bride. But lest Katie ever marry a famous person and the press comes looking for blackmail photos, I'll refrain. Aren't I a good best friend? Suffice it to say, we looked dreadful.

There was good food, lots of waiting in hallways, crowded Uber (sp?) rides and a hurried, breathless, not-wanting-to-think-it-was-true goodbye at the metro stop where I then ferried myself to the end of the line and was picked up (after some confusion) by my sister-in-law. So many beautiful moments in that too-short piece of wonderful, but my favorite memory has to be the moment of meeting after our terribly long absence. It was exactly like in a movie. I saw Katie in the hall on the far side of the marble plaza, calmly handed off my gloves and purse and we caught each other in a huge hug that was so obviously long-awaited that the hostess grinned. And she's probably used to seeing meetings.

Oh DC, you were beautiful. Next time Charleston. Then London. <3

Long-distance friendships? Yeah they're rough, but being together again is so worth the wait.