March 12, 2009. Chevy Chase, Md. The City.

Dining in the City is always such a pleasure, that I always wonder why we don't do it more frequently. The Sake Club was the restaurant we chose and the restaurant was excellent. First thing that occurred when we were all seated at the table turned out to be the only difficult moment. Sarah broke a glass , spilling water all over herself and the table and the floor. Of course it made a huge racket, but she handled it very well and apologized to the waiter and just sat quietly while the mess was cleaned up by the Manager and four waiters.. The four girls liked the food, even though they had to be talked into the Japanese food. Great food. Great sake. Wonderful meal with David and Suzanne, Sarah, Abigail, Samantha and Allison.
We promised the girls that if they ate the Japanese food graciously, we would go to the Italian restaurant for dessert, and we did.

Sarah auditioned to be in a national youth choir and she won, so David and Suzanne and the other girls came to Washington too. They all arrived on Monday and stayed in our apartment and played tourist downtown , then moved down to the Marriott Wardman on Wednesday, where all the rehearsals are being held. She sang for six hours today and three hours last evening, will have class Friday morning from nine till one. Each day this week everyone else is seeing Washington. Tomorrow they will tour the American History Museum, then all come out to our place for dinner, before touring the monuments by moon light in a big van with a driver. We arrived home from Nova Scotia at noon so we will be able to attend the final concert at the DAR Constitution Hall on Saturday night. We met them at their hotel suite, an upgrade from two rooms when the hotel was overbooked, so they are living in the lap of luxury and using the Metro to get around in the City. They are loving it.

Ken and I left my car in Bethesda and took the Metro, and on the way home at eight o'clock, I was surprised that the train was full. That was when I realized why we do not make use of the restaurants in the city. The people on the train were going home from work. Everyone in this town works too much, leaving the restaurants and museums to the tourists. But this weekend we are going to make use of all the charms of Washington.