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I’ve visited George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate a few times as a child. It was mostly when we had relatives visit from Ohio and my parents would take them there. I visited Mount Vernon once or twice as an adult but that was when I went with my then-husband.
I saw an ad on Facebook saying that there are only two days a year when Mount Vernon has free admission. One is on the Presidents’ Day holiday and the other is just a few days later on February 22, which is Washington’s birthday. Since the admission fee is now $30, there would be free admission on Presidents’ Day, and I was married the last time I went to Mount Vernon so I decided to spend the Presidents’ Day holiday there.
The good news was that I got to save $30 admission. The bad news was that so many other people had the same idea and that place was crowded the entire time I was there.
When I first arrived I saw a group of men put up a floral bouquet that was shaped like a Masonic symbol.
Here’s a fun fact: George Washington was a Freemason. In fact the George Washington Masonic National Memorial is located in nearby Alexandria.
I have to admit that the bouquet was pretty.
The first thing I did after I arrived was to go to the visitors center. There I was greeted with a giant bust of George Washington.
I checked out the gift shop where these George Washington dolls were on sale.
They also had George Washington-themed teddy bears on sale as well.
Th visitors center had a cafeteria where one could eat. I purchased an Italian meat sandwich (which included ham and pastrami), a bag of potato chips and a can of diet soda. The price wasn’t so bad considering the fact that I was in a popular tourist area. But I soon regretted my choice of lunch because I ended up spending more time in the restroom than actually touring the place.
Once my stomach started to settle I began to walk around outside where I found more indicators that George Washington once lived there.
I came across this really pretty stained glass window illustrating scenes from the life of George Washington.
I finally came upon the mansion itself.
The mansion was just as I remembered it from years ago.
Someone gave out timed tickets for touring the inside of the main house when I arrived in the area. I got the one for the tour that began at 3:40 p.m. I had an hour to kill so I sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful yet cold day.
I didn’t do as much walking as I would’ve liked. I grew physically tired. I began to curse myself for not bringing a cane with me because I could’ve withstood walking a bit more with some support. On top of that, there were a lot of people. Like I wrote earlier, Mount Vernon was crowded that day, which was a hassle. When I arrived at the line for the 3:40 p.m. tour one of the employees informed us that due to the large number of crowds, the tours were running behind schedule. The 3:40 tour wouldn’t begin until after 5 p.m. I wasn’t into waiting that long because the rest of Mount Vernon closed at 4 p.m. plus it was the time of the year when it was still nighttime by 5 p.m. Then there was the hassle of driving on unfamiliar roads at night and I decided to skip the house tour.
It’s been years since my last visit so there were things that I didn’t remember seeing before. One example was this museum that I didn’t recall seeing before. The museum itself had closed for the day (because I didn’t stumble upon it until after the 4 p.m. closing time). The entrance had this giant head of George Washington, which you can see below. What was really weird was that as you walked right by it, his face seemed to follow you.
I left Mount Vernon around 4:30 p.m. due to the crowds. It was great not paying the $30 admission but encountering crowds who were also taking advantage of the free day took some of the joy out of visiting Mount Vernon. On top of it, Mount Vernon has some lovely gardens but they tend to be dead in February because it was still winter.
There was another opportunity of visiting Mount Vernon for free on Washington’s birthday (February 22). Since it was on a workday there would’ve been fewer crowds. But the gardens still would’ve been dead. On top of it, the initial weather report had called for rain that day. The rain didn’t materialize on February 22 but it was cloudy and gloomy outside so I decided to just skip it.
Seeing all of these buildings have me thinking about visiting Mount Vernon again in April or May. I would have to pay $30 but the gardens would be lovier to look at. If I arrive early in the day, I could make a full day at Mount Vernon. If I actually go there again, I would go on a warm sunny day that’s not too hot. I could bring my own lunch (instead of eating another sandwich that gave me diarrhea on the day I went) and eat on a bench outside. On top of it, Mount Vernon closes at 5 p.m. from April through October.
I need to do more fun outings because I don’t know if I’ll get the opportunity if Donald Trump somehow manages to get reelected president and goes through with his threat of ruling as a dictator.
Back in December I got a jury duty summons for February, 2024. I was taken aback because I could’ve sworn that it hadn’t been that long ago since I last served on a jury. Where I live if you serve at least one day of jury duty, you are excused from further jury duty for three years. But then I remembered that I had written about the last time I served on jury duty in this blog and that entry showed that I wrote it in 2016. So it’s been eight years since the last time so I had to go. I was annoyed because, as that 2016 entry shows, I’ve gone on jury duty five previous times since 1998 and, with my latest summons, it’s the sixth time of jury duty for me.
So I showed up at 7:30 a.m. (which is when we had to show up) and, just like the other times, I sat in the jury lounge for a few hours while we waited to see what kind of cases were going to go on the docket. After a while one of the jury coordinators received word that one case may be heard in court on that day. I was among the names that were called and I was given a white card with a number on it. I would be known as “Juror 44.” The only thing I knew that it would be a criminal trial but I never learned what kind of crime it was. Then we waited some more.
Meanwhile the jury coordinators received word that another court case was on the docket but, since I was already assigned to a courtroom, I just sat back and watched other prospective jurors get their numbers, which were printed on green cards. There were other prospective jurors who waited for potential assignments to a courtroom but they never received an assignment because only two trials ended up being scheduled.
The jury coordinators told us that there are times when, after jury selection, a trial would be abruptly cancelled. It was usually because the defendant changed his/her plea from guilty to not guilty at the very last minute. I honestly thought that I would have to go inside of a courtroom, disclose to a judge that I was once a crime victim (my townhouse was broken into a number of years ago while my then-husband and I weren’t home and a laptop and VCR were stolen), get dismissed by either the judge or one of the attorneys, then return to the jury lounge. That has happened every other time I’ve served on jury duty.
But then something amazing happened. At the very last minute the defendant had changed his/her plea to guilty and that trial was cancelled. Since there was only one other trial scheduled that day and the jurors had already been chosen, we were free to leave. We were even told to keep our white numbered cards as souvenirs. I took a picture of the white card number 44 then recycled it because I had no other use for it and it’s not like it was something artistic or anything like that. (LOL!)
I had forgotten that the courthouse is a total maze and I ended up walking out the wrong door, which put me in front of the courthouse. Since it was a nice day outside and since I didn’t feel like going through a metal detector yet again in order to reenter, I decided to walk around the courthouse from the outside so I could catch the shuttle bus back to the parking lot where we jurors had to park our cars. I came across this interesting horse sculpture.
The saddle had a painting of an African American woman wearing equestrian headgear with the word “pioneer.” There was no mention of her name, which wasn’t good, especially since I was looking at that statue during Black History Month.
I looked at the other side of the statue and saw the same “pioneer” word along with a stylized painting of a woman embracing a horse on the saddle.
It wasn’t until I uploaded pictures of that statue on Facebook that one of my Facebook friends had identified her. The woman’s name was Cheryl White. A few days after I learned the woman’s identity there was this post that came into my Facebook newsfeed from the town of Upper Marlboro government and it had complete information about the statue and the artist. The horse statue is titled Jetolara and it was named after the horse that Cheryl White rode. Basically on June 15, 1971 Cheryl White became the first black female jockey in the United States at the age of 17. On September 2, 1971 Cheryl White rode the horse Jetolara to victory at a race in Waterford Park in Chester, West Virginia. Keiona Clark, the artist behind that statue, made this statement about her work:
“I wanted to honor her and create a spark, so that people understand Cheryl White’s contribution to American history as well as her legacy. Strong women and bright colors are my aesthetic, as I consider myself a strong woman and I feel that bright colors represent happiness and a celebration of life. I believe that public art should not only be visually appealing but should also inspire and educate; what better way to do that than to pay homage to a true PIONEER. Cheryl White (1953-2019)”
You can learn more about Keiona Clark’s art right here. As for Cheryl White, she has a Wikipedia page and apparently she had quite a career as an equestrian while being a trailblazer at the same time. I just only wished that someone had put up a sign that contains information about Cheryl White’s identity and why she was considered to be a pioneer so more people would be informed about her and her legacy.
As I continued with walking around the building I came upon this relief that was dedicated to Archbishop John Carroll, who was born on the site where the Prince George’s County Courthouse is now located.
The bottom base reads “Archbishop John Carroll. 1735-1815. Ardent patriot and champion of religious freedom. Born in Upper Marlborough (which is an older spelling of the town’s name) on this site. First Catholic bishop of the United States. Founder of Georgetown University.” If you want more information about his life and times, the Wikipedia is a good place to start.
I eventually made my way to the back of the building where the shuttle bus stop was located. I managed to take a couple of photos of the three horses statue before my shuttle bus arrived.
When I arrived back home the first thing I did was to recylce that white card with the number 44. The second thing I did was to file away my jury summons that has a stamp on it proving that I actually served on jury duty, which means that I won’t have to serve again for at least three years. I’m definitely holding on to that summons that is now a receipt because I remember when I last served in 2016 I received another summons just two months later. I had to photocopy my summons with the stamp from that jury duty session, put it in the mail, and I was excused.
With the number of times I’ve had to serve on jury duty in my life, I really can’t wait until I turn 70 because I can request that I get excused from jury duty based on my age. I have to say that it’s one of the rare times when I am actually looking forward to my 70th birthday. (LOL!) However I have many years to go before I reach that milestone. (LOL!)
In previous years (especially since my husband left) there were times when I went to Tysons Corner Center anywhere between 2-4 times a year. In 2023 I only went there once and it was on my birthday. It seems like ever since the Disney Store went out of business I feel less inclined to go there. Yes, there’s still the American Girl Place but that store is so expensive. They sell doll clothes that cost around the same price (if not higher, depending on the outfit) as what I would buy for myself at Target or Walmart. I’m just not into going into stores where the prices are too high for my taste because they are a total waste of time.
I still like going to American Girl Place to check out the dolls, it’s just that I don’t feel inclined to do so very often because most of their stuff is out of my price range.
So my birthday came around and I realized that I hadn’t set foot inside of Tysons Corner Center in 2023 so I decided to go there for my birthday before 2023 ends in 16 days.
I took the Silver Line Metro to Tysons Corner Center and took the pedestrian bridge to Metro Plaza (which is directly outside of the mall and is the closest location to the Metro station). They had these really cool Christmas/winter-themed sculptures that glistened in the sunlight.
They had this Christmas tree sculpture with a red sled inside (so anyone can sit in there and take selfies).
Here’s the red sled where one can sit in and take selfies.
And if those sculptures looked neat in the daytime, they looked even more amazing at night. I took these photos when I was leaving the mall and I was on my way back to the Metro station.
Inside of the mall they had these artsy customized athletic shoes on display, which were pretty cool.
The display said that more of these customized shoes were being displayed on the lower level near Barnes and Noble. Except I went to that area and I found no customized shoe display, which was a bummer. At least the two shoes I saw looked cool.
As a birthday treat for myself I purchased a hand-rolled ice cream from Sawadika Ice Cream. Seeing the worker make this is just as big of a treat as the ice cream itself.
Here is what my Oreo cookies and cream ice cream treat looked like after it was made but before I ate it.
After Sawadika Ice Cream I made my way to the American Girl Place, which had this Christmas Tree.
The first doll I got a look at in detail was this limited edition Shimmering Silver Holiday Collector Doll. It’s a collaboration with Swarovski so the doll has those expensive Swarovsi crystals in her jewelry and her outfit.
The doll came in this box that is printed to suggest something sparkly.
In some ways that doll reminded me of the elf queen Galadriel from movie trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, except this doll doesn’t have pointed ears.
I took a liking to that doll. In fact, I briefly felt tempted to buy her until I saw the $265 price tag. I know that most of the huge price is because of the Swarovski crystals but it’s still a pretty steep price for a doll that was originally created for young girls to play with.
They had a Hanukkah outfit with a little menorah that’s perfect for a doll. It was pretty cute.
Part of the reason why I wanted to get to the American Girl Place before 2023 ended is because I hadn’t had a chance to see the 2023 Girl of the Year in person. It turned out that there were three years of Girl of the Year dolls. I saw that the 2022 Girl of the Year, Corinne Tan, and her sister, Gwynn, were still on the store shelves.
I wrote about Corinne and Gwynn Tan last year so I’m going to move on to the 2023 Girl of the Year, whom I hadn’t seen until my birthday trip.
For the 2023 Girl of the Year they had an Indian-American girl named Kavi Sharma. She is described as being into songwriting, showtunes, dancing, and performing. She is very pretty.
I especially loved her traditional Indian outfit, which is currently sold separately.
I also loved her furniture and accessories. I found myself wishing that there were human-sized versions because I would love to have them in my own home.
That music note neon sculpture is to die for!
Kavi definitely has a sense of style that is quite unusual for a young girl between the ages of 8-11.
Kavi also honors her Indian heritage by practicing yoga.
Here is where the Girl of the Year gets really crazy. In the past American Girl would do this: First, the company would send a representative to the ABC show Good Morning America where that rep would announce on the air who the new Girl of the Year will be. Good Morning America would air that episode as close to New Year’s Day as possible. (The show itself airs Monday-Friday so if January 1 happens to fall on a Monday, the announcement would be made on the Friday episode.) On January 1 the new Girl of the Year would formally rollout at American Girl Place stores across the United States. (I went to such a New Year’s Day rollout once. It was in 2015, the year that Grace Thomas was the Girl of the Year, and I went to the Tysons Corner Center store.) Once the new Girl of the Year doll was given the formal rollout, the previous year’s Girl of the Year doll would be retired and both the doll and all of the line’s clothes and accessories would be removed from the store shelves.
In the last few years the previous year’s Girl of the Year dolls would remain on the shelves beyond her year and seeing Corinne and Gwyn Tan still remaining on the shelves after their year of 2022 ended was no exception.
But this year had a surprise I didn’t expect. I assumed that the 2024 Girl of the Year wouldn’t be formally rolled out until January 1 so she wouldn’t be on the store shelves yet. I was shocked to see that the 2024 Girl of the Year was already available for sale even though the new year hadn’t arrived yet.
Her name is Lila Monetti. She’s described as an Italian-American who lives in St. Paul, Minnesota and she’s into gymnastics. She is a cute doll.
There was a time when the area in the next picture would have a giant poster featuring who the current Girl of the Year was and would include some life-sized prop (such as a surfboard) where people can take selfies. After the COVID-19 pandemic began the store stopped having the life-sized props because they were trying to limit any chance of viral contact but they still stuck with giant poster featuring who the current Girl of the Year was. Since the American Girl Place now sells three year’s worth of Girl of the Year, I think someone probably said “Fuck it! Let’s just put up a generic ‘AG’ poster so we won’t have to change it each year since we now have multiple Girls of the Year on sale.”
Then there are the historical doll line. American Girl has finally ditched that BeForever name. I personally never liked it because it felt grammatically awkward and it just sounded dumb, especially when pronouncing it. In any case, American Girl decided to come out with two new historical dolls that would represent 1999-2000. That was Y2K, which had all of this crazy hysteria over the coming of the Y2K bug (which never happened because computer experts had worked around the clock to prevent anything disruptive from shutting down the world’s computers). But American Girl decided to come out with two dolls to educate its target audience of girls ages 8-12 about that time when people literally became paranoid and lost their minds over the Y2K bug.
American Girl thought that it would be a great idea to not come out with one doll but two dolls as well. They are supposed to be twins. American Girl decided to make them fraternal twins instead of identical (to reduce the chances that families would try to save money by buying only one doll and get their daughter to one day pretend that her doll is Nicki and the next day she would pretend that her doll is Isabel). They also decided to give the twins radically different personalities with different senses of clothing style. That way parents can spend at least $230 getting both twins. It’s a win—for American Girl.
So now let’s meet the twins. Isabel Hoffman prefers to dress as a preppy. (She definitely reminds me of Cher from the 1995 movie Clueless.)
Nicki Hoffman is a skateboard enthusiast and her dress style reminds me of a cross between Tony Hawk and the Seattle grunge music scene of the early 1990s.
Their vintage 1990s computer equipment brought back memories for me. I still remember having to connect to the Internet via a modem that was connected to a telephone line and it made this horrible screeching noise every time you logged on.
If American Girl hadn’t decided to have fraternal twins represent the 1990s, I probably would have bought one 1990s historical girl to go with Melody (representing the 1960s), Julie and Ivy (representing the 1970s, and Courtney (representing the 1990s). But I wasn’t into spending at least $230 to get both twins. I guess I could’ve just decided on one but I couldn’t decide which twin I wanted. They both appealed to me in different ways. I decided to solve the dilemma by giving these two dolls a hard pass.
The other thing I learned is that the historical dolls no longer come with paperback books that tells the full story of the characters. Instead each historical doll will only come with a paperback journal and if you want to get the complete story about the doll’s background, you would have to purchase the official book that’s sold separately. I thought about doing just that until I learned that the only copy of Nicki and Isabel’s official book comes in hardcover only and it costs $25.
While I would love to read their book just to see how American Girl handles the Y2K bug controversy, I wasn’t into paying $25 for a hardcover book. I’m just going to check that book out of the public library instead.
I briefly checked out Claudie Wells, the historical doll who’s supposed to represent the 1920s. They had a bakery just for Claudie. It’s a less fancy version of that French bakery that came out in 2015 when Grace Thomas was the Girl of the Year that cost a whopping $500.
Claudie’s bakery cost $295. It’s cheaper than Grace’s bakery was back in 2015 but it’s still way too pricey for me.
After I left American Girl Place I took a couple of photos of that fancy Santa’s Chalet area where Santa Claus was working.
I ate my birthday dinner at Wasabi, the Japanese place that serves sushi on a conveyor belt, just like this video that I shot back in 2011.
After dinner I purchased a bag of gummi bears from Lolli & Pops. I also walked around a few stores. I found this racy Christmas sweater from Spencer’s Gifts that had a winking Santa coming down the chimney saying “I Like to Go Down.”
As I was making my way back to the Metro station I found out that the Winter Lantern Festival was being held just across the street from the Metro station. If I hadn’t been so completely exhausted from walking around Tysons Corner Center, I would’ve gone there as well. But I was too tired. The lights from the Winter Lantern Festival made the whole area really stand out in the darkness.
I had decided to attend a tech oriented meetup that was held at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in downtown Washington, DC. What I hadn’t realized until I after arrived that the area is also the location for its annual Downtown Holiday Market. I confess that I had never attended that event even though I have heard of it for years. When I arrived I was amazed by that event and I began to kick myself for not going there in previous years.
The Downtown Holiday Market had vendor booths that were all staffed by local artisans. There were a variety of handcrafted items available for sale, including bags, clothes, and even matryoshka dolls.
There were also giant nutcrackers, holiday statues, and large light displays. It was a total feast for the eyes.
They had food vendors and there were chairs and benches available, including this picnic table that had swing seats so you could swing while talking, eating, and drinking.
I only bought one thing at that Downtown Holiday Market—a box of freshly made hot donuts. They were incredibly good, especially since it was very cold outside that night. I only ate a few of the donuts because I hadn’t eaten dinner and they weren’t exactly a substantial meal. So I went over to the nearby Shake Shack where I ate their Shake Burger with a Diet Coke. I brought the remaining donuts home with me and I ate the rest over the next week or so. Those donuts tasted just as good cold as they did when they were hot.
After dinner I walked over to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library because it was time for my meetup. After it ended I saw that the library had a temporary holiday pop-up store of its own where people can purchase holiday gifts. They had plates and toys based on the DC Metro system.
They also had wrapping paper that was designed by a local artisan.
They also had this locally-printed t-shirt that had this cool slogan that’s clearly aimed at punk rockers: What’s more punk than the public library?
I kind of regret not buying that one but that’s life. Maybe if I ever see it on sale again somewhere I’ll buy it.
Last summer I attended the German Festival at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium. I drove to the North Linthicum light rail station then took the light rail to the fairgrounds. When I was on my way back to the Fairgrounds light rail station after spending a few hours at the festival, I saw this interesting little wooden statue that was perched on a fence. I took a photo of it with the intention of writing a post about it and then promptly forgot about it for a while. It was only last month when I was clearing my phone of extra photos that I came upon this picture again.
I thought it looked pretty cool with the clouds in the background. Here’s a closeup of that shot, where you can clearly see the sash that the muscular man is wearing that says “Andy Strong.” (I guess Andy Strong is the name of that little muscular man.)
I’m still playing around with the camera on my new smartphone and I’m getting used to its features. I took a test shot of the Mother and Child statue that’s located in the historic area of Greenbelt, Maryland. I took the photo at sunset and you can see the incredibly vibrant colors of the sky behind the statue.
I’m still on a quest to honor my New Year’s resolution to expand my circle of friends and acquaintances by going to various events that are advertised on MeetUp.com on a regular basis. So far I’m floundering on the meeting new people part (there have been times when an event gets cancelled at the last minute or an event is so crowded that I can’t find the organizer of that particular meetup) but at least I get a chance to see more of what the Washington, DC metropolitan area has to offer.
I decided to attend a meetup of the DCXR group (which consists of those who are either professionals or are just into the various types of XR, such as augmented reality, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence) that was held at the Dacha Beer Garden, which is located near the Navy Yards stadium where the Washington Nationals baseball team play their home games.
It was an unusually hot April day (temperature was in the 80’s) but it was otherwise nice weather. I passed this set of airplane sculptures that are located near the U.S. Department of Transportation.
I soon arrived at the front entrance of the Dacha Beer Garden.
It’s mostly an outdoor bar and restaurant with some areas having wooden planks (which gives it a beach resort boardwalk feel) while others have gravel flooring.
There are trees which literally grow beyond the top of the place.
People are actually allowed to bring their dogs inside of the place.
As for the bar itself, people could order from a parked vintage 1950s recreational vehicle that has been refurbished as a bar. The Dacha Beer Garden was having its happy hour when I took this photo, which explains the long line of people waiting to order the alcoholic beverage of their choice.
The Dacha Beer Garden provides breathtaking scenic views of the Anacostia River. I had arrived to the place an hour before the meetup was scheduled to begin just so I would have time to eat dinner. The next few photos show the view from my table.
For dinner I ordered this bratwurst that was served on a pretzel roll. It tasted amazing!
I was even impressed by the glassware, which included images of a woman who looked like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
I managed to find my meetup group and I have to say that it went pretty well despite the fact that the place was very noisy with so many people taking advantage of happy hour. Our meetup ended around the same time that the happy hour ended. By that time it became dark outside. Here’s a final shot of the front of the Dacha Beer Garden with the lights on.
The frequency of my trips to Tysons Corner Center have dropped way off this year compared to previous years. It’s due mainly to the fact that the last Disney Store in the Baltimore-Washington, DC area had closed for good last September so if I want to purchase any new Disney products (including the Disney Nuimos), my only two options are to travel at least 100 miles (such as the outlet Disney Store in Hershey, Pennsylvania, the large Disney Store on Times Square in New York City, and the shops at Walt Disney World in Orlando) or order online at ShopDisney.com.
Most of the stores in Tysons Corner also have stores that are located closer to my home (such as the candy store Loli & Pops, which has locations in Annapolis and Columbia) so I’m more inclined to go to the closer stores if I need to buy something. There are really only two reasons why I feel the need to go to Tysons Corner: 1) Wasabi, the Japanese restaurant that serves sushi on a conveyor belt and the food is really that delicious and 2) the American Girl Place. Wasabi tends to be a bit on the expensive side so I only go there no more than once or twice a year. As for the American Girl Place, while I love their dolls and accessories, I tend to just window shop because their products are very expensive.
I went to Tysons Corner Center for the first time in nearly a year. I saw this really cool LOVE statue outside of the mall entrance.
It’s not everyday that one finds an inspirational quote on the walls of a shopping mall but I found this one at Tysons Corner Center, which says “Always Look for Silver Linings.”
Tysons Corner Center had opened two new unique places that are located opposite from each other in the same area. One is called the Princess Diana Exhibition and it’s devoted to the late Princess of Wales.
Basically it consists of photos that were done by the official royal photographers Anwar Hussein and his two sons Zak and Samir. While Princess Diana dominated the exhibition, there were also photos featuring her then-husband Prince Charles, her two sons Prince William and Prince Harry, and their wives Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle. The Hussein family definitely captured some intimate moments with the royal family.
This next photo is my personal favorite. It shows Kate Middleton dancing with Paddington Bear.
The middle of the exhibition had these giant paper sculptures that were based on the hats and crowns that the late Princess Diana used to wear.
Queen Elizabeth died just shortly after I visited the Princess Diana Exhibition. She was 96 when she passed and she had celebrated her 70th year on the throne just a few months earlier. Everything has been suddenly changed and it’s going to take me a while to get used to it. Princess Diana’s ex-husband is now known as King Charles III. Both William and Kate have been promoted as the Prince and Princess of Wales. It’s going to take me a while to get used to Kate as the Princess of Wales because I remember when it was her late mother-in-law, Diana, who previously held that title.
Right across from the Princess Diana Exhibition was a place called Selfie WRLD NoVa-DC. It looked very intriguing.
I was already tired from touring the Princess Diana Exhibition so I sat on a bench for about 15 minutes to rest before I decided to check out Selfie WRLD NoVA-DC. It turns out that this place is a “selfie museum” where you can take your own selfies against a variety of backdrops and props. Some backgrounds had a theme, such as a 1950s-era ice cream malt shop with realistic looking ice cream sundaes and milkshakes to hold (and, no, none of the food and drink props were edible). For a basic $25 admission fee you have one hour to take as many selfies as you want. I was given a heavy pole where I could mount my smartphone along with a clicker that I could control my phone camera using Bluetooth. So I walked around and took a bunch of selfies using different backgrounds and props.
Even though I had an entire hour to use the facility, I ended up quitting after 45 minutes. I was already physically tired from touring the Princess Diana Exhibition and that phone stand that I had to lug around was incredibly heavy so it made me even more tired. I managed to get the majority of backdrops and props during my time there so it was no big deal. I have to admit that it was fun to pose with the various backdrops and props but I don’t know how often I’ll feel the need to revisit Selfie WRLD NoVa-DC because I’m not one of those social media people who feel the need to take a new selfie every day (or even two or more times per day). But it was a pretty fun place to try once.
So I was tired once again and there was still the American Girl Place to visit and that store is located at the other end of the mall. So I once again rested on a bench for a few minutes then walked towards that store. On the way I stopped off at Spencer’s Gifts where I browsed the various t-shirts, hats, and various novelty items for sale. I noticed that the store had a wall of vibrators for sale in a variety of shapes and colors. It dawned on me that one could collect vibrators as a hobby given the wide variety I found in that store, such as this one that’s decorated with marijuana leaves.
For those who are into animals, there are animal shaped vibrators called Pussy Power and Honey Bear.
Then there’s a unicorn-themed vibrator.
I walked past a store that had me shaking my head. I visited that mall in August. There was already a Christmas store open—called A Christmas to Remember—where one can get an early start on buying Christmas decorations. A Christmas store in August. Labor Day, Halloween, and Thanksgiving hadn’t happened yet and this Christmas store was operational.
I passed on actually stepping inside because I just wan’t feeling in the proper Christmas spirit in late August.
I finally made it to the American Girl Place where I saw that this store had stocked the latest historical doll that American Girl had released.
This new historical doll is named Claudie Wells and she is an African American girl who’s growing up in 1920s New York City at the height of the Harlem Renaissance.
I think this doll is incredibly cute and I adore her 1920s-style outfits. If I didn’t have to watch my expenditures so much along with having limited space in my home, I would definitely buy her.
I saw that American Girl had re-released an older historical doll. She was among the original line of American Girl dolls that was released back in the 1980s before Mattel bought the company. She was retired but now she’s back. Her name is Molly McIntire and she represents the Midwest U.S. during World War II.
Last, but not least, are the two Girls of the Year for 2022. This year there are two dolls represented—one is the 18-inch American Girl doll and the other is the 14.5-inch Wellie Wishers doll. They are described as two Chinese American sisters who live in Colorado. The older (and larger doll) is named Corinne Tan and the younger (and smaller doll) is named Gwynn Tan.
I have to admit that the two sisters are very cute. I especially like the light blue streaks in Corinne’s hair because it contrasts nicely with her black hair. Since their story takes place in Colorado, there are all kinds of cool accessories that are either ski or camping-themed.
I took a couple of other photos that had nothing to do with Claudie Wells, Molly McIntire, or the Tan sisters. There was a display featuring dolls modeling cute Halloween costumes. I thought they were cute even though I wasn’t in the Halloween spirit due to the fact that I visited that store in August.
I loved this pretty floral arch display that included an outdoor picnic.
There was also this cool fairy tale-themed display featuring the Wellie Wishers dolls.
A few days after my visit I did this slideshow of the photos I took while I was at the American Girl Place, which I uploaded on to TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
A week after I visited the American Girl Place, American Girl announced its new official Harry Potter collaboration where there are now Harry Potter-themed clothes and accessories for dolls. You can see photos on American Girl’s Instagram page here, here, and here. Had this line been released 10-20 years earlier, it would’ve been and incredibly cute idea. What Harry Potter and American Girl doll fan wouldn’t jump at the chance to dress his/her favorite doll in Hogwarts robes while brandishing a tiny doll wand?
However, in recent years the author of the Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling, has made increasingly transphobic comments under the guise of providing safe spaces to biological women. She recently published a mystery novel for adults that features a serial-killer cis gender man who dresses as a woman in order to stalk his victims, which has generated tons of new outcry over Rowling’s hostility towards the transgender community. It’s the main reason why there are American Girl fans who are dismayed over this collaboration, which is documented here and here.
That’s why I’m not disappointed over missing the chance to see the American Girl Harry Potter collection in person by just one week. I’m completely over J.K. Rowling at this point. I haven’t purchased any new Harry Potter spinoff products since her earlier bout of online transphobia a few years ago and her recent antics haven’t inspired me to make a return visit to Tysons Corner so I could see dolls dressed in Harry Potter clothes in person.
After my visit to the American Girl Place, I visited the LEGO store. They actually sold a Brick Headz set based on the Spice Girls. Talk about a blast from the past!
I was amazed when I saw that there is now a LEGO set based on one of my favorite 1990s video games, Sonic the Hedgehog.
LEGO has all kinds of cool sets based on the Fender Stratocaster, the classic 1980s Atari and Nintendo home console gaming systems, a typewriter, a grand piano, a globe, Elvis Presley, and Batman.
I also made a short video slideshow about my visit to the LEGO Store, which I posted on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
I ended my visit with a nice meal at Wasabi where I once again picked sushi dishes off of the conveyor belt.
Today was the absolute last day of my trip. I decided to do something that I haven’t done before. Here is some background.
For years I’ve had my LGBTQ friends talk about how much they loved vacationing in Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. That beach resort had long catered to LGBTQ people even in the days when same-sex relationships were frowned upon.
I was always interested in checking it out once but, until my marriage ended, my then-husband used to insist on the two of us vacationing in Ocean City with members of his family for a week each summer. One year one of his relatives wanted to take a side trip to Rehoboth Beach in the morning where we could do some shopping and she invited me to come along. So I agreed figuring that I could at least see what the place was like since so many of my LGBTQ friends loved it so much.
Unfortunately she wasn’t interested in going into downtown Rehoboth Beach itself. Instead she only wanted to shop in the many outlet stores that are located outside of the town. No matter how much I begged her to consider going into the town for at least a half an hour, nothing I said could get her to change her mind about spending all of the time at Rehoboth Beach shopping at the Playtex outlet store then the other outlet stores to buy clothes and kitchen gadgets.
I remember the Playtex outlet the most because there was a bin full of bras which had a deal where if you buy three you get the fourth one for free. Not only did she insist on going through that bin, she pressured me to do the same. You wouldn’t believe how time-consuming it was to go through a tall bin full of bras that were all mixed together so you might pull out a 38C sized followed by a 28A size followed by a 42DD size and so on. So I eventually found four bras where I could take advantage of the “buy 3 get one free” offer. All of those bras I purchased at the Playtex outlet store that day ended up literally falling apart six months later. That’s pretty pathetic considering the fact that the bras I usually purchase at discount big box retailers like Target and Walmart can last at least five years (if not longer). Let’s just say that I haven’t shopped for any bras at the Playtex outlet store since then. I also gave up on the idea of actually going into downtown Rehoboth Beach with either my ex-husband or any of his family members.
That was then and this is now. Since I was vacationing by myself, I had the option to actually go into downtown Rehoboth Beach and skip all of the outlet stores. So I decided that this year was going to be the year where I finally get to step foot inside of Rehoboth Beach itself.
Once I checked out of the motel I took Coastal Highway north until I hit downtown Rehoboth Beach. I parked close enough to be within a short walking distance of that town’s Boardwalk. I took a couple shots of the beach.
Like the day before, the temperature was in the low 90s with high humidity. The only reason why I didn’t even go into the ocean on that day was because I was due to go home and I didn’t have a place to stay in Rehoboth Beach. I would’ve had to go through the effort of searching through my packed suitcase for my swimsuit, coverup, and beach towel, searching for a place where I could change into my swimsuit/coverup, finding a place to park my stuff on the beach while I went into the ocean, then search for a place where I could take a shower before changing back into my street clothes then walking out to the car to put my beach things away. It really wasn’t worth the effort for just a few hours.
So I decided to focus on the Boardwalk instead. Compared to the one in Ocean City, Rehoboth Beach’s Boardwalk is relatively less crowded and quiet. It’s smaller than Ocean City’s and it seems to be way more laid back and less raucous. (Unlike Ocean City, I didn’t hear any stores play loud music.)
I ate lunch at Grotto Pizza, where I ordered this personal size white pizza that was excellent. The service was excellent as well.
Here are some more shots of Rehoboth Beach’s Boardwalk, including a business with a rainbow flag (which indicates Rehoboth Beach’s longtime reputation of being LGBTQ friendly).
Rehoboth Beach has an amusement park on the Boardwalk known as Funland, which has a variety of different rides.
Like Ocean City, Funland has its own haunted ride that’s known as the Haunted Mansion. The line was long but it moved very fast. I went on that ride and I have to say that it might be better than Ocean City’s Haunted House ride. Maybe it’s because I’ve been on the Haunted House ride numerous times since I was a child and it was the first time I’ve ever ridden the Haunted Mansion ride so everything is new. In any case, I enjoyed it.
When I was a child and teenager I remember that the Boardwalk in Ocean City used to have fortune telling machines that purported to tell you the future. I haven’t seen any of those fortune telling machines on my most recent trip to Ocean City so I was pleasantly surprised when I found one in Rehoboth Beach. This one is known as Zoltar Speaks and he’s basically an animatronic who moves his head and hands when you put money into the machine until a piece of paper comes out with your fortune.
I got a kick out of using a fortune telling machine for old time’s sake.
Like I wrote earlier, Rehoboth Beach has long had a reputation for catering to the LGBTQ crowd and they even have t-shirts especially for them.
Even the stores in a supposedly pro-LGBTQ place like Rehoboth Beach sold Donald Trump t-shirts. At least this particular store sold one anti-Trump shirt (the “Pendejo” one). It also sold a “Fuck Putin” t-shirt with the lettering done in the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag. But the majority of t-shirts I saw were obviously catering to the MAGA Donald Trump-loving crowd.
There were also t-shirts that had nothing to do with either LGBTQ people or politics.
At one point I decided to walk about a block on a side street away from the Boardwalk where I saw all kinds of cool things. I saw this neat dolphin statue.
I also saw this really cool building that housed a British fish and chips place that was called Go Fish! Unfortunately I was still full from lunch and it was too early for dinner so I just took this one photo of the outside. (At this point I began to kick myself for not trying to get a hotel or motel room in Rehoboth Beach so I could stay for one or two nights and I could actually go swimming in the ocean and eat a meal in a place like Go Fish!)
During my time at Rehoboth Beach I made only one purchase. I bought a pastel the-dye souvenir t-shirt at a Sunsations store.
Shortly before I left I noticed some ominous looking clouds were starting to come in. The next picture showed how cloudy the weather became. I saw on my phone app that it was calling for rain again! I decided that it was time for me to leave Rehoboth Beach before the rain started.
I was in a laid-back mood so I decided to just continue taking Coastal Highway north until it became US 113. I continued north until I hit Dover then I took Delaware Route 1 and I arrived at the Christiana Mall. By that point I was hungry so I ate dinner at the Shake Shack. By the time I finished my meal it began to drizzle. Plus it was getting late in the day and I really wanted to be back in Maryland by nightfall.
Unfortunately the rain was a bit heavier but the good news was that it didn’t rain as hard as when I was driving to Ocean City. But I felt very nervous after sunset and I was driving along I-95 in northern Maryland and everything was unfamiliar, the roads were very dark, and, on top of it, I was dealing with very wet streets and tons of drivers who were speeding as if there was no rain at all. I began to wish I hadn’t stayed so long in Rehoboth Beach while a part of me felt glad that I had stayed as long as I could.
I began to relax a little bit when I reached Baltimore and there were plenty of bright lights. My GPS suggested taking the exit on to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway as a quicker way of getting home. I didn’t mind that suggestion because there were so many crazy people driving on I-95, including truckers, that taking the parkway would at least have me avoid the crazy truck drivers who were driving so recklessly in the rain. (The Baltimore-Washington Parkway is restricted to cars, buses, and motorcycles only.)
So I reached the exit only to find that there was construction on that exit. A sign said that the exit would be closed on the following day for renovations. At least I was lucky that I could still use that exit.
Here is where things became harrowing. There were traffic cones and giant steel drums set up along half of the road so the exit ramp was way more narrow than usual. One misstep while driving and it would’ve been total calamity for me. So I was driving very slow in the hopes that I could avoid hitting a cone or steel drum with the sky continuing to rain.
This went on for several minutes until I reached the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful for me. By the time I got home it had mostly stopped raining.
The next day I was unpacking my suitcase when I found something pretty amusing with the deodorant that I had brought with me to the beach. I had the suitcase in the truck and it was hot back there. It caused my deodorant to literally change its shape as these photos show.
The deodorant is still usable. I just have to remember that the stick is narrower than usual.
In any case, that’s a wrap for my 2022 beach vacation. I really enjoyed myself this time despite the frequent appearance of rain. Having the opportunity to go to the beach on a bright sunny day made up for the rainy periods. My only regret was that I underestimated how cool Rehoboth Beach was because it’s one of those places that warrants at least two days in order to appreciate it. Otherwise I felt it was the perfect vacation for me.
I’m thinking that if I were to do this again, I would definitely spend at least one night in Rehoboth Beach so I could have the chance to leisurely enjoy the beach and the ocean. Well, there’s always next year!
Other Posts in My 2022 Beach Vacation Series
My 2022 Trip to the Beach Day One: July 25, 2022
My 2022 Trip to the Beach Day Two: July 26, 2022
My 2022 Trip to the Beach Day Three: July 27, 2022
My 2022 Trip to the Beach Day Four: July 28, 2022
My 2022 Trip to the Beach Day Five: July 29, 2022
If there was a day where I can say that it was a very perfect beach day, my last full day in Ocean City, Maryland was it.
My day began when I decided to drive into the neighboring town of Fenwick Island, Delaware where I could go shopping without paying any state sales tax. (That’s right, Delaware does not charge sales tax on anything.) The first thing I did was to purchase some caramel popcorn at Fisher’s Popcorn.
The next thing I did was to go to a two-story building that I attempted to go to on my last visit to the area last year only to find out that it was closed on Wednesdays. This time I went on a Thursday and it was open.
The lower floor of the two-story building houses Sea Shell City, a store where you can purchase all kinds of sea shells along with assorted souvenirs like t-shirts, toys, and decorative items (such as framed art). The upper floor houses the DiscoverSea Shipwreck Museum, which specializes in items that were retrieved from actual shipwrecks. I haven’t been there since I was married so I was very happy that I got to visit it again.
Unfortunately the only photo I have to show for it is this one featuring two pirates that are situated at the front entrance to the steps that lead to the museum.
That’s because the museum has rules regarding photography and videography. Shooting video is not allowed. Taking pictures is okay as long as they are for your own personal use. You cannot post any photos you shoot online without permission from the museum.
So I ended up just viewing the exhibits. That museum is just as I remembered it when I last visited it in 2011. It’s so fascinating seeing coins, books, and even china that were retrieved from shipwrecks. My personal favorite is the broken china that had coral growing through it, which made it look like a piece of avant-garde sculpture.
After I finished touring the museum upstairs and checking out the store downstairs, I decided to drive back to Maryland. On the way back I briefly stopped at the Fenwick Island Lighthouse, where I took this picture.
On the way back to the motel I decided to stop at the nearby bagel shop, Shmagels Bagels, where I ate a lunch featuring a bagel with cream cheese, a bag of potato chips, and a diet soda.
After lunch I went back to my motel room where I changed into my swimsuit and walked to the nearby beach. It was the perfect weather. The temperature was in the 90s and it was very humid. But getting into the ocean was totally refreshing and I was able to cool off quickly. On top of it I had sunscreen with me so I had the absolute perfect beach experience. Here is what the beach looked like that day.
For the next couple of hours I alternated between getting in the ocean then going back to my beach towel and read a trashy paperback novel that I had brought with me. (I purchased it at Five Below for only $5. It’s one of those novels that is so bad with cliched dialogue that it’s funny.) Towards the end of my stay at the beach I saw some nasty clouds starting to move in so I decided to return to my motel room where I took a shower and changed clothes.
Since it was my last night in Ocean City, I decided to go to OC Wasabi, which is a sushi restaurant that’s located near the motel. As I parked my car and started to walk to the front door it started to rain. At least I had this excellent dinner that was artfully arranged, as you can see in the next photo.
I decided that—rain or no rain—I was going to spend my final night on the Boardwalk. By the time I reached the parking lot it had stopped raining and I saw the remnants of this rainbow that appeared in the sky. Here are the photos I managed to take before it completely disappeared.
The Boardwalk was incredibly crowded that night. The next photo shows a long line of people waiting to get on the Haunted House ride. I got in line after I took that picture. I enjoyed the ride so much that I wanted to ride it again but I saw that the line was nearly twice as long so I decided to drop that idea. (I once shot a video years ago showing how lame the ride was but that ride has definitely improved since it underwent renovations a few years ago. One of these years I’m going to actually film the ride so I could do a comparison “before and after” video of that ride.)
The last time I was on the Boardwalk I didn’t have much energy to do a lot of walking because I had spent the afternoon walking around the Salisbury Zoo. I came up with an idea which enabled me to see more of the Boardwalk. I got on the Boardwalk train where I rode it until it reached The Kite Loft then leisurely walked back until I reached the parking lot where my car was parked. While I was riding it I was treated to a bunch of lovely sunset photos where the clouds turned a variety of very pretty pastel colors.
I finally reached The Kite Loft, which was another store I haven’t been to since 2011. (I didn’t visit that store last year because I had to cut my Boardwalk visit short due to the hurricane remnants that arrived in Ocean City.) As you can guess from the name, The Kite Loft specializes in kites and related products (such as wind socks). Here are a few photos I shot while I was in that store.
As I was walking on the Boardwalk I noticed a Hooters restaurant that wasn’t there the last time I was in that particular part of the Boardwalk back in 2011. Ocean City had long prided itself on having locally-owned mom-and-pop businesses on the Boardwalk and Hooters is a national chain. (I’ve only eaten at Hooters twice and both times I found the food to be not very memorable. I only ate there because I was with guys who wanted to eat there. That’s what happens when the owners focuses more on hiring sexy young women to wear skimpy uniforms so men and boys can ogle them and less on having tasty food that would actually entice people to come back.)
I saw this guy dressed as Batman on the Boardwalk.
There was another store on the Boardwalk that I wanted to visit. Ocean Gallery is an art gallery that has been on the Boardwalk as far back as when I was a child. I remember my parents going there where they purchased two paintings that hung on the living room walls of the house that I grew up in when we lived in Glen Burnie. It was such a fun place with seeing the eclectic outside and the walls literally covered with art. I had looked forward to visiting it again only to find out that it’s no longer open in the evenings, which was a bummer. I don’t know how much the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent Great Resignation had to do with the now-limited hours. It looks like the next time I go to Ocean City I’ll have to go in the daytime. At least I shot some photos of the outside so you can get a general idea of how unique that store is.
For years there have been an artist who makes these giant sand sculptures featuring Christian images. You don’t have to be a Christian to appreciate how amazing these sand sculptures are. This person spends so much time on each sculpture that is destined to eventually melt away by the wind and the rain.
I took a photo of some of the t-shirts that were on sale on the Boardwalk.
Here are a couple of photos of the 9/11 Firefighters Memorial.
Here’s the Esskay Clock. (Esskay was a local Baltimore-area manufacturer of hot dogs and sausages. The face of the clock includes a hot dog graphic. The company has since been taken over by Smithfield Foods and it discontinued the Esskay line. The clock is one of the few Esskay relics that still exists.) When I was a child and my family used to go on vacation with my aunt, uncle, and cousins, we kids were instructed that if we ever get lost while we were on the Boardwalk, we were supposed to wait at the Esskay Clock. I actually got separated from the family once when I was young so I waited by the clock for a few minutes where my mother found me. I remember she praised me for doing what I was instructed to do.
I ended my evening on the Boardwalk with a visit to Dolle’s Candy shop. Dolle’s specializes in making salt water taffy in a variety of flavors, including exotic ones like coconut, peach, and piña colada. I purchased a small bag of taffy in chocolate, vanilla, key lime, lemon, and cinnamon.
The last photos show what I purchased that day. I purchased a the-dye Fenwick Island, Delaware t-shirt from Sunsations that morning.
I also purchased two tiny sea shells from Sea Shell city for only 98 cents each.
They are perfectly scaled for my Disney Nuimos.
Other Posts in My 2022 Beach Vacation Series
My 2022 Trip to the Beach Day One: July 25, 2022
My 2022 Trip to the Beach Day Two: July 26, 2022
My 2022 Trip to the Beach Day Three: July 27, 2022
My 2022 Trip to the Beach Day Four: July 28, 2022
Sagittarius Dolly 
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