Wednesday: we explored Broad Street and found several places from our list of things-to-do including Michael's, Babies `R' Us and Weight Watchers. Came home with our lunch from Subway and did not a lot else. In the evening we started packing but J wasn't well so we didn't finish it.
Thursday: we were up relatively early because (as on previous days)
Went and got a stupid speeding ticket half way up the I-95 to Washington. I was being tailgated by a large lorry so, noting that lorries are not allowed in the left lane, I decided to overtake some traffic. Didn't notice the speedo creeping up to 80, and when I did I slowed down - but it was too late. A bit annoyed at (a) myself, (b) getting picked up during the 90 seconds or so all day that I was doing 80, and (c) every other idiot on the road who was speeding and didn't get a ticket - when I purposefully stuck to 65 I was the slowest driver on the road. Anyway, that was another 10-15 minutes delay (not to mention a fine which seems to work out to $129).
We successfully negotiated our way around DC and Baltimore without too much problem and got as far as Bel Air where we had to stop to change a grumpy baby's nappy. We estimated that we weren't going to make it to King of Prussia before 4 at the very earliest (and we should have been there at 2). We pressed on for a few minutes while we asked the other folks whether they would still be there. When the reply came that they had to leave at 4 we turned back to Bel-Air and took route 24 towards York. This was a fairly long and winding road (and involved a wrong turning as we crossed into Pennsylvania which took us back into Maryland for a while and then back on to the road we had just been on) but with some pretty countryside scenery.
On getting to York we stopped at a large Wallmart to phone and ask for directions, and finally arrived at my friend Marcia's house at the same time as the delivery from Domino's Pizza.
Friday: we went to Lancaster and spent an excessive amount of money in Carters before heading back via York and the I-83, getting bogged down in the DC traffic and arriving at Potomac Mills at 2-ish. Various other people had already been there for some time, but we didn't know where. Fortunately we were in contact with
After we ate (chili dogs and root beer), J went shopping at Carters (where else?) and while she was away she met the others. Eventually they came back so we said a brief hello and arranged to meet in the evening at
We then wandered around the mall a bit more before setting off to find our hotel room at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, which we had booked for £75 for two nights on Expedia. After what seemed like hours in a traffic jam we arrived and wanted to find somewhere to park. There was a public car park round the back of the hotel which charged $2 for an hour up to $9 for a day. At the front there was a sign saying `Hotel Valet Parking' with an arrow which may have been pointing to the forecourt but was actually pointing to the entrance to the underground car park which was labelled `Hotel Parking'. Only once you get down there do you see the signs which say `STOP Valet parking only' and the rates: $9 for an hour up to $20 for overnight guests. It was too late to back out so we had to get out of the car and attempt to retrieve our possessions (which by this time included a carload of shopping and a new suitcase). The attendant wasn't very helpful and we asked for a trolley but didn't get one. However, we did eventually manage to get everything up to the lobby where we checked in and went up to the room to sort things out and have a short rest. It had to be short because we were already overdue to set out to
We got back from that quite late, so we slept in the next morning. We intended to visit the Arlington cemetery, so we had a wander about to find the Metro station. Eventually we got to about the right place and found a mall with a small food court so decided to stop for lunch. The service was terribly slow and by the time we had eaten and given
We met lots of nice people and their children, who were pretty well behaved. There was nice food, some delicious cheesecake apparently made by