[OK, it’s time to wrap up this puppy!  We began waaayyy back in January with our mid-winter vacation from one cold area to another – to Boston, then D.C.  Of course, D.C. is where the supervisor and I met . . . and worked.  This was the supervisor’s office.  From here, she was in-charge of “The Boneyard,” where old airplanes go to die in the desert of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.  Don’t mess with the supervisor!  She also sold fighter jets to NATO.]

[“The Boneyard” (stock photo).]

[The cluster of buildings on the left is Rosslyn in Arlington (a county), Virginia.  The supervisor and I lived about a 1/2 mile from there.  Yes, she lived close to her work.]

[Rosslyn, with Arlington National Cemetery in the foreground.]

[The Navy Annex and Air Force Memorial from the perspective of I-394.  The tall building on the left is a Sheraton Hotel where your correspondent, on several occasions, taught government contractors how to comply with labor law.]

[Meanwhile, earlier that same day, Friday, February 1, those brave enough to venture out in the biting cold of that day, gathered at The Dubliner for an Irish nosh.  Pictured here is my brother-in-law, Mohamed Chighali, standing, who dined on the very Irish Philly cheese steak, and Mark Brown, sitting right, who recently retired as, I believe, the equivalent of the CFO for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and who, as I recall, dined on the more traditional fish & chips.]

[Mohamed captures the action from the far end of the table.]

[Because “Weakie” demands such, we now concentrate on the eats.  Also appearing on the right is our D.C. host, Bill, and the supervisor.  This is the place where I realized how far behind the 8-ball I have fallen in the technology world by not even owning a cell phone – Bill paid for our parking at a parking meter with his Smart phone – and would be advised by the meter to his phone if he was running out of time!]

[Again, for “Weakie,” this is the supervisor’s.  Looks like fish?]

[I, of course, had the shepherd’s pie, about which I often have fond dreams.]

[We were subsequently joined by Betsy Greer.  If you lived in Alex in the 50’s, you may recall Betsy’s husband, Dick, taught school here.]

[Then it was on for an evening of bureaucrat poker.  This is something we played on about an every other month basis in the “old days.”   Most of us are retired now – the government has fared the worse because of that.]

[We were playing Texas Hold ‘Em long before ESPN discovered it!]

[OK, now if you aren’t totally bored already by not being from the area, you can take solace from the fact that those from the area are probably bored too.  I lived in Arlington for almost 30 years (including summer jobs when I was in college).  It’s basically SW Washington, D.C., divided from the city by the Potomac River.  By virtue of its proximity to downtown D.C., it is an old and established area.  And today, by virtue of its closeness to the city, it is also very pricey.  And because of the subway, multiple stops through Arlington, every area around such stops has become totally gentrified – the old has been torn down to be replaced by the new and the yuppified.  This is my original Arlington home area.  I lived in a 3-story, brick, garden style apartment complex, vintage World War II, that Basketball Dan dubbed “beautiful Lee Gardens.”  My bedroom looked out across Route 50 at Fort Myer, home to all service Honor Guards as it is adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery.  It is also the ceremonial headquarters for promotion and retirement ceremonies.  Alexandria’s own, Professor Colonel Doctor Tom Kiehne had his retirement ceremonies there, and we were there as his fan club.  Anyway I’ve mumbled on far too long except the say the photo is of Pershing Drive, where once a little shopping mall area for Lee Gardens, with grocery store and laundromat, has been replaced by a plethora of modern office buildings.  And as you drive across Route 50, ahead, you would be driving into Fort Myer (after a thorough security search, of course.]

[An Arlington landmark, just a couple blocks from beautiful Lee Gardens.  It was the first place Mom and Dad Obert ate when they moved to Arlington in the mid-60’s.  It was famous for its broasted chicken and cold beer.]

[Whitey’s was such an iconic historic place, it became the subject of great art.]

[Readily identifiable by its “EAT” sign.  Whitey’s sponsored our softball team, the Mavericks, for many years – so, of course, we were obligated to patronize the place.  We enjoyed the “oldies” music spun by ‘Peewee’ (not because he was small, but because he was from Brooklyn and a Dodger fan), the DJ, as we partook of the available goodies.  And we kidded the black guys on the team about going to a place called “Whitey’s.”  😉 ]

[Whitey’s has been replaced by an upscale restaurant that we hear is pretty good.]

[Wilson Boulevard, through the heart of our neighborhood, once included such as Little Saigon, with a fine assortment of mom & pop Vietnamese restaurants.  Now mostly displaced by the new.]

[A cheesecake factory?  Sounds good to me!]

[Kitty-corner from our last Arlington residence.  A long-time, well-known area landmark, we heard it was be torn down to make room for a high rise residence – it will have a spectacular view of D.C.]

[The Astoria, our condo on Lee Highway.]

[It was brand new when we moved in in 1987.]

[The Key Bridge Marriott at the bottom of Lee Highway.  Georgetown is just on the other side of Key Bridge, and we’re in Rosslyn here.  We heard, but never confirmed, that former Victoria Heighter, Kathleen Hintzen, was the head beverage person for the Marriott.]

[We’re in Arlington National Cemetery looking across Memorial Bridge at the Lincoln Memorial.]

[Meanwhile, back at the Air Force Memorial, again . . .]

[On George Mason Drive, probably not in a lot of family scrapbooks.]

[Hyde Park, a classic condominium where Betsy Greer lives in the Ballston area of Arlington.  A place like this would be nice in Alex for those allergic to yard work.]

[Washington and Lee High School in Arlington.  Famous as the place where siblings Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine went to school.]

[Yorktown High School in Arlington, where all my siblings went, as did Katie Couric.  Year in and year out, has the highest percentage of graduates go on to college as any public high school in the country.  All kids of federal bureaucrats!  😉 ]

[Year in and year out, one of my all-time favorite places in the world.  Less than a mile up Lee Highway from where we lived.  This is Lyon Village in Arlington.]

[You take a number, and when they call it, just shout out, “A Palermo, all the way on a hard roll,” and you will be in noshing heaven!  🙂 ]

[Always a must visit when we go back to the ole stomping grounds.]

[Our fine lodging in Annandale – even D.C. got snow while we were there.  It just seems to follow us wherever we go.]

[The next morning we drove into D.C. to pick up sister Gretch (Mohamed works nights and was sleeping in) and head to Stafford to visit the rest of the family.  She and Mohamed have lived on Massachusetts Avenue, a/k/a Embassy Row, for many years.]

[Our drive to Stafford, 50 miles south of D.C., was in a raging snow storm all the way.  Do we have good travel luck, or what?]

[Arriving at the Chris and Janet Obert abode on the Potomac River.]

[The supervisor meets the most recent family grandchild, Caroline, of Nich and Kadie Obert fame.  From all reports, and true while we were there, just the happiest of babies!  🙂 ]

[The other grandchild, Ryan, of Colin and Jessica Kelly fame, with his Aunt Sophie, a high school junior and cross-country runner.]

[The whole fam damily.  Last such assembled when George Mason made the Final Four.]

[Let’s get Great Uncle Tom in the photo.]

[Bye-bye, Caroline!]

[Bye-bye, Ryan!]

[Grandpa Chris’s yardmobile.  That’s the Potomac River – thousands of eagles reside on the far side.]

[Grandpa Chris’s man-cave.]

[Our last night in D.C. – going out dining with Gretch and Mohamed.]

[It was Super Bowl night, at Capitol City Brewing Company.  Yup, Mohamed got a Philly cheese steak.  😉 ]

[Couldn’t help myself.  These “kids” landed at the next table as we were leaving – all immediately engaged their smart phones.]

[Our last lunch on the way to the train station.  With Bill and Anne at Mio, in downtown D.C. in the building where Anne just happens to work.  I seem to recall a lovely salmon.]

[On the train home, the supervisor enjoys our large sleeper.]

[Bye-bye, D.C.!]

[Leaving the capital for an overnight to Chicago.]

[And the Union Station subway platform.]

[Bye-bye, Pentagon!  (Oh yeah, this is from a previous day.)]

[All the way to West Virginia already.  Looking for John Brown’s body?]

[More Harper’s Ferry.]

[Could that be Biddy Rita’s Rialta motor home?]

[Now we’re in Martinsburg, WV.  Then it got dark . . .]

[Uncle Mo’s cell phone shot in the Capitol City Brewing Company.  After a lay over and change of trains in Chicago, we arrived in St. Cloud about midnight – and then drove the rest of the way home in the middle of the night.  Since then, it has snowed every day (OK, a touch of hyperbole.]

I think we’re caught up (except for finishing Victoria Heights).  I was able to do so because so far the entire spring sports seasons for the high school teams have been weathered out.  A lot of “stuff” was cancelled today, Thursday, April 18, because of the latest snow episode.  It’s too bad – we had “stuff” on the calendar today.

Wonderful picture of Arlington and DC, and the Obert clan. My late brother-in-law loved the Italian Store. He and my sister and my niece would pick up sandwiches before they drove to Michigan in December and August. I can’t believe Whitey’s is closed. The fact than Ann Gross is still working makes me feel guilty, but it doesn’t seem to bother Bill. The pictures of the poker group are priceless!  ~ The Nanner

Never been in Whitey’s but I remember driving by it and thought the sign
read “Fat” not “Eat.”  ~  Rosie