I got stopped by an Old Dominion Mountie in '85 for driving single in the
HOV lane.  Hell, I didn't know any better.  He let me off with a lecture
after we got to yakking.  Anyway, he said that some folks would get
mannequins or blow-up dolls and put them in the passenger seat so they could
drive in the diamond lane.  I seem to recall that the fines were pretty
steep if'n you got caught.

The Metro was/is a godsend in my book.  Laura doesn't mind driving in town,
but she ain't quite so spastic when she gets scared (heh heh).  She lived in
BoMo (Baltimore) for a while, so I guess she got used to that kind of thing.
Actually, I think she taught downtown, but lived in Owings Mills.  That was
a while before I was on the scene.

Anyway, she doesn't mind driving inside the Beltway at all.  Heck, the last
time we we in the city she even found a parking place right next to the
Smithsonian castle.  The last time I drove in the City, I got cussed out by
a DC cop for asking directions.  I think it was up by the Rosedale
Playground.  It was a scary place...that much I'm certain!!!!  I don't mind
driving around the Navy Yard, or certain places east of the Anacostia River.
On the whole, though, I'd rather just fly into National (I refuse to call it
Ray-Gun) and take the Metro.

I'd love to take my kids to Embassy Row in the spring, right around cherry
blossom time, but I don't know if you can get "up close and personal" to the
mansions like you could, say, twenty years ago.  Heck, I remember when you
could go to the FBI HQ and watch a machine-gun demo.  Times have changed,
eh?

-Kyle

-----Original Message-----
From: Kathleen Salkin [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2002 2:13 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Comedy Central's


God, no, I've not been back near the tidal basin in years. One of my best
friends lives in DC (near Embassy Row) and tells me it's almost impossible
to find anything off the Beltway now.  He lives in the district just so he
doesn't have to drive to work every day and battle the traffic. I used to
drive in on George Washington Parkway, to work at the VA Central Office but
started taking the commuter bus when the gridlock started making me late for
work. And that was back in 1976.

Kat

"St. John's University Cerebral Palsy List" <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> You been to Reston lately?  Ya can't find ANYTHING because of the signage
ordinances.  I drove as far away as Dulles and Manassas just trying to find
the Tandem Computers office!  BTW, does anyone near the Beltway (Betty?)
know if the original "Black-Eyed Pea" is still around in Vienna?  Best
"commercial" soul-food on earth!  As I recall, it was just upstream from the
big Metro park n' ride lot.

-Kyle

(Wistfully yearning for a big plate o' fried okra, crowder peas, turnip
greens, corn bread and buttermilk.  Guess I better go nuke the Stouffer's
.)

-----Original Message-----
From: Kathleen Salkin [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2002 12:59 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Comedy Central's


Betty, shall I give you directions to a head shop that used to be up in
Fairfax?  I lived up in Reston in the mid-1970s.

Kat

>Okay, I'm getting turned on.  This can't be right.

"St. John's University Cerebral Palsy List"
wrote:
> In a message dated 2/19/2002 12:27:26 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:


> >those times I want to bang my head on the keyboard in frustration when
> >a
> >program goes awry.
> >
> This gives a whole new meaning to headboard!
>
> Bobby
>