My Family Reunion on the East Coast - Washington, D.C. baby!

Good morning Beautiful People,

It is officially July 6th, 2012 at 7:01 am and I am sleepy! Just got off the plane traveling from LAX to Detroit, Michigan. I took a Red-eye and I have a 4 hour layover (lucky me) so I'm sitting at Max & Erma's for Breakfast. Detroit's airport is pretty cool as it has a tram overhead that takes you from one terminal to the next, a few cool shops are open for you to spend all your money before you even start your vacation and there are actually a lot of options in your choice of eateries. Overall, I'm just grateful I found a place I can sit comfortably and eat something other than Starbucks or Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf...I was able to get some real food that isn't overpriced :)

For those of you who don't know, I always have an annual trip planned to forcefully give myself a vacation which becomes inevitable and necessary to my mental health. One year I get to wild-out and go to the Essence Festival and then the following year my family chooses to host a family reunion in different states. As you can see, it is the year of the Family Reunion and Washington, D. C. is the spot to be at. This will be my 2nd time in D. C. ...1st time was at a Howard University Graduation years ago. Seeing that I'm really not familiar with the East Coast and I won't have a lot of time to venture out and explore the neighboring states such as New York... I have officially decided to plan a New York trip in 2013. There are so many things to do, people to see and places to shop that I will probably need to be there at least a week ;)

My Family Time in Washington, D.C. was truly Priceless!


Friday night -
Family met at the Cafe downstairs at the " Meet and Greet" to receive our weekend reunion information and I fell in love with our patriotic family T-shirts :). The day ended with dinner at Maggiano's with myself, my adult cousin and her daughter and my Aunt and Uncle. Dinner was delicious (especially the crab cakes) and we took enough food back to the hotel to eat for 2 days. I highly recommend this restaurant and I believe we have one located at The Grove in LA :) Sad to say that I did not get to go out and experience the D. C. nightlife as my twin was not able to make it to the Reunion :( and my adult cousin had her daughter with her so I didn't have a partner in crime to hang with me. There was no way I was going to brave the D.C. streets by myself with no knowledge of where the hell I was going. I guess it worked itself out because I needed to go to bed due to the 3 hour time change and I knew I was expected to get up early the next day.

Saturday Day - The 1/2 Day D.C. tour was GREAT!
Bright eye and Bushy Tailed...I am not a Morning person, LOL...Coffee was mandatory! My family of approximately 30 people boarded an air conditioned chartered bus and got a tour of our nations Capital. My Flip video came in handy when we were at the Lincoln Memorial as it was very historical and breathtaking to see history right in front of me. My "paparazzi" Nikon camera...that I love soooo much...came in handy for the Walk-Patterson daytime activities such as the family photo at the White House, pictures of The Capitol and pictures of the New! Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.

Saturday night - I was Beat up from touring in the 105 degree heat and I thought I was going to take a nap in my hotel room but that didn't happen. Loehman's, TJ Maxx, Nordstrom's Rack were calling my name :) and seeing as they were in walking distance...how could I say no :). After not spending any money because nothing caught my eye it was time for dinner at Georgia Brown's soul food restaurant. It turned out to be a very nice place with live jazz music, beautiful ambiance, delicious food and great customer service. Our party of 9 ate, drank and was merry, Lol. I was happy that I was able to get out and experience some form of night life seeing that I didn't get the chance to really go out and enjoy a Lounge. Oh did I tell you we took the underground Metro blue and orange lines to get there. That was fun and very convenient. I haven't even taken the Metro in L.A. (note- something to do when I get back home).

Sunday Banquet - Fellowship with family. This is the last day of the reunion and it was time for us to part ways. Brunch was delicious and we took lots of family photos. The family agreed the next Family Reunion would be hosted in Las Vegas in 2014. I'm so excited and I can't wait to plan this Reunion because we have to make it happen because we Reppin the West Coast!

Well beautiful people, no love connections in D.C. but that's okay because I have another plan brewing as I type.

Until next time...The Adventures of SingleNFabulous Continue...Smooches