Almost a year ago one of my Flickr contacts, Lauren (AKA *Out of my Mind*), sent me a message. She told me she was taking a multi-city holiday in the U.S. the following spring, and was starting to gather information. She’d noticed on my profile that I live in Maryland, and she wondered if I could give her any information about getting around D.C. as a tourist, or recommend any must-see places there. We started up an email correspondence, and eventually decided it would be fun to meet up while she was on the East Coast.

On the day Lauren arrived in D.C. my mom and Annalie and I went to Union Station to meet her train from New York. I’d been to Union Station ages ago as a high-school Close-Up participant, but my mom and Annalie had never been there. It’s a beautiful building, with remnants of grandeur from another era, and a fun place for people-watching.

As we were waiting for Lauren’s train to arrive, we stood on the mezzanine overlooking the train terminal and watched tour groups following the umbrellas raised high by their tour guides, office workers hurrying by in their conservative suits as they sucked up the last of their soda from lunch, groups of teenage students in matching shirts being admonished by their coaches and parent-chaperones to “always stay with your buddy!” I even saw some kids wearing Close-Up badges, which have not changed much since I wore mine 17 years ago.

As we waited, my mom wondered if we should have appointed a specific meeting spot, or made a sign with Lauren’s name on it, just in case. But when the passengers from the 1 o’clock train started streaming through the doors, my mom actually spotted Lauren before I did, despite her worrying that we wouldn’t recognize her.

We carted Lauren’s bags to our minivan and after a quick stop for lunch went to her hotel so she could check in and unload the excess from her camera bag. She also gave us presents that she had brought all the way from Australia, which was incredibly sweet of her. For Annalie, she brought some Australia pencils, a fun crazy straw, temporary tattoos, and a stuffed wombat. For me, she brought a zip-lock bag full of Aero bars and two Violet Crumble bars! Woohoo!

Once we’d finished at the hotel, we programmed the GPS for Arlington National Cemetery. (Ha! I typed that brief sentence as if that didn’t involve sitting in the parking lot for 20 minutes while I tried and failed to find the address with the GPS’s search feature; my mom called information and got the wrong number; I consulted inadequate maps and apologized to a gracious Lauren for being so lame; my mom called information again and got the right number, asked them for the address and was given directions that the GPS couldn’t seem to process; and I finally hit the right menu on the GPS and found the address so it could plan a route. Whew.)*

As with many places in D.C. I’d been to Arlington as a high-schooler with Close-Up but not since then, and my mom had never been there at all. So it was an interesting trip for me and my mom and Lauren. And Annalie…well, she was a trouper considering she was expecting a park with a playground, and instead she got a cemetery where she wasn’t allowed to walk on the grass or make lots of noise. She did enjoy seeing the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns, and really she was great the whole time.

It was windy but sunny—a gorgeous day for walking around. Good thing, because we had to walk quite a ways to see President Kennedy’s grave marked with the eternal flame, and then walked another ways to see the memorials for the Space Shuttles Challenger and Columbus. We took the Custis Walk, which was basically the longest staircase I’d ever been on, back to the main entrance, enjoying the beautiful day and talking and laughing (quietly and respectfully, of course).

We made a pit stop at the visitors’ center, took one or two last photos, and then loaded ourselves back in the minivan to drive Lauren to the restaurant where she was meeting friends for dinner. Despite the rush-hour traffic making us late, Lauren brushed off my apologies with perfect calm, not seeing any reason for aggro. (I had to work that in because it’s the only distinctively Aussie term I remember hearing Lauren use all day.)

Thanks for making my fifth seventh** internet-meet-real-life experience such a great one, Lauren! You were fun and laid-back, even though we made you late and didn’t know where we were going half the time. I hope the rest of your U.S. tour is wonderful. Come back and see us anytime!

Click to see A day in D.C. with an Aussie – a photoset on Flickr.

* Despite the trouble we had getting it to recognize Arlington National Cemetery’s address, I love our TomTom GPS. I was skeptical when Troy brought it home, but it came in so handy when we had to drive from South Texas to Omaha unexpectedly last February. I still look at maps when we take road trips, but mainly to get the big picture or for something to do. Troy, I’m saying it publicly: you were right, the GPS is awesome!

** Oops, Lauren was actually my seventh internet-meet-real-life experience. I forgot to count Whoorl and Kristie, who I got to meet because they happen to be real-life friends of two of the internet friends I’ve met, SAJ and She Likes Purple.