Champagne Friday rides again...and this time from sunny (finally) Ft. Lee, VA!As I type this, we are currently staying here:
I can see that you are incredibly jealous and I think you absolutely should be. It is very vintage. I'm pretty sure they were even able to keep the original air filters. How lovely that they have worked so diligently to keep everything original to the building, circa 1961. (Clearly, it's a little early in the winter season for this picture to be one of mine. Thank you so much US Army websites!)However, if we play our cards just right and secure a PCS to Ft. Lee after Iraq, we could be living here:
My apologies to the nice family whose house I was camped outside of drooling and photographing.So, to celebrate Champagne Friday, I'm going to leave you with some observations of Ft. Lee 72 hours into my visit:
1) The housekeeping staff, also known as Sharon, is extremely friendly. She is also very honest. She really doesn't appreciate it when visitors leave money scattered about as if to lure her into a made-for-Dateline-filming trap. And if you must leave your underwear on the floor, the least you could do is make sure they are clean. No one wants to see your accident.
2) The gym across the field from us has a cardio room. It is quite possibly the most awkward set-up I've ever seen...and seeing as my degree is in Kinesiology, I've seen a few. The treadmills face the ellipticals. Both sets of equipment have televisions hanging directly overhead. So, the treadmill users are expected to watch the TVs over the elliptical users' heads and vice versa. Basically, if you are like me and love to watch how people walk, run, or just behave in general, you tend to let your eyes wander to the individuals down below. That gets awkward.
3) There are bugles for everything. There are 7:00 AM bugles, noon bugles, 12:30 bugles, 5 PM bugles, 5:30 bugles, and 11:00 bugles. And I may have missed a couple as I'm not here all the time. Yesterday, they fired cannons at 5:30. I'm aware of all of this because the loud speaker is just over yonder from our room. (I can say over yonder because it's Virginia. And the seat of the Confederacy. Which is basically Mother Planet for the South.) I sleep through the 7 AM bugles so no worries there. But I wish someone had warned me about the cannons. I'm not sure my heart will ever beat regularly again.
4) If you skip a workout, you will suddenly find yourself shamed into dragging butt to the gym because everyday after the 5PM bugles, a squadron (or 10) begins doing PT, complete with synchronized counting, across the lawn. Yesterday it rained for 12 hours straight. And yet, there they were, counting, jumping, jacking, and pushing up (which, Shana, is nothing like push-upping). In the rain. I didn't drag butt to the gym, though. I just stood there and watched and prayed none of them caught their death of pneumonia.
5) Either everyone is getting lots of good sleep, lots of good sex, or lots of good food because they are all alarmingly friendly and helpful. Even when it rained for 12 hours, I was still inspired by the Soldier on MP duty, standing in the rain and checking IDs. When I said, "what a day to work outside, huh?" she smiled and said, "oh that's OK. I like the rain." Who the hell likes 50 degree rain? No one. But 2587403 points to her for at least saying it.
I'm now jaunting off to Richmond, about 25 minutes away to scout out sights to see and food to eat should Neal happen to get the day off tomorrow. And I may hit a bead store or 2 while I'm there. But never fear, I'll be back for 5:00 bugles and PT!
1) The housekeeping staff, also known as Sharon, is extremely friendly. She is also very honest. She really doesn't appreciate it when visitors leave money scattered about as if to lure her into a made-for-Dateline-filming trap. And if you must leave your underwear on the floor, the least you could do is make sure they are clean. No one wants to see your accident.
2) The gym across the field from us has a cardio room. It is quite possibly the most awkward set-up I've ever seen...and seeing as my degree is in Kinesiology, I've seen a few. The treadmills face the ellipticals. Both sets of equipment have televisions hanging directly overhead. So, the treadmill users are expected to watch the TVs over the elliptical users' heads and vice versa. Basically, if you are like me and love to watch how people walk, run, or just behave in general, you tend to let your eyes wander to the individuals down below. That gets awkward.
3) There are bugles for everything. There are 7:00 AM bugles, noon bugles, 12:30 bugles, 5 PM bugles, 5:30 bugles, and 11:00 bugles. And I may have missed a couple as I'm not here all the time. Yesterday, they fired cannons at 5:30. I'm aware of all of this because the loud speaker is just over yonder from our room. (I can say over yonder because it's Virginia. And the seat of the Confederacy. Which is basically Mother Planet for the South.) I sleep through the 7 AM bugles so no worries there. But I wish someone had warned me about the cannons. I'm not sure my heart will ever beat regularly again.
4) If you skip a workout, you will suddenly find yourself shamed into dragging butt to the gym because everyday after the 5PM bugles, a squadron (or 10) begins doing PT, complete with synchronized counting, across the lawn. Yesterday it rained for 12 hours straight. And yet, there they were, counting, jumping, jacking, and pushing up (which, Shana, is nothing like push-upping). In the rain. I didn't drag butt to the gym, though. I just stood there and watched and prayed none of them caught their death of pneumonia.
5) Either everyone is getting lots of good sleep, lots of good sex, or lots of good food because they are all alarmingly friendly and helpful. Even when it rained for 12 hours, I was still inspired by the Soldier on MP duty, standing in the rain and checking IDs. When I said, "what a day to work outside, huh?" she smiled and said, "oh that's OK. I like the rain." Who the hell likes 50 degree rain? No one. But 2587403 points to her for at least saying it.
I'm now jaunting off to Richmond, about 25 minutes away to scout out sights to see and food to eat should Neal happen to get the day off tomorrow. And I may hit a bead store or 2 while I'm there. But never fear, I'll be back for 5:00 bugles and PT!
Happy Champagne Friday, darlins!!
Are you drinking champagne with me today? Have you been to Ft. Lee? Can I bring you a cannon back as a souvenir?
