While Paul Was at Camp

As part of his school's outdoor education program, the fourth graders go to camp for two days. Last year the third graders went for the day, but this year was the first sleepover camp. Paul was very excited, waking us early this morning so we could help him mark his name on his blankets and pajamas.

Ben and I were also excited since we were using the opportunity to have our own sleepover, adult-style. After dropping off Paul we spent a leisurely morning at home and then went downtown for a late lunch at the Tabard Inn. After lunch we actually checked into the Inn and had a nice nap. Our room was fantastic, and I mean that in the true sense of "based on fantasy" and "not real." It was very large and decorated in what I'd consider a very old, very European, very wealthy, style with antique furniture and a claw footed bathtub. It was a fantasy to me, since the European hotel rooms I remember being in were definitely not for the wealthy, but rather for poor young people, like I was back then. It's been a long time since I've been to Europe, but even if we went now I can't imagine staying in rooms decorated so nicely.

In the evening we headed to the Folger Elizabethan Theater where we saw Hamlet. I wondered if I'd really like seeing it since it was slated to be two hours and forty-five minutes long and had "modern" costumes and stage sets. I did like it very much, finding that the more modern approach somehow made the language more understandable.

We slept in this morning-- always a treat- then enjoyed the Inn's continental breakfast and came home. It was a short getaway, but a very pleasant one.