Saturday the 1st the rest of the family was still in Massachusetts so I took advantage of a full day off by going over to CD Cellar then having an early dinner at Donburi in Tysons Galleria (Sakedon bowl FTW). Then it was concert #15: Guster, Adia Victoria, Matt Braunger, Chris Thile, Madison Cunningham & Brittany Haas at Wolf Trap as part of Live from Here. The show was great, including yet another Led Zeppelin cover to honor John Bonham’s birthday (listen here at 1:29:48). And one fantastic part that didn’t even make it to air was soundcheck with Madison Cunningham covering Radiohead’s “No Surprises”.
Chris Thile covers No Surprises during a taping of Live from Here from r/radiohead
I also had a fast exit over to Herndon for concert #16: Farewell Angelina at the Herndon Festival where they whipped out a fine version of “Free Fallin'” and I got to visit with Linda. Sunday Lowe’s delivered a washer to my Mom’s old house in Annandale that was now on the market. They gave me a delivery window so I cooled my heels at the beginning of it by having lunch in Annandale at The Block. Balo Kitchen was my choice – twice, once for lamb tacos, then again for loaded fries. Then I got the call and it turned out there was an open house at Mom’s and got to meet her agent. I got home with time to unload the trunk (renters had left stuff in the house) and make it to a very crowded Dulles where the family had landed (they’d also gone to the Asparagus Festival and seen concerts from Oshima Brothers and Samirah Evans & the Joe Belmont Experience).
Friday the 7th was concert #17: Rodrigo y Gabriela at Wolf Trap. We saw them there back in 2010, but Jill wasn’t interested that night, and I have to admit I went mostly because they’re covering Pink Floyd’s Echoes on the album and tour. But it was magnificent, and a glorious night for watching a show. Tuesday I voted for Laurie Dodd for Hunter Mill District Supervisor in the primary, but honestly anyone would be a better choice than Comstock spokeswoman Maggie Parker, busy trying to erode our First Amendment rights and bring unrelenting gridlock to Reston. Wednesday Nina’s class danced in the school talent show. That night I found this to be so true.
Wednesday the 12th Nina got her hair tinted for the 1st time while Thursday was her last day of school, and Friday Jill took her to the pool and Tacos & More with friends. Saturday we celebrated Father’s Day a day early at Taste of Reston and Ben & Jerry’s, then Jill was working Saturday night and sleeping Sunday so I took Nina to get toys at Walmart and 2nd & Charles, then we ended up at Crafthouse in Fairfax Corner for brunch.
The next was the start of camp season, first week at Emmaus Church. Thursday I got dinner from Mason’s Lobster (got to admire them having whoopie pie from LaBree’s Bakery) for concert #18: Trampled by Turtles with Deer Tick and Maggie Rose at Wolf Trap. Perfect weather, great sets. Could have used a little more Deer Tick. Row 7 was a great place to be – we weren’t that close for the next night’s show, concert #19: Ariana Grande with Normani at Capital One Arena. Nina’s first big pop star show, and undoubtedly not her last – she loved the whole thing (also loved Nando’s for dinner beforehand).
Thursday the 27th was concert #20: Robbie Schaefer and Ines Nassara at Signature Theatre for a mostly covers show called Blowin’ in the Wind: Folk-Rock in America (plus some Robbie songs). Ines Nassara has a voice that was a mixture of Tracy Chapman and Dionne Warwick, and did an amazing version of “Baltimore”. My favorite surprise was a take on “Go Your Own Way”. Lopez Broadway Bootcamp was next on the camp agenda that week:
We both took the day off Friday to get ready (and a haircut), then picked Nina up from camp and started vacation by driving up to Rochester. Best thing about that day was a stop at Bullfrog Brewery with delicious beer infused food and a wheel of beer sampler. The next morning we took a walk with Mom and her dog Tati, then went to the Strong Museum of Play, which we visited for 5 hours and still didn’t get to everything (we stopped at the Bill Gray’s diner inside for lunch). Mom and David hosted us for dinner in the private dining room at Cloverwood Senior Living where they live (I had some tasty lamb chops and my first raw oysters).
Sunday we had breakfast at Char Broil Restaurant, then I had to go to Best Buy to get some equipment as I was upgrading Mom’s computer, then I went over to Record Archive, where you can sip a beer while you browse the vinyl and CDs. Later we took a cruise on the Erie Canal through a lock and back again, then stopped at the nearby Pittsford Farms Dairy for ice cream. We finally met David’s daughter and two of her sons when we all had dinner together that night at Hong Wah Chinese Restaurant.
