I finally got to play tennis today, with one of the 3-4 people I contacted through the DC Tennis website that puts you in touch with tennis partners of a similar standard.
I had to travel up town to Tenleytown, which involved taking my bike on the metro and cycling through a leafy suburb based around a Wholefoods (the mark of fanciness). The whole DC friendliness thing turned a little creepy on the metro station, when a weirdy man started talking to me. But maybe he wasn't creepy - perhaps he was just being friendly - but I think he was creepy and was sad when he got out at the same station as me.
I was also sad when, feeling very proud of myself for finding the courts so efficiently, I called what I thought was my tardy partner, only to discover that I was at the wrong courts and that she'd been waiting for me somewhere else. So I hotwheeled it through more leafy suburbs to a pretty crummy court, where I met Sarah - a criminal lawyer probably in her early 40s.
Sarah has two little children and seems quite a busy person, so I should imagine it was quite annoying to her that I was in the wrong place (due to a misunderstanding over email. She hadn't been clear. Not very good skills for a lawyer). But we had a nice knock around and it was good to be hitting a ball again.
Sarah was amusingly competitive, in getting cross with herself if she missed a ball. I was playing like a mook, with big loopy shots, but think that I'd be better than her if we played a game. She's had lots of lessons as an adult and I think playing her must be like what it's like for most people playing me - ie: I'm not terribly good, but manage to fluke getting the ball back over the net a lot, which is quite annoying.
It was INSANELY hot and I looked like a tomato after just half an hour or so of playing, when Sarah had to leave for her son's swimming lesson. Though, she pointed out, there was no tearing hurry, as the lesson's just in her back garden! They have a pool. I hope we become friends. I cannot tell you how boiling it's been here today. And Sarah's husband is cycling 100 miles tomorrow! He's a lawyer too. I guess they must all be super-driven.
By the time we finished, it was what the metro classes as rush hour, so I wasn't allowed to take my bike on the train and cycled aaaall the 3.5 miles home. Fortunately it was all down hill, and I felt very virtuous, playing tennis then pedaling home, even if it did only serve to make me look more tomato-like. I had to cycle across a really enormous bridge that's miles up over Rock Creek Park, way above the level of the trees, so you're just looking down into this huge ravine. It was really cool and I would've taken a photo, but for the zooming stream of traffic whizzing by me. Plus, it was really boiling and I was dying for a Calippo.
Two hours later I was almost back to exactly where I'd been, as we went to dinner ju
st one metro stop further north, to Friendship Heights. This was an extremely fancy area, with a Bloomingdales and lots of fancy shops - like St Johns Wood on a larger scale. I even saw Lord & Taylor! This will only mean something to a maximum of four people reading this, as throughout my childhood, my Mum's shopping bag was her 'Lord Taylor' bag. Only years later, on idly examining the swirly writing on the bag did I realise it said 'Lord & Taylor' and was from a store, rather than bearing the signature of some olde English dignitary. Well the store, in all it's really weird 80s-ish faded glory is up in Friendship Heights! I felt almost emotional!
We went to dinner at the house of Michael and Marie, who are Canadian friends of my friend Jacqui (Kelly's Mum). They live in Chevy Chase, which is in Maryland, so once again we intrepidly crossed the state line. Chevy Chase is extraordinary - it suddenly felt like walking through a Dorset village, with really twee little picturesque cottages/houses and children playing on bikes on the very quiet roads. It's the sort of place I should imagine looks magical at Christmas. It's surrounded by lots of trees and just feels totally separate from the city, like a residential Brigadoon.
Michael and Marie's house is lovely - it looks like a little white cottage from the outside then inside is really big and open, with a screened deck at the back that smelt just like our honeymoon in the Maldives - that mix of humidity and wood.
We had delicious tapas, which is apparently their way every Friday night, and chatted all about how we're finding DC, their application for green cards (they've lived in the States for years and years but are both retired now, so need new visas to stay) and met their gorgeous Norwegian dog who has way too much hair for this insane climate.
Most of the evening was spent talking about US politics, and I was excited to find that I could contribute to the conversation. Both Michael and Marie were very welcoming and we felt very looked after, which was nice.
Something else that was nice was getting a ride home in their convertible car! Michael took us the scenic route home, down Embassy Row and around the National Cathedral, which looked amazing at night. It really is the only way to travel on a crazy hot summer's evening, getting to look up at the sky as you pootle around.
Just as we got out of the car, our neighbour Anne was coming home and we stood chatting for ages. Then her boyfriend Hugh turned up and we chatted some more until someone made the bright suggestion of actually going inside and having drinks! So they came into our apartment and we had a really fun time, just chatting away and listening to music before someone pointed out it had got to 1.30am and we went our separate ways. It's been a night of two nights.
We're going away for the weekend tomorrow, to celebrate our second anniversary. It all came together at the very last minute - we only booked our b&b yesterday - but we're really looking forward to it. We're off to Tilghman Island on Chesapeake Bay and Hugh says that lots of people have a cockney accent there, because they didn't get radios or TVs until the 70s, or something. Oi oi!
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