The Right Stuff - DC and Huntsville, AL

Although the title says "DC", I have to admit that I was mostly in Arlington, VA and Silver Springs, MD...not DC at all. I guess, though that it is not so important where I was exactly, but with whom I spent my time.

Sidenote: The great thing about Austin, TX (where I live), is that people are from all over. The worst thing about Austin, TX is that because people are from all over, they're less likely to stay for the long run. It's a great place to go to school, start a career, maybe stay for a few years after graduation. But for those non-teacher, non-social workers, and non-"I can work anywhere" type folks, Austin is usually just a small stepping stone to their real lives. Case in point, Wendy and Dana.

I met Wendy and Dana in Fall 2000 (although they dispute the actual year). A lot has changed in 7 years...Wendy married Mark and now has a little girl named Eve. Dana married her long-time boyfriend, Preston, and now have lots of remodeled bathrooms and a great new kitchen. :) Basically, I spent my first few days back in the States catching up on my sleep and catching up with them. With Wendy and Mark, I hung out, gossiped about me, and played house (at least that's what I call it...to them it's just their life!). With Dana, I relaxed, drank tea with mint, ate delicious croissants with homemade jam, ran errands, and traipsed around Silver Spring to every 7-Eleven we could to take advantage of "Free Slurpee Day" as much as possible. It was totally low-key, and totally excellent, because being with them is like being at home...I wish they lived closer.

Thursday morning I flew to Huntsville, Alabama to see my parents. They have lived here for about 6 years, and I have to say...get ready...Huntsville is actually a really lovely city. I know that no one has heard of it, and that you don't even know where it is, but it really is such a great little town. I mean, if you can get over the fact that there are churches on every corner (but hey, that's America), it's a wonderful city. It's got just about everything you need...decent restaurants, great hospitals, awesome scenery (totally reminds me of northern Israel), major universities...and one of the biggest attractions in Huntsville -- The U.S. Space and Rocket Center and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. In fact, Huntsville is known as "Rocket City" and one of the license plates you can get here is "First to the Moon". They're extremely proud of winning the Space Race. Fifty years ago.

I have been to Huntsvlle more than half a dozen times and I have never been to the Space and Rocket Center (do you remember the movie Spacecamp? It's set in Huntsville.) Anyway, I told my mom that if I was going to be in Huntsville for a while, I wanted to go to the museum. Well, not only did I get to go to the museum, but she arranged a VIP tour of Marshall Space Center. I kept shaking hands with people, saying, "Hello, I'm Sara...and I am not really that important." We had a full day tour, complete with a private bus that took us around the facility. We got to see the command center (like in the movies), the testing facilities, and basically just learned a lot about what NASA does in Huntsville. I think I dig this stuff b/c I am a teacher, and I like to have fun stories to tell my kids.

That evening, we went to the 4th Annual Saturn/Apollo Reunion shindig at the Museum. Basically, a bunch of people talking about how great the Space Program is...and I have to say, I sort of bought into it. Why explore space? Actually, a lot of every-day technology has come from the exploration of the universe -- health and medicine, mostly. If necessity is the mother of invention, it makes sense that NASA would be involved in the invention of so many products. Also, NASA is heavily involved in weather prediction and shares its technology with less-developed countries to forecast severe and life-threatening weather. I think it's the least they can do. :)
Walter Cunningham and Owen Garriott were there, which was kind of cool, too. There is just something about an astronaut...

Saturday, my parents and I took a short road trip to Nashville, Tennessee. It's only about 2 hours away, but thanks to my dad's Garmin GPS, it took us about 3 hours (we went on the country roads, not the highway). We stopped in Hermitage, TN to visit (go figure) The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's home. I didn't know that much about Old Hickory, so it was interesting...again, as an elementary school teacher, I feel like I just have to do these kinds of things when the opportunity presents itself.

We headed to Nashville, drove through downtown to our hotel (look, kids, a real-live honkytonk!), and rested a bit before dinner. We ate in East Nashville (a cross between East and South Austin) at a cute restaurant called Margot Cafe and Bar. Then we headed to Centennial Park (um, where the Parthenon is) to listen to some big band music under the stars. We could have gone downtown to listen to music, but I thought, "I live in Austin, and even Nashville isn't better than that." Enough said.

The next morning, we went to the Farmer's Market, drove around the Vanderbilt campus, and headed back home. On our way back to Huntsville, we made a detour to another president's home -- James K. Polk is also from Tennessee. But it wasn't open until 1, and we didn't think it was worth hanging around Columbia, TN that long.

***Here's some numerology for you...Andrew Jackson was the 7th President of the US. Polk was number 11. In DC, Dana and I went to many 7-11s for free slurpees. Coincidence? I think not. :)

So, the rest of my time in Huntsville has been spent teaching my mom how to put her phone on vibrate, getting a much needed pedicure, making travel plans for the next few weeks, and helping my parents put new hardware on their cabinets. Not too exciting, but it is what it is. Today (Tuesday), my mom and I went back to NASA to see/meet/hear the crew of Space Shuttle Mission STS-117. Again, I do this kind of stuff so I can tell my students about it...and because I am such a proud American citizen. Seriously. Oh, and my new role model is Suni Williams...she's kind of a badass, and I wish more people knew about HER than about that crazy diaper-wearing one.

Starting to wish I was home, but also glad I have a few weeks left of vacation. Sigh.

Sara

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