Companions (of the non-time-travel sort)

While she is very protective of her solitude, she dearly loves spending time with her family and friends. What a treat is was when she was finally able to do just that with her brother and his beau; and familiarizing herself more and more with two great cities!

Their first adventure was off to the Capital (and not the one that people tend to not return from when playing games in it), and was a study in public transportation. From city bus to metro stops, their fare-cards were put to good use. Conversation was easy, despite whatever worries she may have had. And after a few mix ups in locating the Spy Museum (it was undercover...), they prowled their way through the declassified secrets of the cloak and dagger. Finding themselves ravenous afterwards, they followed some local advice and ate at a rustic/industrial little place called Pizza Pi.

Sun-dried tomato and pesto are officially the best pizza toppings. Ever.

Next came an abundance of walking and many sites:

Washington Monument

WWII Memorial

WWII Memorial

WWII Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Alex and Brittany being cute

Smithsonian Castle

A lovely little garden(would be a great reading place!)

....Weird animal heads that were too reminiscent of Doubt

The Capitol Building

Conscious of the fact that they'd be off on an even grander (and more strenuous) adventure the following day, they made their way back to their home port.

The next day was to conquer the Big Apple. Public buses to D.C. metro to Megabus to subway and they were stumbling around trying to smart phone their way to the WTC memorial. Which, after a bit of misdirection, they arrived at:

(oh look, the elusive sibling pair is spotted)

It was quite surreal to be at the WTC memorial park and to see the museum. Remembering that it had already been over a decade, and all of the lives that had been affected...

Once they'd left, they entertained hopes of riding a ferry to Lady Liberty herself, and so they headed for Brooklyn Park.

...and found a beautiful community garden...

...a lovely park/ restaurant courtyard...

...and discovered they were on the wrong side of the docks.... 

...but appreciated the view...

...despite the finding they'd missed the last ferry.

They headed back uptown, and experienced a little too much the packed-bodies/ towering buildings, and so ducked into a *cough*overpriced*cough* pub for a bite to eat (that wasn't as good as the fare from the day before~)

an oddly empty side walk

After dinner, they walked and browsed the souvenir shops until they reached Central Park.

realllllly bad shakey-hand shots w/o flash...

oh look! another...

After a pleasant stroll through the Park (and getting lost by coming out a different entrance/exit), they ventured back down the 20ish blocks to the general location where they would be picked up by Megabus to return home. And since they had a few hours to spare, and Alex is Alex, they passed the time in a 2nd story pub that was famed for its "99 beers on tap". Breaking her general rule (since he did have a point that they'd never had a drink together, even though she'd been of age for almost two years...) she let them order her a gin and tonic, and a hard cider following that (as well as delicious potato and cheese perogies) (interestingly enough, none of them were carded during any of this, not by the body-guard looking man by the entrance, or their two waitresses). When the time came, they made their way down the street to the bus stop to wait in line, and rode the night bus back home~

Summer Book List (take IV)

("Summer" having technically started on Friday, May 4th)

READ:

A Discovery of Witches

Percy Jackson: TheLightning Thief

A Well Timed Enchantment

Heir Apparent

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
Hunter’s Moon
Library Wars (vol 1-6)
Divergent
Wildwood Dancing
Percy Jackson: The Titans Curse
Ender's Game
American Gods
Percy Jackson: The Battle of the Labyrinth
Percy Jackson: The Last Olympian
Trickster's Choice


READING:

Trickster's Queen
Graceling

PLANNING TO READ:

Shadow of Night

Anansi Boys
Fire
Graveyard Book
Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero
Heroes of Olympus: The Son ofNeptune

More…?

(soooooo, I am fully aware I probably won't get all of the "planning to read" books knocked out before school starts, but I also don't know which I'm going to choose yet? Especially since the next Heroes of Olympus book is coming out this fall...)
(I never thought I'd read this many books this summer, hahaha, I must have really been making up for lost time~)


Also. I hate formatting.


(Edit 8/04/12 to include book review):

I'm not as enamored with Neil Gaiman as some, perhaps, but I do like his style of writing. So far I've read "Stardust", "Good Omens", and "Neverwhere" by him, so I was excited to add "American Gods" to the list. while it was a bit coarse for my taste, I've encountered that before in Stephen King's book so it didn't put me off too much. It was especially interesting to read this tale while reading the Percy Jackson books since both deal with the presence of all of the different ancient deities being around and having influence on the present world. The main character was amazing, though, and that doesn't always happen.

I read the last two Percy Jackson books "Battle of the Labyrinth" and "The Last Olympian" back to back (naturally). I've decided that I really like the series (which I felt from the first book, haha) and find it adorable how the characters have grown up over the course of the series~

Oh "Trickster's Choice", how I love thee and thy sequel. Although I had planned to only read new books this summer, I found a pristine copy of TC at the same used book sale as "Ender's Game" also for under a dollar! And even though the first time I read this I rushed and got frustrated at the pacing sometimes, the second time reading it really made me realize how much I love this story.

Gettysburg (A Study in Two Parts): 2

In which three adventurers without power at home traveled to an old butchering yard and found a wooden covered bridge (that people used to be hung from?!):

Were dissatisfied with the path that lay neatly before them and found a new friend while exploring the embankment wall:

Found relief from the disturbingly hot heat while venturing across and through the creek/stream/small river that was coated with slippery mucked stones but was beautifully clear:

(Came back on the other side of the bridge to hear the tiny squeaks of a family of bats <3 <3 <3):

Lurked around/on/in/under the Devil’s Den:

And found a loyal companion guarding the memory of his former masters:

It was a very good day~

Gettysburg (A Study in Two Parts): 1

She and her sister, just the two of them, journeying north to a place steeped in the despair and destruction.

To Gettysburg, of course.

It only took a little under an hour to journey north during the warm afternoon, appropriately listening to the hauntingly beautiful sounds of The Civil Wars:

Vast fields began to open up to them and they drove through the parks to the different monuments of battle lines and companies.

From atop the main structure they could see the sun continue its voyage towards the horizon’s shore, as they waxed poetic their future prospects and potential aspiration. 

Eventually, they continued onwards to a failed tactical position and more monuments poised majestically (or as her sister put it, “with Swag”~).

And though they sought to find the wooden covered bridge, they settled for being turned around in the darkening forest over and over again. But the view from the watch tower they snuck up was worth it.

With the windows down and the park closing right behind them they ventured back home. Again, listening to hauntingly voiced singers, but this time she had thoughts on the morality of following orders, ghosts and their (un)intentional legacies, and sisterly bonds, among other things, drifting past her inner gaze.