Overcast with sunny spells
I arose at 9.00, and had a wait for breakfast while Jeff went out to get some fresh bread, which he brought along with a couple of Danish pastries. Once I had completed my packing, we left in the direction of Washington.
We detoured through the scenic town of Leonardtown, seven miles to the west of California, considered typical of the small towns of this part of Maryland -- Solomons being relatively touristy while the California/Lexington Park area has developed considerably in recent years with the arrival of numerous high-tech firms.
Rather than cross the Potomac on the Beltway, we decided to take the crossing 30 miles to the south over the Governor Nice Memorial Bridge, taking a scenic route through Virginia until we reached US Highway 1 (here known as the Jefferson Davis Highway) at Fredericksburg. Here we turned to the north and proceeded to Mount Vernon, fifteen miles to the south of central Washington, its claim to fame being George Washington's country estate.
It was by now after 2.00 and we were hungry. We had a quick bite to eat in the cafeteria by the entrance, then went onto the estate. There was a huge queue to view the house, this being a reasonably fine day and the Memorial Day holiday, but the grounds were relatively quiet. The house overlooks the Potomac River, and for once the view is little changed from Washington's time -- the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association acquired the estate in 1860, as well as land on the opposite shore, and restored it to its appearance in 1799, the year of Washington's death.
We had time for a wander around the grounds, passing a working farm and stopping at Washington's tomb, then left in order to get to the airport in time. Our arrival was well-timed, exactly two hours before my 6.30 flight, and we said our goodbyes.
Check-in was quick, although I was not yet assigned a seat, and security relatively straightforward. I made my way to the gate and found a handy power supply which allowed me to use my laptop without draining its modest battery. Eventually the staff got around to allocating seats, and I found myself disappointed to be allocated a centre seat rather than my preferred aisle seat (or failing that, a window seat).
Upon boarding I found that I was seated in the Economy Plus section of the cabin, which offered me a little extra legroom over the standard economy seating, which made the centre seat more bearable.
The Boeing 767 left on time, and after twenty minutes, the in-flight movies started. I had been thinking of watching ``About Schmidt'' but my screen appeared to be receiving this in audio-only. On an alternative channel, ``Behind Enemy Lines'' was showing fine, so I decided to watch that instead, a film based loosely on actual events in Bosnia during the mid-1990s. Two-thirds of the way through, the system malfunctioned again and I lost the picture for a few minutes. I was able to catch the movie from this point again the second time around, but it was far from ideal. A roast beef dinner, actually halfway decent, was served early on in the flight, and a light breakfast before landing at 6.37am London time
I was able to leave Heathrow on the 7.30 coach, and arrived in central Oxford at 8.45. From the coach station, I took a taxi, although I had a few problems explaining to the slightly clueless driver exactly where to go. I arrived home just after 9.00, at the end of another successful and enjoyable trip.