...the morning of the Crawl

The day of the Crawl we woke up early, very early. So we decided to do a series of boxes in Georgetown called A letterboxer's Tour of Georgetown before the crowds of people woke up. We were in Georgetown by 5am, which was very nice. The city is beautiful at that time of the day.

Since a few of the box location were not open to the public at that time of the morning we decided to find the 'open' boxes. The first box we found was Oak Hill cemetery where we were met by a nice man walking his three dogs. It's always fun to try and look like you are doing something else when muggles approach you, I must have taken ten photographs before the dog-walking man finally left.

We skipped the next three boxes and headed straight to the Exorcist Steps. Now I have never seen the movie, I really don't like horror films so the steps were just steps, although they were a little creepy in their own right. It was just getting light out and there was no one around, and then Leafcutters left me to go back to the car and get the camera- so being left alone can be a tad bit frightening.

The next three boxes Francis Scott Key, Canton's Walk and Canal Square were all very well hidden and in interesting locations.

The final box The Old Stone House was hidden along the C & O Canal. This little park that runs along the canal was very nice. I am so used to seeing green all around me, we live on 11 acres- I can not imagine having this tiny strip of water and grass as my only green space. But if you know no other way, it was a great escape from the city life. The city was just starting to stir and so was the homeless man near the final box location. We had to keep a careful watch to make sure he wasn't watching us, but we found the box and were able to stamp in.

By this time, we headed back toward the hotel. But it was only 8:30am so we decided to sightsee some more- and went to Mount Vernon. I had read in the paper a few weeks ago about an exciting new exhibit at the museum where they had recreated what George Washington looked like at 19, 34 & 57 from forensic evidence. The new center was absolutely amazing!! I am not one for flag waving, but I was very touched by the whole exhibit. There was also a small theater depicting the beginnings of the American Revolution, which was awesome-- they had fog machines, seats that moved, and fake snow. Talk about feeling like you were a part of something.

By this time it was getting late (around 12pm) so we decided to skip the mansion tour, and head back to the hotel to catch a nap and get ready for Gallant Rouge's big event.