A Happy HALLE Day

Volleyball Crazy

Dad Mom, And Halle

It's 6:30 in the morning and I have been up for quite a while, alas, and am now sitting in our hotel room in downtown Washington D.C., writing my blog.  I went for a brief walk around the block at 6:00, not much to see, then bought a couple of grande Starbucks and brought them upstairs to enjoy.  At 7:40, I will walk my granddaughter, Halle, over to the Convocation Center, to meet up with her team, then all of us will be there at 9:00 for her first volleyball game of the day.

Yesterday began with packing up our stuff again, throwing it in the Outback and taking an easy 35-minute drive to the Renaissance Hotel in DC.  When we arrived, the parking lot was full although they promised there would be room for hotel guests on the phone.  So I dropped off Evie and drove around the corner and actually found a parking garage that was cheaper than staying in the hotel.  Our rooms were not ready although they said we would be first on the list (lie # 2). We left our bags and walked over to the convocation center to get our three day passes, quite an ordeal, as we had to sign up on an iPad, then pay, then they would send us the pass to our iPhone for entrance into the volleyball matches.

Capitol Hill Volleyball Classic

The Walter Washington Convocation Center is enormous.  It has to be to accommodate over a hundred and twenty courts, all busy with games, surrounded by spectators.  We got there in time to see Halle play her first game, which they won easily. 

A Great Dig By Halle

Each court is surrounded by a row of chairs, so if your team plays, the spectators have seats.  When players are not playing, they are working either the table, the net, or as line judges which is neat, as each match then needs only one referee.  In between Halle's three matches, we walked, enjoyed looking at the crowds of players and spectators, and eventually stood in long lines to get something to eat.  I had jerk chicken on rice, Halle and Jill fries, and a chicken sandwich.  Halle's second game was much closer than her first but they won both games and played well. 

Halle Serves Seven Points In A Row

Their third and final game was not so good as they did not play well, ran into each other chasing balls, and had little mojo losing both games although they were good enough to have won if they played well.  So they left the gym 2-1, move into the winner's bracket but were a bit depressed by their one loss.  And so it goes.

At Farmers And Distillers

We had reservations at one of the only restaurants in the area where we could find a table even when we looked for restaurants on Friday.  Washington, D.C., especially on President's Weekend is a busy place.  Jill found reservations, however, at a neat restaurant, Farmers and Distillers, about a ten-minute walk from our hotel. 

Halle And Jill, Out To Dinner

They have an extensive menu, including things like meatloaf, Asian fried chicken or noodles, as well as steaks, seafood, and sandwiches.  So everyone was happy and found something they liked.  Evie got an Asian noodle dish and I ordered Asian riblets, with Chinese fried chicken and almond fried rice.
 

Waiting for Donuts

All meals were good so it was the right choice, especially since they specialize in homemade donuts, so we walked out with five fresh glazed donuts for dessert. 

Walking Back To The Hotel With Dad

It was strange to be through with our busy day and dinner by 7:00 but all of us were tired so we just went up to our rooms.  Drew, however, drove back home because he is picking up Hayden and his Mom this morning and bringing them to the matches for the day, a good son.  Evie and I relaxed in our room, watching some TV, reading, working on photographs for the blog, before going to bed way too early but tired at 9:30, the end to a fun day.