The two most recent reunions of the J. R. Tucker Class of 1971 were at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens, thanks to a classmate and member of the reunion committee who worked here. She retired since the last reunion, so this year’s reunion is going to be at a hotel.

But that didn’t mean that Diane and I couldn’t come to the Gardens and enjoy the afternoon before going to the hotel. And that’s exactly what we did!

I’m going to post now so I don’t have to try to do it after the reunion – enjoy the garden! I wish I could capture the aromas, too – maybe the iPhone 14 will add that.

The rental car shortage is real. We’d reserved a car with Hertz at their location in the Marriott Crystal Gateway near National Airport for pickup at 10am. When I hadn’t picked it up by 10:30, they called me to find out if they could release it to another customer! I assured them I still wanted the car and we picked it up a few minutes later to drive to my brother’s house near Richmond.

Dinner this evening was outside at the Boathouse Restaurant at Sunday Park in Brandermill – it was our first experience at a “real” restaurant with DIY ordering. Some people hate it; I thought it was acceptable but I’d rather have a little more opportunity to ask questions. On the good side, no one interrupted us with questions like “how’s that tasting?”

The Boathouse overlooks Swift Creek Reservoir; it was a rather cloudy evening, but a little sunset peeked through.