Bowlero at Tysons Galleria

My mom said she liked to bowl. As kids, we also bowled. I haven’t given it much thought until I read somewhere there are five reasons to visit Tysons. Since the wind was howling after a dreadful rainstorm last night we didn’t want to take a morning walk outside. So for the first time in months we decided to drive over to Tysons Galleria to walk there instead. It was always our go to place for inclement weather until the pandemic struck. Now that things are settling down - or at least we are vaccinated and wear masks indoors - a trip to the mall was in order. There has been construction work going on for at least two years or more where the Macy’s three level store once stood. When we walked in today the first thing we noticed was Bowlero - a huge entertainment venue on the main floor. It just opened, but only in afternoon and evening hours. So we peeked through the glass to see what was going on. We didn’t see any bowling alleys as such, but there were signs - along with a lot of other arcade type things to do. For whatever reason it feels sad to go to the mall. I used to love going to Northbrook on the way to Chicago to search for seasonal work and leisure clothes. Now I don’t care what I wear and dread the idea of having to get something if we really need it. At least there is some place for those inclined to go to spend time doing something different. We will just walk past it. 

The Mall, National Gallery of Art, Gardens, Gas and McDonalds

We were home by noon. We left the house around 9:40 and parked by the Smithsonian Castle before ten. We used the park mobile app and walked towards the sculpture garden to start getting some photos for the 52Frames texture challenge this week. The first photo was the grass with the Capitol in the distance. The sculpture garden fountain is always enchanting. Next stop was the national gallery west building. I remembered seeing a Degas ballerina sculpture that had an interesting tutu. Then we walked through the early American furniture section. From there we left the front entrance and walked down the many steps to the gardens and fountain, across the mall to the air and space museum that had no traffic because it was closed. The mall was noticeably less busy - virus surge, school starting? The Hirshhorn museum is getting some sort of facelift and is surrounded by scaffolding. Then on to our favorite Hirshhorn and Smithsonian gardens. It was getting really humid and our hour and a half was almost expired. We only put on 1.6 miles - well short of our usual 2. On the way home we stopped for gas and then McDonald’s. We got home around noon. It’s nice to know we can still do all of the above and have a full day ahead. I spent a lot of it trying to figure out which photo would be most interesting for the challenge. It’s a great hobby - especially now. It’s nice to have a variety of options. Now I just need a better camera. 

Tysons Corner Center

It was a cold and rainy morning. Rather than walk in our condo underground parking structure like we used to do in the winter, we decided it was time to take a ride over to Tysons Corner Center. We haven’t been in the mall for fifteen months or more. We used to go there and Tysons Galleria alternately whenever the weather was foul, too hot, too cold, too snowy, or too rainy. Since the shop hours have changed our usual entryway near Bloomingdale’s wasn’t yet open. So we found parking near the entrance for the morning walkers. It was decidedly dark and very unpleasant driving through the lot. In spite of the fact that the mall wasn’t yet open, the parking was rather full. The first floor food court was the first section to walk through. It seemed like about half of the people milling around wore masks. Even though we are both vaccinated we also wore masks and most of the stores required them before entering. I was surprised that more of the stores hadn’t closed for good. It was nice too see some semblance of normalcy, but it didn’t quite feel that way. Once the mall officially opened the Apple store had a lot of customers, as always. By the time we left it got a lot busier, but I was happy to leave. Everything looks so artificial. I’m still not interested in a lot of material things snd if necessary prefer to buy in on line. At least there is now another option for walking. But nothing beats the outdoors for that. 

Tysons Galleria, Rain, and Morning Walk

It’s been about fourteen months since we stepped foot inside of a mall. When we moved to northern Virginia over two years ago we would oftentimes drive over to either Tysons Galleria or Tysons Corner Center for a morning walk - usually when it was raining or extremely hot or cold. Over the last many months we walked in the condo underground garage under those circumstances. Yes, it was a place to go, but not very energizing. Since we are both vaccinated now we decided it was time to try out the mall again because it was raining - and see what has changed. We were surprised that so many stores had remained open at Tysons Galleria. The parking garage was rather full, but once inside we didn’t see a lot of people, but it was before official opening time. There were mostly people like us getting in a walk and the usual Starbucks crowd. It looked like about 50/50 wearing masks. We decided to keep ours on just because we were inside. It was good to see the outside world again, but something terribly artificial about it - including the orchids that are all over the place. It looked sort of the same, but felt different. I think it’s going to talk a while to feel normal again. But it’s one more activity towards doing what we used to do. I’m looking forward to attending programs at the Library of Congress which was such a routine for us before. But I don’t see that happening for a long time. 

The National Mall Walk

We’ve been pretty much home bound since March. We gradually started taking car rides after our morning walks to break up the monotony. After making a few trips in to DC, we thought yesterday was a good day to actually take a morning walk in our old neighborhood. It was a bit overcast and perfect for the occasion. So we parked near our old house on Capitol Hill and stated the trek towards the Capitol. It was easy to find parking because the city is still quite shut down and the streets were empty. We passed by the Library of Congress where I worked for ten years, then crossed over towards the house office buildings. A few people were out and about here and there but nothing like what a typical summer typically looked like. We felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. At the west side of the Capitol a lot of restoration work continues. The ducks couldn’t be bothered by us; the botanical gardens building was closed as were most of everything else. The mall looking toward the Washington monument was bare - hardly a soul to be seen except for the workers at the Air and Space Museum. On the way back along Independence Avenue the new Eisenhower memorial awaits the grand opening that has been long delayed. We put on three miles yesterday - and it felt like it when we got home. It’s hard to believe we lived on Capitol Hill for thirteen years. We are glad we can still visit every once in a while. But it doesn’t look the same.