lunch cruise on the potomac

i was a little apprehensive about going on this work sponsored lunch cruise, but with this nice weather (and the chance to legitimately take a three hour lunch) i figured i'd give it a shot. we cabbed over to the waterfront and got our tickets to board the spirit of washington. before we boarded we had to take the obligatory pre-cruise tacky picture, but luckily i was able to sneak by the photographer. we got on the boat and the "hostesses" showed us to the upper level, which we had all to ourselves.

at this point i was starving so i immediately broke into the rolls on our table. they filled up our waters and handed out coupons for drinks (don't worry - it was only for juice or soda). and then the dj came out. now i'm sure he was forced to play all the bad music he played, but come on. i mean it was painful. and they conveniently had the speakers turned up all the way. i think my ears still hurt.

right before the boat pulled out they did their safety spiel. one of the "hostesses" doubled as a flight attendant of sorts and showed us how to properly adjust a life vest, in the event that we needed one. keep in mind this woman was wearing a black velvet dress w/ rhinestones. it was about as heinous as you could get. at least it was black - any other color would have just been tragic.

then they called our tables up one by one to get some food from the buffet. let's just say the food was nothing to write home about. and luckily there were still some extra rolls on the table. and as we were all eating the dj came over the mic to announce that our entertainment for the afternoon would be arriving shortly. ooooh boy, this was going to be great. so it turned out our entertainment was a group of two girls (the "hostesses" - they were multi-taskers) and two guys. i honestly felt like i was at a bar mitzvah. a really bad bar mitzvah.

luckily there was a top deck, so we excused ourselves to go get some sun and see the "sights." the boat took us down the potomac past old town and then turned around and brought us back. so the "sights" were hains point and the awakening, all the naval stuff, old town, the torpedo factory, etc. it was thrilling, let me tell you.

we ventured back down into the cabin just so we could gobble up our dessert, which was actually quite delicious (and most definitely not nutritious). it was some sort of chocolate layer cake with strawberries - right up my alley!

before the entertainment started up again we made a bee-line for upstairs and spent the rest of the cruise up in the sun. too bad we had to stand around in heels - all the chairs were covered in pollen - gross. as we started to pull back into the dock we figured we'd sneak back downstairs so we could get off the boat faster. big mistake. the entertainers were back and had dragged some of our group up to do the cha cha slide, etc. well actually some of them looked like they were legitimately enjoying themselves, so more power to them.

we finally pulled in and they docked the boat. we hopped off and as we walked down the dock we passed all the pictures they took. luckily i had bypassed that situation. and like anyone would actually buy one of them anyway. we went to hop in a cab, but there were no cabs in site. we had to walk all the way down to the cheap motel (stuck in between zanzibar and h2o) before we could hail one down. but then it was just a hop, skip and a jump and we were back to the office.

and now, three hours later i'm still feeling a little nauseous. i'm not sure if it's from the food or the boat. it's probably both.

and tomorrow is bring your kid to work day. we got an email about all the fun activities they have planned for the kids. and the best part of the email was: "If you have an important meeting or conference call during this time, please just shut the door to your office. The children will be instructed that if a door is closed, they should not disturb you." well it's a good thing i have an office door i can close. ugh.

but, i'm optimistic - tomorrow means there's only one more day until charlottesville. hooray!