Agree with everything Marc said, it was a fun evening, fun to see Marc, Arlene, Tom and Mona again, and to meet all those we didn't know, Crystal, Beth, Randy, John, Tanya, Penny, Ray, Jan, Carol, Barbara and of course Denise and Alan who started it all. We also enjoyed meeting John and Tanya's friends who were along.

Great time! Agree with the camera comment Marc, but it will be fun to see the pictures! :D :D

I'm glad everyone had such a good time. Safe travels to those heading home.
Looking forward to those photos!!!!!!!

We got back into Hagerstown about noontime. As we were checking out of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, we ended up getting free parking for 2 vehicles, 4 free drinks last night, and free breakfast this morning. It worked out well. The location is safe. It is all new buildings along the waterfront area. It was a hike to get to the mall, etc. Thus we used taxis.

Sat. at noontime, we ate lunch at Old Ebbitts Grill and then had a wonderful tour of ABC NEWS by Tom. Met everyone at the studio. Took alot of photos. Had a great dinner at 701 and saw the LCT members again. It was an excellent day. Had a great time meeting everyone and putting faces to names.

Want to thank Denise for setting it up and Tom for the reservation and the excellent tour.
I am going to send Karen the group photo and see if she can't post it for me.

For me this was my big event since the major surgery in June, and to see the people that have been so supportive, it did bring tears to some of our eyes. That is what is so special about the LCT people.

It was a good time, and so great to meet everyone. And we even managed NOT to get thrown out of the place.

WOW! Fantastic picture!!! :app: :app: :app:

Welcome home Jan!! What a great picture of everyone. It sure looks like a fun weekend together. YOU of all people on LCT deserved such a great getaway.

Marc and I just got home from DC. What a fantastic time we all had! It was so wonderful to see Denise and Alan on Friday night. Tom's tour for all of us at ABC was terrific!!!!!! He is such a great host. What fun seeing both Mona and Tom again so soon after MUSH... and on their home turf. We also got to finally meet so many other LCTers we hadn't yet met. It was great to finally meet Jan (JanMD) in person! For all of you who have been so worried about her.... She looks fantastic! (Jan you are such an inspiration to all of us!) It was great too, seeing John and Tonya again as we hadn't seen them since PIP. Dinner was wonderful....another great LCT party!

Glad you all had such a good time - you were missed!!!

Sounds like a good time was had by all, as usual! I watched The Sentinel last night, which is set in Washington DC, and thought of you all :)

Dena

so glad everyone had such a great time at the LCT dinner. thanks for posting the picture.

Nancy

We really enjoyed seeing you too, Arlene and Marc so soon after MUSH, good luck with your move to Japan!!

Sounds like a great time was had by all! There has never been a bad lct party! Jan, I was particularly touched by your words about this being your first major event since your surgery. You are looking hale and hardy, and I hope things continue to go well.

Once more, Denise organized a great event, with help from Tom!

Jan does look great, I echo Arlene on that, she says she feels good and she had a beautiful smile on her face and said things are going well.

Denise and Tom did a great job organizing this and it was perfect!! Thanks to both of you.

Tom and Mona see you soon for dinner - Denise and Alan, looking forward to CROSS!!

Looks as if the days and evenings were great. Sorry to have missed it but we headed west on Friday and got back home just in time for services this evening. The weather we had was perfect, nice dinner in a restaurant we tried about 10 years ago, got to see A Funny Thing Happened.... -- community theater group's very first show and only the second performance of it -- great job (not Zero Mostel but he was good anyhow, as were the others in the cast, and good choreography, too). All in all, a nice birthday weekend.

So next time anyone comes to DC, maybe we can meet then.

Did someone have a left-to-right, front-to-back who's who in that great group photo??

I'll give listing everyone a try. Please don't be offended if I get someone wrong:

front row, left to right: Tonya, John, Barb, Jan, Denise, Alan

back row, left to right: Tom, Jay, Sue, Frank, JoAnn, Carole, Ray (seated), Penny (seated), Mona, Crystal, Arlene (seated), Beth, Randy, Marc (well, part of Marc--seated).

It was a wonderful dinner. Mona and I had a great time and it was a pleasure meeting everyone.

Jan, that's such a nice picture.

Hope we can do one again soon. Tom.

Penny and I are safely back home after a wonderful time in DC.

We got to see all the monuments we wanted to see and made mental plans on what we want to see when we come back this Summer when visiting my niece.

Tom: Thanks so much for all your energy in lining up a tour of your high tech shop. Nothing is easy these days and we really appreciated your thoughtfulness and your unprovoked acts of kindness.

To those we knew before the dinner, it was fun seeing you again. To those we didn't know previously, we're glad we had this opportunity to to break bread together and we look forward to seeing you on the next adventure, whenever, wherever it may be.

Some of you asked that I post my toast and here it is:

There are good ships, there are wood ships, ships that sail the seas, but the best ships are friendships ... may they always be.

Cheers! Ray

Ray, I love your toast! :) It's wonderful to meet and share fun with old and new LCT'ers.

i don't see any picture! :(

Hi Y'all, I've finally made it home. (Randy and I were 7.5 hours on the road yesterday and another 6 <ferry and driving> for me today!! WHEW!!) It sure was good to meet everyone.

Many thanks to Tom for the tour of the ABC News studio. Everyone at the studio was so nice and friendly to us. I think many of us have photos taken in the ABC This Week studio. I'll try to post mine later today.

Dinner was such fun: meeting, greeting and eating, etc. :lct:

p.s. Randy loved meeting you all. He's ready to cruise now......

Ray,
That sounds like an LCT theme toast! I love it!! :)

Ray thanks for posting for toast- we all thought that was wonderful.
Glad you all made it home safe and sound.

As Sheri says- that would be a great LCT theme toast. <img border="0" alt="[beer]" title="" src="graemlins/beer.gif" />
As Beth says- we wished that we would have been able to talk more with the other table but the tables were back to back. It was great to talk to everyone at the studios. We ended up having 2 events in DC. Which was wonderful.

Jan

You're right, Jan, we did have 2 wonderful events. I'm ready for another GTG!!

Tonya & I had a great time meeting everyone. It was nice to see Marc & Arlene before they head over to Japan. We can't wait to drop in on them next year and get a tour of Tokyo.

Thanks to Denise & Alan for getting us all together, and of course thanks to Tom for setting up the ABC tour and picking a great restaurant.

I'm pretty sure that was Ray's quote for MINT. It's always appropriate for any LCT get-together, on board or on land! :D

Masaki

Masaki:

You're so right. I put that toast on the front cover of the booklet we (you, me & marcie) made up and gave to each MINT LCT cruiser.

I use the toast all the time.

Cheers! Ray

We just got home about an hour or so ago. Long, tiring travel day. I did, however, want to make a quick post.

We had such a FANTASTIC time in D.C. and at our long awaited, much anticipated LCT gathering!

More to follow tomorrow. I have over 175 emails to clear out of my in box!

Good to see that everyone arrived home safe and sound!

Denise, Glad to hear that you and Alan made it home safe and sound. Looks like all of us DC GTGers are home now.

Denise: Welcome home! You were missed on LCT - sounds like the gathering was a big success

Good Morning!

We're still on East coast time, so up very early!

Hi Beth! It was so nice to finally meet you, Randy and Crystal!

It was also great meeting Tom, Mona, Jan, Barb, Carole,Tonya, John, Sue, Jay, JoAnn and Frank, as well as seeing Arlene, Marc, Ray and Penny again!

All our flights were perfect and we arrived in D.C. at 5:00PM. Cab from DCA to The Willard took no more than 15 minutes!

We stayed at The Willard, which is a magnificent property! Public areas, guestrooms, Willard Room, service and amenities were superb!

We had a WONDERFUL time dining at Old Ebbitt Grill with Arlene and Marc on Friday night! We hadn't seen them since VOF.

We spent Saturday morning at the Holocaust Memorial Museum. For anyone who has not visited this museum, I strongly suggest doing so. While it is a tremendously emotionally experience, it is one that serves as a wrenching reminder of the attrocities committed against humanity.

Tom arranged a fantastic tour of ABC News on Saturday. Thank you so very much for taking time out of your busy day to show and explain the inner workings of ABC News! Your staff could not have been nicer and more accommodating!

Tom also arranged our reservation at 701 for Saturday night. A perfect choice, Tom! The food, service and atmosphere were great!

Alan and I spent part of Sunday morning strolling. Police were all around the White House area, blocking off the streets. A crowd gathered. We then heard and saw several helicopters overhead. Bush's helicopter flew right over us!

We spent the remainder of Sunday with my cousins from Silver Spring. A great day with family!

Alan and I took the hop on/off bus on Monday, after having a superb breakfast in the Willard Room - It was beautiful and wonderful! So much to see in so little a space of time! I would recommend seeing the FDR Memorial. Lovely memorial!

A must stop for us was the Vietnam Memorial, as Alan served in the Army during Vietnam. A very emotional experience for us both.

We had dinner at a great restaurant, Chef Geoff's, located on 14th. For any in the D.C. area, I would suggest giving this one a try.

Another terrific breakfast on Tuesday morning, before I met with my friend/counterpart at The Willard, the Executive Assistant to the Regional V.P. of Operations and GM. We spent almost an hour visiting.

Off to DCA to catch the first of our two flights back home to SOCAL.

An awesome four days - The weather could not have been more brilliant, the hotel could not have been more luxurious and accommodating, the sights more magnificent, the restaurants more sumptuous, the company of friends/family (old and new) more fun and enjoyable!

Jan,

Seeing you on Saturday was so special! You are a lovely person and your strength and courage amaze me. You are such a fine example of how to handle life's most difficult bumps in the road with grace and determination! We so enjoyed meeting you, your lovely mother, Barb, and wonderful sister, Carole!

Tom/Mona,

Thanks for everything you did to make our dinner so memorable and our ABC touring so informative and interesting!

I wish we could have had more time visiting with you both. Hopefully, we will do so some other time very, very soon!

Arlene/Marc,

Seeing you both again was something we had so greatly looked forward to. We were thrilled to be able to spend some alone time with you both to play catch-up and to hear of your tremendously exciting plans for your move to Japan.

I am going to email you the wonderful photo I took of you both at ABC. REMEMBER - We are at the TOP of that B&B list!!!! You promised!!!

John/Tonya,

Alan and I truly enjoyed meeting you both! Not nearly enough time! However, another LCT gathering/group cruise will present the opportunity for us to spend more time together.

John,

Have you started working on our next LCT gathering? Time to set your planning wheels in motion, don't you think? You had a very interesting idea for the next get-together; therefore, I pass the Planner's torch to you ;)

JoAnn/Frank,

See you next November on CROSS!

To all who participated - It was a wonderful time! To all who, unfortunately could not join us - You were missed!

Photos to be posted, hopefully, later today!

Sounds like a fantastic time was had by all. So happy for all of you!!