The Mollicas from Massachusetts and New Hampshire came to Maryland for a reunion over the 4th of July weekend. My nephew Bob Mollica negotiated good rates for the family at the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel, which is just 200 yards or so from the Smithsonian Castle on the Mall, so we got 10 rooms and a hospitality suite.

The whole ordeal adventure began when I volunteered to host the reunion. First I started a web site to help coordinate the planning. At that point I was envisioning a vacation that started in Washington DC for the July 4th weekend, and then took us to Gettysburgh and Amish Country; but it wasn't to be. We ended up having a grand old time just staying in DC.

• Pictures - Everyone but me had cameras, but only Connie sent me any pictures! Here are some photos from the evening of July 4th.

In a Nutshell

We had a ball.

The family started arriving on July 2nd and stayed until July 6th. We met each morning for breakfast in the hotel restaurant, where we decided what we wanted to do that day. Everybody did what they wanted to do, rather than our trying to stay in a group. Groups ventured out to see the Smithsonian museums, the Folklife Festival on the Mall, Ford's Theater, the Holocaust Museum, Arlington National Cemetery, monuments, the White House, the Capitol, the 4th of July parade...well, there is no shortage of things to do in Washington, D.C.!

Seems that inevitably we all got tired each day at about 3:00pm, at which time we magically appeared at the hotel pool near the bar. Each afternoon we planned the evening's activities over cold drinks. The drinks must have affected our judgment because we went to the Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood on July 2nd and 3rd.

On July 4th we had food brought in to the hospitality suite where we held our "reunion gathering." The suite had two balconies from which we watched the best July 4th fireworks display in the USA. This is the view of the fireworks that we had from our hospitality suite at the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel - you just can't beat it!

Connie Mollica Littlefield sent along some pictures that she took during the evening of July 4th. It's only September now, so I still haven't received any other pictures from the rest of the clan. I don't want to rush them. [And now it's November 1999 as I review this page ... still no more pictures!]

Pictures