Dreamer's World April 17 2016

Since today is such a lovely day, I decided to catch the bus and go into Old Town Alexandria to walk, sightsee, and have brunch. Since Hal (person) is at work and there was nothing to keep me tied to the apartment today, I made my choice.
The bus trip is only about 15 minutes and saves the expense and frustration of finding a parking spot anywhere near Old Town. I took a nice, leisurely walk along King Street in the direction of the Potomac because it is the heart of Old Town Alexandria. There were thousands of people out with the same idea I had, but it wasn't terribly crowded along the sidewalks.
Old Town Alexandria is a rather trendy and touristy place. As you walk towards the river from the Metro station, the buildings get older and older with each passing block. By the time you reach the last block before the river, the buildings are all at least 200 years old and have been converted into almost every type of restaurant and shop you can imagine.
My intended brunch was at Buggsy's, a local restaurant near the foot of King Street almost at the river. I arrived there and was disappointed, but not at all surprised, to find that the line was out the door. $9.95 for an all-you-can-eat pizza and salad buffet is a good deal anywhere. I decided to brave the line and made it inside the door when I saw a young woman walking past the line in the opposite direction on her phone saying that she couldn't be seated because she was dining alone and there weren't enough places. Under normal conditions, I might have asked her if she would join me since I was also dining solo, but she was far too preoccupied with her own problems so I'm sure it was for the best.
I then reevaluated my own situation and decided that I didn't need the same type of trouble about dining solo. I left the line and resumed my walking but I was torn between a feeling of isolation, and one of resentment. I had forgotten how difficult it can be to go into a crowded restaurant and attempt to dine alone. Since we have very few friends who care to ever do brunch on a Sunday, if I am going to brunch I must do so on my own. This incident clearly reminded me as to why I gave up going to brunch last summer. The isolation that one feels is very unpleasant to say the least. It is a simple fact of life that my schedule and Hal (person)'s schedule seldom give us a lot of time together, especially on weekends.
On the bright side, Hal (person) will be home from work later this afternoon. At that time, we will go to another place for pizza dinner and it will only be half price!