Carly Simon: I was taking piano lessons and my Yamaha school was featured on a morning Fox News Program. Right before our segment was a feature on Carly Simon. I remember my mom asking me, "who is that?" I was like 5 so I replied, "I dunno, some Curly person".
LL Cool J: During my waitressing stint at Houston's Restaurant (unfortunately no longer open in Rockville but its twin, Woodmont Grill is open in Bethesda), I saw my fair share of celebrities. The most memorable was LL himself. I didn't wait on his table but I remember him pulling up in a stretch limo and ordering the rotisserie chicken. Before he left, he asked for all the female waitstaff's names and left a stack of autographed photos for only the women...slick LL...real slick. Guess that's why the Ladies still Love...
Gheorghe Muresan: aka My Giant and Potomac resident. When I owned my bubble tea store, he came in with his son to get his BBT and smoothie fix. Second run in, my husband and I were driving to Lowes in Kentlands. We stopped at a crosswalk and I said, "Hey look, it's Gheorghe Muresan! He's buying a tree." I felt like I was reading US magazine...LOOK! Celebrities go to Lowes too! Side Note: While recounting this story to Neil, he mentioned that he saw Gheorghe again, this time at Home Depot off Shady Grove Road.
Will Smith: I interned at the Four Seasons in Georgetown one winter break as a housekeeping manager. This happen to be the same time when Will Smith married Jada Pinkett (a Baltimore native) back in 1997. During the wedding, Big Willie stayed at the Four Seasons along with his son. I distinctly remember walking through the hall and saw the Fresh Prince himself walking towards me. I nervously made eye contact and said, "Hello Mr. Smith!". As he passed me, he nodded his head and said, "hey". EEPPPPPPP! Ok, not as an exciting story compared to LL looking back.
Ted Koppel: Potomac resident. After a large meal in Bethesda a couple years back, my family went to get froyo at Sweetgreen and went to "sanbu" (Chinese for walking off your food gorging). While walking through the Bethesda Row piazza, I saw Ted Koppel sitting on a bench, enjoying his gelato. In passing, I said to my mom, "hey look it's Ted Koppel". She turned and looked and replied, "Oh yeah, I see him at Safeway all the time. I didn't realize how short he was!".
Donnie Simpson: Potomac resident. One of the few lazy Saturdays, the whole fam went to Tally Ho for breakfast. Located off Main and Main in Potomac, imagine our surprise when we saw Donnie Simpson eating by himself at a corner table! Donnie Simpson was a local morning DJ on WPGC, a mainly hip hop/rap station in the DMV. Neil, immediately turns at me and says, "That's Donnie Simpson!". I was like, "Go say hi!". But we didn't want to be THOSE PEOPLE, all star struck and annoying early in the morning. So after we finished our breakfast, Neil and Donnie exchanged glances and said hello. Man, I so wanted to be like, "WHAT TIME IS IT????? DONNIE SIMPSON SHOW. DONNIE SIMPSON SHOW. DONNIE IN THE MORNING. GET UP....EVERYBODY GET UP!"
David Gregory: DMV resident. He must live in Bethesda b/c I've run into him at least 3 times in the past year. First time was actually in the Jamaica International Airport flying back to Washington DC. As the security line wrapped around the tiny building 3x, Neil sees a tall pale guy with his family in tow get whisked away right to the front of the line. As everyone gave them the staredown, Neil says, "That's David Gregory." I'm like, "Who?" This was right before he took over as host on Meet the Press. All I could think was, "He was just in Jamaica, how can he still be so pale?" Since then, I see him quite a bit around Bethesda Row. Sometimes sitting in front of Quartermaine enjoying the paper, one time walking out of Giant, another time reading a book in front of Barnes & Noble.
Joe Flacco: A couple years back, I few to Dallas, TX for work. On the flight back to BWI, I remember seeing this really really tall guy sitting in the first seat. I remember thinking, that dude looks like an athlete. At baggage claim, I come to realize, it's Joe Flacco - the Baltimore Ravens quarterback. The most surprising thing? We were on an AirTran flight! Not to knock AirTran but it's a no-frills, no first class, average-joe type of airline. And here we are, Joe friggin Flacco, was flying AirTran! I feel like Us Magazine: "Athletes are JUST LIKE US! - They go to grocery stores, get flat tires, and FLY AIRTRAN...just like us!
Do you have any great celebrity run-ins? Please share!
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