**This post was written last November about our trip to D.C. the first week of Nov. I didn't quite finish writing it before the holidays happened and so now I am getting around to actually posting it. Also, please note, all these pics were taken on my phone (I thought Matt had the battery charger for the camera) so please excuse the sometimes bad photography.**No, No,
Virginia is for lovers. D.C. is for two tired parents of four kids. A few weeks ago, Matt and I had the chance to go back to D.C. for a quick visit. He had a bar conference and I tagged along. It was a wonderful trip and thanks to many members of our family who watched the kids, we were able to make it happen. Here is the rundown on what we did in D.C. in four days. (This entry is mostly for journaling so fair warning to all -- this is a very long post it is not too late for you to turn back.)
Day 1: We left our hotel in Dupont Circle and rode the metro downtown together. Matt went to his conference and I continued on to Chinatown to get breakfast and then walk to the National Gallery of Art. Did I mention that I was BY MYSELF? Not that I don't love going places with Matt or anyone else. I just really really love going to museums and galleries (and other places too) alone so that I can do what I want, however fast I want to. Anyway, moving on. I started at the National Gallery and saw so many incredible pieces of art that somehow I didn't notice last time I went there with three-three year olds. How could that happen?
Here is a close-up of a Seurat painting. I love his stuff.
After spending 2 hours at the National Gallery (Which has an awesome Kids Gift Shop by the way), I walked across the street to the Newseum. Now the Newseum is a little known "museum" about the news. It used to be located close to our home in Arlington but soon after we moved there it closed in order to rebuild in D.C. Well I never got the chance to go before it closed and it finally opened last year. I have always wanted to go so here was my chance and It didn't disappoint. Now it is NOT a Smithsonian which means nothing except that you have to pay lots of $ to go in. Well, it was totally worth it to me and here are a few of the highlights:
It started with a line of front pages from newspapers from all over the country and the world. It was November 3rd so what do you think was on those front pages? President Elect Barack Obama. Despite my wishy washy opinions of his win, it was really cool to see those.
Next, I saw a section of the Berlin Wall. The grafitti side was facing West Berlin and the clean side was facing East Berlin. They kept it clean so that they could spot a person who was trying to escape.
Next I visited an exibition of famous cases that the FBI has solved and saw these fascinating gems:
The D.C. sniper's car. You can see the hole just above the license plate that they stuck the barrell of the gun out of. Creepy. That brings back a lot of bad memories of that time. Dodging and weaving while getting out to fill up your car at a gas station, or driving to the grocery store that had an underground parking garage, or trying to figure out a way to tell your kids that "No you can't go outside and play in the yard becuse I am afraid you might get shot".
This is the Unabomber's cabin. I thought it was interesting and creepy.
Next I passed the radio tower from the North Tower of the World Trade Center. It is two stories tall and as you can see quite mangled. On the wall behind it are the front pages of hundreds of newspapers from around the world from September 12th, 2001. It was a sobering reminder of that day.
This is the view of the Capitol from the Newseum terrace. Pretty leaves.
This shot is of the Newseum's 5 story entrance. The screen is huge and that day they were playing Barack Obama's acceptance speech on it. It was very cool.
As you can imagine, free speech is a big deal to the Newseum. This is a map of the world that tells us which countries have free speech (green), who partially has it (yellow), and who doesn't (red). I actually surprised that more countries don't have free speech.
I am including this picture below because I realized that most of my pictures don't have people in them. That can be sort of boring for those that weren't on this trip with me. This is me in front of a row of pictures in the Newseum's Pulitzer Prize Winning Photographs Exhibit. By far the best exhibit you could ever attend. It is a walk through history. I could look at these all day. At the end of the exhibit they had a bunch of computers that had thumbnails of all of the photos and you could select any photo and see a close up of it and in most cases hear or read the back story on that particular photo written or told by the photographer. It was FASCINATING! If you live in the D.C. area and haven't seen this, you should! Just don't take your kids with you because there are some disturbing images.
The next stop in Amanda's big day out is the National Portrait Museum/National Museum of American Art. These are little known museums run by the Smithsonian. They are housed in one building that is NOT located on the National Mall. This is probably why it is not really crowded. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this place. I probably spent about 3 hours here and I actually can say that I looked at every piece of art housed here. Following are some of the pictures from there.
This is the courtyard where people can sit and eat and relax. One reason why I loved this place. Look at that cool roof and those awesome chairs.
This is a portrait of Joseph Smith, the founder and first prophet of my Church. It took me a minute to remember that we weren't in Utah or in some LDS Church building. There was a portrait of Brigham Young right next to this one but it was too small to photograph.
Is this considered a portrait? I guess nowdays, yes. I thought it was funny that there was this whole section just for this cardboard stand-up Captain Jack Sparrow.
At first glance I thought that this was a bad painting of an old George Washington. It is in fact James Madison. I bet you didn't know what he looked like. Now you do.
This is probably my favorite portrait in the whole gallery. It is of Toni Morrison and I love the simplicity of it. Do you think it is a photograph or a painting. It is a painting! I was astounded at the detail and the utter perfection contained in this portrait. I looked long and hard (before reading the plaque) to try to figure out if it was a photo or not. I wish I could remember the artist's name so that I could give him credit. Amazing.
This was the Modern Art room. Very cool yet very very wierd. Modern art is just not my thing. I wish I could say that I understand it but I don't.
This is one of the pieces housed in the modern art room. The tv's are all playing wierd sounds and pictures that supposedly represent each state. Utah's tv's were showing sand blowing in a desert.
This is the only piece of Edward Hopper's that I saw. I love this painting and almost everything that he paints. I wish I could buy one. Anyone have a zillion dollars I could borrow?
There was an exhibit of Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams (as the sign says). I took a picture of the poster because photography wasn't allowed inside the exhibit. Ansel -- I love. Georgia -- I don't love, don't get.
This is a cool portrait of Michael Phelps taken after the 2004 Olympics. (Sorry there was no way to avoid the reflection of me in it.)
Day 2: Shopping and lunch with Camille. Sorry no pictures but it was heavenly. Container Store and Crate & Barrel were the highlights. It was great catching up with Camille, my dear friend.
Dinner that night was out with our good friends the Gardners, Garfinkel-Huffs, and Guzmans. We had lots of good food and laughs. Great time!
Day 3: This was the day for me to do more things that I never got around to while I lived there. The first was seeing the National Cathedral. I went with my sister Anne, who has lived there for 5 years and had not previously seen the Cathedral either. It was so grand. I wish I had my good camera so that I could capture the interior. The stained glass windows were beautiful.
This picture is taken from the Bishop's Garden just outside of the cathedral.
Here is Anne getting the shot. She took three cameras with her that day. (See the Holga in her lap.)
I liked how worn these steps are. It is fun to think of where they might lead. Actually, they lead to nowhere - a fence.
Me and Anne. Don't I have a nice double chin? I really need to work on the "self-portrait pose". Anne has it down.
After the Cathedral we went to pick up Matt. Matt? you say? Yes he was on the trip with me. Maybe later he can write about all the interesting things he learned about white collar criminal defense. Actually he got to hear Michael Chertoff speak which was cool.)
On our way to Capitol Hill we drove by two place that I did not visit this trip but I highly recommend: The American Indian Museum (make sure you eat at the restaurant).
...and the Botanical Gardens Conservatory.
Our next stop was the Library of Congress. Wow what a building. This picture is of the front of the building which is NOT where all the books are. I couldn't take a picture of that.
Anne striking a pose.
Aahhh, there is Matt.
This is Thomas Jefferson's library. He had a LOT of books and for some reason they didn't want anyone to take pictures of them. I had to be sneaky to get this one.
The ceiling is all mosaic tile.
Next we went to Eastern Market and worked up an appetite so we stopped here. The Good Stuff Eatery. This restaurant is kind of Five Guysish. It is owned by Spike who was on the last season of Top Chef. He was there and when I tried to get a picture of the interior of the restaurant, he walked into the picture. I felt so stupid that I moved in the middle of it and the whole thing was blurry. It was kind of funny. Anyway, here is the outside.
They serve burgers, fries, and shakes. Great burgers and great fries. We especially liked the four different fry sauces. They are reminiscent of how Belgian frites are served. Tasty.
Later that night we went to a gathering of friends hosted by our friends the Stansels. It is always so great to get together and catch up. It was also fun to see the Stansels newly remodeled home. Loved it!
Day 4: More shopping. We drove to the outlet's in Leesburg, VA which are some of the best. On our way out there we stopped by our old house on Beulah Rd. and saw this:
The house has been torn down. We knew that our landlord was going to do it but I am still a little sad. Even though that house was really stinky, it was cute and we have such great memories of our year living there. Matthew saw this picture and started to tear up. It was so cute.
See, I told you that this was a very long post. Hopefully you got some fun ideas for activities for the next time you are in D.C. Matt thank you for the wonderful trip. It was wonderful!
Kate and Claire after the Nutcracker.
Claire posing with her apple crisp that she made all by herself. She is turning into a little chef. Her favorite channel to watch is the Food Network and she is a whiz at making anything with potatoes.
A grumpy Matthew after a ski lesson at Solitude.
Claire is a little less grumpy.
Kate and Jake underneath all those goggles. Actually despite the other two kids' sour faces, they had a good time that day.
