A wonderful trip --- sights, the government in action, being-a-proud-daughter...I cannot wait to go back!
Sculpture outside the Smithsonian Museum of American History
No pictures of the flag over Fort McHenry, but the outside of the exhibit was cool (Smithsonian Museum of American History)
Columns.
Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Home of the Hall of Gems, my new favorite place in the entire world.
Building on the National Mall. Look at that pea gravel!
Maria Sanford, education advocate (Sanford Hall at the University of Minnesota is named after her)--- one of Minnesota's two statues in the Capitol building.
The lady o' justice on top of the Capitol. Check out that hat.
The man himself.
Capitol Rotunda.
Capitol Rotunda, Athena detail.
Ike
Blurry.
Abe!
The Old Senate Chambers
Chandelier
Golden tickets to see the Senate and House of Representatives---live!
In the senate chambers, Dick Durbin (D-IL) reintroduced the Dream Act. Then
this showed up in my inbox when I was going through my 893 emails I had missed from the trip. I was there. Unfortunately, the thing this article doesn't tell you is that there was not a single other senator there listening. I'm not even joking. The place was empty. There were more tourists than interns (who occupied a harem-like position on the lowest carpeted step of the dais).
It was very cool to be there though, even with the awkward lack of congresspeople.
Library of Congress
Outside the Library of Congress
Outside the Library of Congress
Back of the Capitol
Capitol Building
National Archives
On Pennsylvania Avenue, heading toward Ten Penh for lunch.
Naval Memorial
Washington Monument (did you know that nothing in DC can be built to be higher than the Washington Monument? There are no skyscrapers, none at all.)
Flags at the Washington Monument.
Ghosts of the Washington Monument.
Einstein sitting as suggestively as physically possible. With my brother in his lap.
Then on our midnight tour of the monuments,
this happens. Lord. I know that since 9/11 the lights on the mall have been substantially reduced, yet wow. And the Korean Memorial at night is nothing short of terrifying with all those larger-than-life soldiers in full military gear. In the dark. Shiver.
But--the lights came back on.
At the Lincoln Memorial, towards the Washington Monument. The reflecting pool was drained, in the middle of construction or some other sort of thing. Then---"Bridget, let's go to the Jefferson Memorial. It's not that far."
Our route. G is the Lincoln Memorial, I is the Jefferson Memorial. Let's just say it's a little bit farther than "not that far." (the whole evening was over six miles).
Hard-won photo inside the Jefferson Memorial. At 12:30 am, it was deserted.
Eric and I with our grandfather's plane, the SBD Dauntless, in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Gol, you should have seen my mom and brother test me. "What's that?" "Um, a rocket?"
"Bridget. Seriously. Which rocket?"
"Um...Saturn?"
"Oh my gosh, Bridget...are you kidding?"
"No?"
I apparently have the aerospace knowledge of a kindergartner.
Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian
Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian - it's a beautifully organic building.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle ice cream! Quite possibly the most disgusting thing either of us have ever tasted. Think cherry cough syrup, but frozen and the color of antifreeze. Pleasant, right?
Next trip? Cherry blossoms, more of the Smithsonians, more wild rice porridge with Senator Franken, and who knows, maybe the docents will let me have a sleepover in the hall of gems.
3 comments:
Some nice photos! Al Franken? SO Jealous!
Did you go inside the Museum of the American Indian when you were in DC? I haven't visited it yet but my mother used to rave about it. She also said that the cafe in the museum serves amazing food.
From the museum's website:
The museum’s Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe enhances the museum experience by providing visitors the opportunity to enjoy the indigenous cuisines of the Americas and to explore the history of Native foods. The Cafe features Native foods found throughout the Western Hemisphere, including the Northern Woodlands, South America, the Northwest Coast, Meso America and the Great Plains. Each of the five food stations depict regional lifeways related to cooking techniques, ingredients, and flavors found in both traditional and contemporary dishes. Selections include authentic Native foods such as traditional fry bread and corn totopos as well as contemporary items with a Native American twist—think buffalo burgers!
We did go inside and try a bit of food, but I've been lucky to try both food from the American Southwest (my mom taught on the Zuni Reservation in New Mexico), and the Great Plains tribes. In elementary school, we used to have this great program on Wednesdays called Connections where we could take a great variety of classes, from high schoolers teaching basic French to local volunteers speaking about Native American culture...I did the latter one year, and the fry bread the woman made for us was the best I'd ever had. The version in DC doesn't even hold a candle to it, unfortunately. It is an amazing museum, though, lots of stories.
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