Here we are with our sweet friends, sisters Ann and Asha!
The afternoon glow was intoxicating!
The first/last time I visited D.C. I was in college and I don't think I appreciated the amazing architecture that could be found in the city. This time I became obsessed! i love the details on the Eisenhower Building.
When I first took this picture I thought it was awesome the way that they saved the two houses below when they built the Mexican Embassy, unfortunately I later learned that businesses/organizations receive a stipend if they maintain the facade of the old architecture when doing construction, so the houses are gone just the front remains.
Just look at how they only saved two exterior walls, crazy!
Do you think the residents of this house are Dr. Who fans?
On our first full day in the city we went to the National Air and Space Museum.
Our friends Wilson and Liz met up with us to enjoy our time here. (They too flew into town for the wedding)
Somebody was only a little bit excited to go to his favorite museum! Behind his is the Wright Brothers first plane to fly!
After that was the American History Museum, this is THE flag that flew over Fort McHenry when the Star Spangled Banner was written.
Somehow I ended up taking lots of pictures of Colonial Era items like teapots, pockets and dolls!
I also renewed my obsession with finding handle-less tea cups from the period.
Do you know who's coat this is?
If you said General George Washington, then you are correct!
FYI I spared you the numerous pictures of cannons that I found on the camera. Here is one to keep Ben happy...
This amazing ship came from the bottom of Lake Champlain 200 years after the battle in the American War for Independence.
Of course 5 minutes after all of the Smithsonians closed for the evening and hundreds of patrons were emptied out onto the National Mall the clouds opened up and drenched us! Ben was proud of the fact that he smartly carried our rain coats around in his backpack for just this moment!
I forgot to mention, as the day went on we gathered more friends from CA and hung out together.
The subways became our friend, especially when they have an awesome glow!
At some point along the way, Ben was taken by the invasion of the body snatchers!
Our friend Ann highly recommended that we rent bikes and ride around the monuments at night, so awesome! We ended up staying out till one in the morning with our friends Danny and Inna on the last night that we were in town!
Lincoln's Memorial looked splendid!
Reading the Gettysburg Address.
The view of the Washington Monument from Lincoln's steps.
Night shots require long exposures!
Good thing we can hold this pose for while!
Jefferson has a nice memorial tucked away on one side of the mall.
The World War II memorial was beautiful!
We had a late flight out of Reagan Airport so we took advantage and on a whim decided to visit the Library of Congress, I had no idea it would be this beautiful!
I was head over heels in love with the amount of details they put into this building.
Our awesome friend Zach joined us in our excursion.
They, of course, had a Gutenberg Bible.
The ceilings were mosaics and frescoes.
I loved this fresco that went perfectly with the Bible.
The boys hung out with George.
You went to the Library of Congress, but where is the library you may be asking. We went up to a special observation deck to go view it.
The domed ceiling was AMAZING!
The had a small exhibit from WWII; Ben loved this drawing made by a pilot!
From upstairs you could see the Capitol Building.
We discovered they had a tunnel to the Capitol, we figured we'd wander on down there for a visit too!
I had no idea it was also designed for tourist too! Good grief!
Zach used to work at the Frederick Douglass house and was excited to see the new statue they just added of him.
There is a lot more to come from our trip so stay tuned!
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