Well, I posted a LOT of pictures today, so the Cliffnotes version of the day for the casual non-family reader is we went to the Museum of Natural History, over to the Old Post Office Pavilion for lunch, wandered over to the White House Visitor Center to confirm where we needed to be for our Saturday morning tour, gaped at the spectacle surrounding the lighting of the White House Christmas Tree, walked over to the Washington Monument to ride the elevator to the top (denied - closed due to high winds!), back to the apartment, then down to the waterfront to eat supper. I took around 300 pictures, half of which are decent, so it was tough to pare down the selection. As you other bloggers know, our blog serves as our scrapbook to ourselves, so a lot of these are on there just for me to review our vacation five months from now when I've been working four months straight, 11 hours a day, just to remind myself why hard work pays off.
The weather was absolutely perfect today, partly sunny, mid-50's . . . . .
Approaching the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, a true gem of a place.
The elephant in the Rotunda, greeting you first thing.
Gotta photograph the Ty Rex baby!
Triceratops and stegosaurus have always been my favorites.
Some of the dioramas are simply breathtaking. I told Goldfish that Chico and I would like to be posted in manly (and dog-ly) poses by the taxidermist when we pass and she assured me she would have us taking down something suitable to our fierceness - like a sparrow or something . . . . . no respect!
Pretty hard NOT to photograph this little guy . . . .
Lots of pictures from the mineral exhibit for my Dad - he was the one that first brought me there many years ago.
Taking a break on the second floor, overlooking the Rotunda.
This was Goldfish's absolute favorite item there, a crown that Napoleon gave his wife. I tried to explain to her we were visiting a museum, not Christmas shopping, but I'm not sure she understood - I fear she is going to be mighty disappointed on Christmas morning . . . .
The Hope Diamond, on display in its own room with its own guard. Pretty enough, I guess . . .
The Old Post Office Pavilion where we had lunch.
The Willard Hotel, right next to the Treasury Department, which is right next to the White House. A wee bit out of my price range, I'm guessing . . . .
The Treasury Department.
The DC Police are all on Harleys, some with sidecars with covers (holding some serious armament, I bet). Well, not ALL on Harleys, there are also bikes and horses and cars and of course all those black SUVs as well. A motorcade went by while we were there with many police cars in front and back of a blacked out Lincoln Towncar - probably the Obahma children coming home from school . . . . heheh . . . .
This is about as close as we could get to the White House tree (left of frame) as you needed tickets well in advance to attend. The really funny part is that the night before when we were walking by, returning from the Lincoln Memorial, the tree was lit - they were probably testing everything out.
We ended the day at Cantina Marina on the waterfront. My Jambalaya Pasta was AMAZING, I would go back there but I thing Goldfish already has a different place line up for tomorrow night. No 10 Thoughts from DC tonight folks, it's past my bedtime! Cheers and goodnight!
Well, I posted a LOT of pictures today, so the Cliffnotes version of the day for the casual non-family reader is we went to the Museum of Natural History, over to the Old Post Office Pavilion for lunch, wandered over to the White House Visitor Center to confirm where we needed to be for our Saturday morning tour, gaped at the spectacle surrounding the lighting of the White House Christmas Tree, walked over to the Washington Monument to ride the elevator to the top (denied - closed due to high winds!), back to the apartment, then down to the waterfront to eat supper. I took around 300 pictures, half of which are decent, so it was tough to pare down the selection. As you other bloggers know, our blog serves as our scrapbook to ourselves, so a lot of these are on there just for me to review our vacation five months from now when I've been working four months straight, 11 hours a day, just to remind myself why hard work pays off.
The weather was absolutely perfect today, partly sunny, mid-50's . . . . . 
Approaching the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, a true gem of a place.
The elephant in the Rotunda, greeting you first thing.
Gotta photograph the Ty Rex baby!
Triceratops and stegosaurus have always been my favorites.
Some of the dioramas are simply breathtaking. I told Goldfish that Chico and I would like to be posted in manly (and dog-ly) poses by the taxidermist when we pass and she assured me she would have us taking down something suitable to our fierceness - like a sparrow or something . . . . . no respect!
Pretty hard NOT to photograph this little guy . . . .
Lots of pictures from the mineral exhibit for my Dad - he was the one that first brought me there many years ago.
Maine tourmaline Dad!
Taking a break on the second floor, overlooking the Rotunda.
This was Goldfish's absolute favorite item there, a crown that Napoleon gave his wife. I tried to explain to her we were visiting a museum, not Christmas shopping, but I'm not sure she understood - I fear she is going to be mighty disappointed on Christmas morning . . . . 
The Hope Diamond, on display in its own room with its own guard. Pretty enough, I guess . . . 
The Old Post Office Pavilion where we had lunch.
Because of the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, there were some serious cameras heading towards the White House. Serious camera envy on my part . . . . 
The Willard Hotel, right next to the Treasury Department, which is right next to the White House. A wee bit out of my price range, I'm guessing . . . . 
The Treasury Department.
The DC Police are all on Harleys, some with sidecars with covers (holding some serious armament, I bet). Well, not ALL on Harleys, there are also bikes and horses and cars and of course all those black SUVs as well. A motorcade went by while we were there with many police cars in front and back of a blacked out Lincoln Towncar - probably the Obahma children coming home from school . . . . heheh . . . . 
This is about as close as we could get to the White House tree (left of frame) as you needed tickets well in advance to attend. The really funny part is that the night before when we were walking by, returning from the Lincoln Memorial, the tree was lit - they were probably testing everything out.
The wind really was whipping but I suspect the real reason for the closure was they didn't want anyone up there during the Tree Lighting Ceremony. It would have been a beautiful day to ride to the top, maybe tomorrow . . . . 
We ended the day at Cantina Marina on the waterfront. My Jambalaya Pasta was AMAZING, I would go back there but I thing Goldfish already has a different place line up for tomorrow night. No 10 Thoughts from DC tonight folks, it's past my bedtime! Cheers and goodnight!
5 comments:
Are not digital cameras the thing to have. It sounds as though youo had a great time talking pictures. You probably still had plenty of room on the chip to take several hundred more.I recall the time that you saw your first moose and you jumped out of the car with my camera and didn't come back until it was out of film.
Glad that I didn't have a digital camera at that time or you might still be running after that moose. I have no idea what ever happened to those pictures.
Glad that you and Kelly are having a great time. It is going to be very nice to have the two of you home for the holidays. Love Dad & Penny
I am so Jealous. I really want to go to DC. Yellowstone was almost out of my price range so pretty sure DC wont be for a while
What gorgeous pictures!! Thanks for the tour of the NH Museum...I'd forgotton what neat things they have there; hmmm, might have to hop down there Christmas week. Been too long.
Have you stood in the middle of the mall and just soaked it all in? It's definitely different...
Might get some snow tomorrow..that should make for some nice pics...
Hope you can get in the monument before you go...great view!!
:-)
High Winds Huh?
We had 120mph+ last night and the APL Crane Flipped over. I'll have pictures on the blog tomorrow.
Try Kinkead's for Dinner Some night. you guys will love it!
Yeah, we heard all about the high winds - quite a storm! Friends that have been there 20 years say this was the biggest they had seen. The house came through it unscathed, thankfully . . . we're a little bummed we missed it, we love the storms!
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