Detour

On Thursday morning I had a meeting downtown. On the way back to my apartment to work from home for the afternoon, I decided to take a detour and swing by the Mall to look at the cherry blossoms. I made the trek the first few years I lived here, but haven't done it the last few; the crowds are just too tortuous and I get too frustrated.

It's no secret the Mall is spread out and requires a lot of walking. Let me say this, when it's 85 degrees and you're wearing black dress pants and carrying a laptop, the distance seems to multiply. And since I really didn't have more than 30 minutes to spare, I decided to snap a few photos of the blossoms near the Hirshorn and call it a day. I mean, it's the same tree, same blossoms as those on the tidal basin, so technically I succeeded.

On the walk to the metro I saw that one of my all time favorite D.C. sights, the fountain at the National Gallery Sculpture Garden, was on. Yay! My first few summers in the city I used to attempt to satiate my need for water by heading to the fountain on the weekends. Since moving to an apartment complex with a pool, I don't go to the fountain as much. While I felt a little silly hiking up my dress pants and setting my laptop bag beside me, I still dipped my weary feet for a few minutes.

Operation Christmas Cheer: Botanic Garden

This was my first trip to the United States Botanic Garden located on the Mall, a mere stone's throw from the Capitol. When I used to live on the Hill and would take evening walks around it, I'd see the pretty glass building from afar, but never entered.

I'd heard about their amazing Christmas display and had meant to go the first weekend of December to capture some pretty photos for my Christmas card. Alas, I went out to celebrate a certain friend's certain engagement and didn't quite feel up to it the next day. (So if you see one of these pictures on my card next year, pretend to be surprised.)

I planned on being there right when it opened at 10, but didn't end up getting there until 10:30. Not a big deal, right? Nope, wrong. Every family in D.C. must have had the same idea and the line was way out the door to get into their famous train section. As much as I love trains is also how much I hate long lines, so I skipped the trains and headed straight for the Conservatory instead.

The main draw are the re-creations of famous D.C. landmarks and buildings made out of natural items like gourds and sticks. They were simply stunning.

Clockwise: Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial,
White House, Washington Monument

Capitol, Capitol Dome, Supreme Court

The Botanic Garden, Smithsonian Castle, and Library of
Congress, Jefferson Building (I think that's its name.)

I took photos of some of the pretty plants and the colors that really caught my eye.

 

There are lots of different sections and gardens that I was able to walk around, despite the hoards of people. There was also what they call the "jungle," which is several stories high, full of flora, and very warm. You can even go up a flight of stairs and walk around the "canopy." You can see the jungle in the background behind the lone train they had in the Conservatory.

I didn't really get photos of this section but I did take photos of one of the displays. I'm calling this "Reindeer Games" and I just love it.

Close-ups of some of my favorites. The one in the middle, clearly vogueing,
is my favorite.

I've lived in the city for 5 years and it's so nice to find something new -- and free -- to do. I'm definitely adding this to my Christmas traditions list and will also visit during the other seasons as well.

Operation Christmas Cheer: Capitol Tree, National Tree, and Willard Hotel

This week's goal is to get almost all of my Christmas posts done. We'll see how this goes.

I love the holidays every year, but this year I was especially determined to enjoy them. Sometimes I can get so caught up in the shopping and doing that I get too stressed to enjoy everything. So this year I started my shopping much earlier, and let myself be ok if I didn't get to do everything I normally do.

The result? I had an entire day before leaving for home – I'd even already half-packed for home – in which to do whatever I wanted. Thus I embarked on what I called Operation: Christmas Cheer. Which consisted of me doing my usual National Christmas Tree and Willard Hotel viewing, plus the addition of the Capitol Christmas Tree and the National Botanic Garden. Though my first stop of the day was the Botanic Garden, I'll start with the last three since I have so many beautiful pictures to sort through.

I've never made it to the Capitol Tree before, I'm not sure why. I expected it to be smaller but it was really quite large and majestic. I expected the Capitol to dwarf it but they really complemented each other.

The tree's ornaments came from people in Colorado and I took a few photos of my favorites. It wasn't too cold of a day and as you can see, the sun was shining and the sky was blazing Carolina blue, so I just took a few minutes to stand and stare.

After that, it was off to catch a bus to take me closer to the White House. (Figuring out even just one bus route along the mall is going to change my life.) Last year's tree was quite puny as it has just been replaced after the previous one was damaged during a storm. The replacement tree ended up dying and they replaced it with this much more grand one.

 
The state trees have different ornaments every year, with handmade creations encased in clear plastic cases. But this year some of them had decorated the outside of the case, like New York and Florida, or completely eschewed the cases like Idaho, who had gourds. Either there were new regulations this year or there have never been regulations and some states finally got creative, but they were much more impressive this year. My favorite was Florida, with their gorgeous orange blossoms that looked like glass.

 
This is Connecticut's tree. This was the day after the Sandy Hook tragedy and a little memorial was forming.

My last stop was to look at the outside and inside decorations at the Willard.

I used to only do the outside but I also love to go inside. Their main tree is full of all the past White House ornaments. They also had a pretty amazing gingerbread house.

Day 271: Everybody reads

It's been a dreary few days here in Washington. Luckily, I love the rain and dreariness. Except for when I have to be out in it. Except for when there is a National Book Festival going on, mere minutes from my home, which I attended today.
I got a late start and missed a few people I wanted to hear, but saw the big three I had hoped to see, and had a nice few hours surrounded by soggy, fellow book lovers.

Tiki Barber, who is quite short in person. Sadly, I did not get to heckle him, as had been my original intention. (The heckle? "Hey, Tiki, remember when you called Eli Manning a joke? Haha, how funny was it when they won the Super Bowl without you?" Hey, at least it's better than my stand-by Duke heckle, "Your architecture sucks!")

Bob Schieffer, who was awesome. Intelligent, funny, and a brilliant journalist. And, totally friends with Helen Thomas. Cokie Roberts, also quite short. She spoke about the founding mothers, with some really great stories. Sadly I had to leave before it was over as I'd been standing for three hours and thought my legs were going to fall off.

Day 244: For love of country

DC is so full of monuments and memorials it is hard to keep track. I know I haven't seen them all, but today I added a new one when I finally saw the World War I memorial for the DC residents who fought. I've been meaning to check it out and after visiting the Air and Space Museum, Jefferson and World War II Memorials, Joey and I checked this one out before heading home.
A very specific, very neglected monument, but beautiful nonetheless. And it's no surprise that I feel a particular pull toward this, as its Grecian design is quite like a certain other beloved structure.

Day 222: Fun in the Sun

After a thoroughly exhausting week, it was nice to just be able to sit for a bit, and read by the Washington Monument. It was a beautiful, cloudless day and would have been a crime to stay inside.