It seems I just don’t care What I look like… I think it’s the compression socks that really set off the ensemble.
We arrived at Dulles International after a most uneventful flight and easy-peasy transfer to be greeted by our home-away-from-home for the first four nights of our visit East, here for Caleb and Hannah’s WEDDING. It’s wedding season folks, for Lona’s grandchildren.
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Windy ordered a quick InstaCart delivery and we ate tasty food we both enjoyed.
It’s only a three hour time change but still, I’m writing this at 8am the next day, 5am in LA, and I’ve already been awake 4 hours. I’m seeing a nap in my near future because late this afternoon the wedding events begin.
Check out this menu for the rehearsal dinner served up family style with all the steaks and the salmon you want. It was quite delicious and the groomsmen were hitting it hard! Did Caleb Finally get all the steak he could eat?
The Grandma and the Great Aunts, then on the right we have the Great Aunts and Another Great Aunt!
And let’s include our newlyweds from a few weeks ago in Hawaii, Caleb’s little sister Charis and her sweetie Peyton!
I had a small job for this Wedding Day, to follow the list of photos from Hannah, getting the people together, who’s next, where’s the last bridesmaid, etc. They did a photo shoot early at a park with the bridal party, and another shoot after the ceremony at the church.
Beth took a few pictures at the park while the event was proceeding.
The guest book, where people left messages in a book full of pictures of the bride and groom. Hannah made this book and I think the idea is brilliant and the execution was perfect.
The beginning of the gatherings after the ceremony. Hannah has seven brothers and sisters and the rest of the family on both sides is pretty prolific too. At one point the whole stage was full!
The reception is here in this large church hall, so well lit with all those cool windows.
And they had a square dance caller who got really great participation.
Some of the professional photos are available now and I snagged this one right off!
Above is a map of Alexandria from 1863. It looks much the same today.
(All of today’s pictures are from the internet except one that Windy took.)
These days, still with full grown trees.
1=location of the wedding 2=where we were staying for the wedding 3=a visit to Alexandria 4=we’re going into DC for three nights.
We were on a route to look for street art but I think we were in the wrong neighborhood altogether. Here are some of what the guidebook called the highlights, pictures from the internet, that frankly didn’t much inspire. I didn’t even get out my camera…
Windy took the picture of the figures on the grass and the internet shows us how they were first installed.
We walked all down King Street where we did some shopping (read Windy bought 3 tops and a necklace) and then enjoyed the waterfront. We were hoping to take a ride on the Potomac River ferry but the timing didn’t work. It was pretty blazing hot in the pounding sun but surprisingly comfortable in the breezy shade.
Windy cooked us a breakfast and a dinner from the first day’s Instacart delivery, and we ate lunch in a nice place in Alexandria. We are certainly not going hungry.
Al-ex-ander-Ham-il-ton. You sang it, I know you did.
Our hotel is right around the corner and down the block from the National Portrait Gallery so, soon after getting settled, we popped in there. It was oddly organized and here’s an explanation from their website:
The National Portrait Gallery shares this magnificent National Historic Landmark Building with the Smithsonian American Art Museum. It is one of Washington’s oldest public buildings. Begun in 1836 to house the U.S. Patent Office, it is also among the nation’s finest examples of Greek Revival architecture. A recent renovation restored its most dramatic architectural features, including skylights, a curving double staircase, porticos, and vaulted galleries illuminated by natural light.
Someone else’s idea but I grabbed the shot too.This was a great show of modern photographs. I Dream A World – Selections from Brian Lanker’s Portraits of Remarkable Black Women (Part II). Our own Queen Liliuokalani. part of the exhibit 1898 US Imperial Visions and Revisions. This time was so well explained in one of my favorite books, Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell.You know what I’m thinking.The atrium at the National Portrait Gallery.
Out for a walk to dinner we took a swing into the US Mint Coin Store.
Nice job on what has become a common display these days.
We walked through Chinatown and had a very tasty dinner in a small restaurant with nothing but Chinese people in there.
It didn’t, however, seem like there was much of a Chinatown but we might have missed the good parts?
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Washington DC is go-for-it in pot world USA, including store-front shops like Granny Za’s and look what’s in our minibar in the hotel!
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And not to forget that our dear sister Lona came out to join us for lunch after her visit to the Museum of the Bible where you can find the scientific evidence that confirms the age of the universe at approximately 10,000 years old. We enjoyed ourselves and our lunch and didn’t talk about the age of the universe.
And a couple MUSEUMS. And btw, It was so hot. H.O.T. hot.
The view from the roof garden of our hotel..
..notice the roof over the atrium and the columns of the National Portrait Gallery..
..and notice the columns of a few buildings around our neighborhood..
..and the roof garden itself where it was too hot to even consider sitting down for a second.
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Our plan for the day was to visit the Natural History Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum, and then take the Monuments at Night tour.
From the Natural History Museum, this giant piece of quartz.
And the Hope Diamond drew a crowd.
Below is my only picture from the Hirshhorn. This was a huge floor to ceiling triptych that I loved. I went back to this gallery to look at it again. Why, I asked myself. Why do I like this one so well and others not. I still don’t know.
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We picked up some sandwiches for dinner and ate here at this park before catching the bus for our Monuments at Night tour. Notice those swings hanging in front of a fixed table. We saw this exact structure in front of a few restaurants too.
First drive-by on the tour, you can see the raindrops on the window.
Our last stop was at the Korean War Memorial. We got into the scene and the Sky Opened. It was as if someone on a ladder dumped a bucket of water on your head. And then he followed you around dumping bucket after bucket. We made a dash for the bus and that was it for our tour.
Windy got this shot moments before the Big Dump. It looks like Life Magazine.
Our plan for today: the Library of Congress, the National Botanic Garden, and the Sculpture Garden of the National Museum of Art.
First, the Botanic Garden.
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The Sculpture Garden.
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The Library of Congress.
We didn’t get a good view of the Capitol Building during the Monuments at Night tour because the front has surrounding scafolding.
And our beds at the Riggs Hotel “set within a former bank building dating from 1891.” From their website: “We are honored to have been recognized as the #1 Best Hotel in Washington, D.C. for the second year in a row in the Travel + Leisure 2023 World’s Best Awards.”
Christa came to have breakfast with us back on day 1 when she was on her way back to Sacramento, but I forgot to use this picture. Unfortunately the picture is unbearable, I couldn’t make it better but maybe I’ll try again later. Thanks for making the time Christa!
Since we didn’t fly out until late afternoon we decided to go into Georgetown for a look around and the fine folks at Rosewood Hotel stored our bags for the few hours we were out and about. It was again, as it was every day, hot. We gave up early and went to the airport an hour before we had to just to lavish ourselves in their air conditioning.
Our first plan was to eat some early lunch at Filomena, which we did do, but not early, because this sign for a massage tripped us up and we had to respond with a sigh and Yes, Please!
After the massage and lovely lunch we walked up many blocks in search of thrift store where Windy could do some treasure hunting. Georgetown is indeed lovely and I can see why people choose to stay here and commute into DC for sightseeing.
