Stone and white as far as the eye can see

We must be in D.C.!

We went to the National Mall On Saturday and had 6 1/2 hours to see as much as we could, because by golly, come 5:30pm they be shut.ting.the.doors and kicking people out! There ain't no lingering around here. (According to webster's dictionary 'ain't' is in fact considered a word-so I will use it if I want to)

Holly dropped us off at the metro around 11am and may I just say that coming from NYC riding the metro in D.C. was ridiculously easy.  Ahhhh, loved it!

And the walking wasn't that bad either, we were plowing down that National Mall! We saw so much in 6 hours I can't believe we stuffed it all in. We started out at the Smithsonian castle thing (which we didn't go in, so I don't even know what it is) and we made our way to the Washington Monument

"quick, take a picture. Okay switch, my turn. Alright let's go!"

Lots to see, and a short time to see it all in....so we were bookin' it!

Next we stopped at the WWII memorial-which was amazing! So much detail and thought behind every little aspect, ahhh, we loved it, especially Isaak.

amen to that Mr. Truman.

Then we continued down the path to the Lincoln Memorial (one of the only sites I didn't see the only other time I've visited D.C. 17 years ago.)

this was my favorite. So grand. And massive.

 The steps, the pillars, Lincoln...everything just so awe-inspiring

you really get a feel for just how small you are standing next to it all.

 

Next was the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
58267 names. 

A lot of the people there were looking for names, people they knew. You'd walk by and overhear them talking to a volunteer, asking how to go about finding them, see them flipping through the cataloged books hoping to find their person in a sea of names and stone.

So many people. Too many still missing. Grateful at least their name has a resting place.

We walked on to the Museum of American History, did a quick little walk through, left, and went to the Museum of Natural History, where.....

I got to meet my COUSINS!!!! Holla! Before this I.had.no.idea we were related, thank freakin' goodness we went in so I could be educated! Hmmm, I'm thinkin' the extreme hairiness must be a recessive trait.

 "are they for real?!" 
"yup, they're for real."
"lets get out of here before I pee myself laughing."

 the sculpture gardens

This is as close as we got to the White House.

followed by the west National Gallery of Art building. This was the ONE thing Isaak wanted to do in D.C....to go see the only (which also happens to be his favorite) Leonardo da Vinci painting in the United States- Ginevra de' Benci

This museum was ha-uge! Not only did we only see the west building, we only saw the west side of the west building, because it was so big. And unlike the Guggenheim even though the rooms were monitored with museum personnel, you could take pictures to your hearts content. We didn't even have to sneak that one of Isaak.
Or this one, of me, resting up against this lovely table. It's nice, yes? All those carvings, the beautiful dark wood. I figured with it, oh, I don't know just a sittin' in the middle of the room, that like the couches, you could use them for lounging. Yeaaaaah, you can't. Apparently they just put those big tables in the middle of the floor to tease me. You can't touch them. Which I gathered after one of the stone faced museum personnel body guard people, gave me a look of death when he saw me leaning on it, and started shaking his head 'no' back and forth very sloooowly and deliberately for me to get my grimy elbow off their precious old wood table. A little advice, invest in a rope people! So that people like me who aren't always paying attention will know it's not a resting place. Just a thought.

 I don't remember what this building was-after a while they all kinda started to look the same.

 next we came across the Capitol. Now this building stands out.

 

 imagine working in a building like that! Actually getting to walk up those front steps every day, and have your office be one of those windows overlooking it all. Such a privilege. And an honor. Wish everyone saw it that way.

We hustled to the Library of Congress, (this building is amazing!) which is situated behind the Capitol, because I was mistakenly sure that the Declaration of Independence was there. It's not. Waaaaay back at the National Archives. Which I did not know. Ah well, gotta have something to see the next time we come back I guess. :~) It was still worth the time to come here, this place was like a palace! I have gotta get me a library card here!

we were bookin' it after we left the library because closing time was rapidly approaching, so we ran into the American Indian Museum real quickity so I could give a shout out to my peoples! Hey!! I'm 1/8th Indian. That makes them my people, in my Melissa world anyways. :)

 This I could touch, therefore I did.

After that was the Air and Space Museum which I dragged my feet going through when I was 13.

 For old times sake I did the same thing.
(minus the glasses, the sneakers with scrunched down white socks, and extra large black t-shirt)

And that was it. Closing time. And the final leg on our journey. This vacation was a breath of fresh air for me and Isaak and it was nice to go out and explore with just us. After all, it started out with just the two of us, and every so often it's nice to go back to that (for a little while). But we were ready to get home to the girls. Beyond ready. We missed them something fierce!


Next stop...back to our girls!