Air, Space, and the stairs that lead there

Saturday I stopped by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum with a friend. I had been before, but it was at least 12 years ago. So even though there probably hadn't been many changes I didn't remember much from my last visit and was able to enjoy the rockets and airplanes like it was my first time. 

rockets!

space capsule

We also walked by the the Exorcist Steps, which looked lovely and unassuming in the sunshine.

Solutions & Cold Dark Running with Friends

So a HUGE thanks to Alex of ifs ands & butts for giving me a great tip on fixing my photo problem. Now I'm back in business and not a $ poorer. Also check out her blog for some great photos of the Christmas Markets in Germany going on right now. 

So back to my regularly scheduled posts. Last Tuesday I went for a very chilly run with friends around the National Mall. We like to run by Lincoln and say hello.

The great thing about the freezing cold was there was no one else around. So while we had about thirty seconds to spare waiting for the tail end of our group we did a little blurry, terrible photo shoot. Even so I am really glad they finished fixing the reflecting pool and I get to see the Washington Monument x2 whenever I want.

dark, quiet, and cold

a little photo editing so you can see me JUMP

jumping isn't my strong suit

Marine Parade at 8th & I

Every Friday night in the summer the Marines put on a show at the oldest post of the corps. I first heard of the parade through my cousin-in-law's cousin-in-law who plays drums in the drum and bugle corps. The show is free, but when I went to request tickets, the first tickets available were several months out, which turned out to be last Friday night.

A friend and I arrived at the gates around 7:40 and after getting my bag checked and going through a metal detector we were seated in the (padded) bleachers. My tickets said we had to be there by 7:45, but I didn't realize the show didn't start till 8:45. Luckily the sent a few marines out to entertain us. They answered questions and gave us an overview of how the show would proceed.

the marine barracks and flag with 15 stars & stripes

They also gave us a little history. The flag flying only had 15 stars & stripes because that was the US flag when the barracks were built (Kentucky was the 15th state).

commandant's house

 The show started with the President's own marine band. They played a few songs and marched about.

Then the drum and bugle corps joined them and they marched together.

marching through each other

After awhile the Alpha and Bravo companies marched out. The Alpha company contains the silent drill team and the color guard while the Bravo company contains the body bearer section. They did a few gun twirls and then the silent drill team put on a pretty cool routine.

The show concluded with a bugler playing taps from atop the barracks. I recommend checking out the show. It seemed a little long (concluded at 10:15), but that may have been because I didn't eat dinner before hand.

Gretchen goes to Washington

This last week my Mom, oldest sister, and niece came to visit. Flipping back through my pictures you wouldn't know anyone but Gretchen (my niece) was here.

The week in pictures.

first Metro ride

sleeping in front of the White House

and at the WWII Memorial

zzzzzz

awake!

listening at the FDR memorial

chilling with FDR's dog

writing on the wall of dreams

loving Ben's Chili Bowl

enjoying Meridian Hill Park

lunch in Penn Quarter

Air Force Memorial

I happened by the Air Force Memorial the other day just as a storm was passing in the distance. Made for some cool pictures.

EU Embassy Tours

My cousin came to visit last weekend and I thought what better way to introduce her to Washington DC than touring through a few of the EU's finest Embassies (or those with the shortest lines).

We kicked off the tour at Luxembourg. Small countries have small lines (Luxembourg is 51.7 miles long and 32.5 miles wide).

Justine & Luxembourg's flowers

Embassy Flags

After Luxembourg we checked out Estonia. Estonia was giving away bottled water and had people dressed in native outfits. I also picked up a map of Estonia, so if I wonder over from Russia I won't get lost.

Before I found out how popular the event was there were a few embassies that I was hoping to see, the one we made it to was Ireland.

While waiting to get in they had children step dancing out front.

A reel or a jig, I can't remember

And inside they had music! 

The Irish Embassy was had tons of tourist information, cheese, Kerrygold butter, bread, and best of all we got to chat with the Ambassador.

After Ireland we went to Shake Shack for lunch. I hadn't been in a long time and since we were in the area I was craving a Shroom burger. Luckily Justine was up for checking it out. When I went to pick up my food, I was aghast to find a hotdog on my tray. I mentioned the mix up and in a few minutes not only did I have my burger, but also free fries!

After the great experience at Ireland I thought we should head to Spain to gather some information for my upcoming trip. So we headed up 16th street to see another line. This one luckily moved pretty fast, the only hold up being the Spanish guards filing us through a metal detector and our bags through a x-ray. 

The Embassy was recently the Ambassador's residence 

Inside they sold tickets to buy Sangria and Paella and other Tapas and had a dance demonstration, but no tourist information!

Across the street from Spain was Lithuania, which turned out to be the best deal of the day. There was no line, friendly people, free beer and cheese, and front row seats for a folk dance performance.

We didn't make it to any of the others, but I hope to see some of them in the future. 

Cherry Blossom Parade

My new thing to do is sightsee while running. Women like to multitask. So today I had a football game at 1 (takes an hour to get to the field with warm up time) and the parade was from 10 to 12:30. I decided to work in a 4.5 mile run as well. I'm not a fan of crowds or rather my cost/benefit analyses always tilt towards the "its not worth it" side more vigorously than other people's. People kept warning me about the "Cherry Blossom CROWDS", but luckily I lived in NYC for four years and uh... where are the crowds? I didn't fight my way in to the middle of the parade route, but at 18th St. it was very pleasant. My pictures came out ok despite the fact that I couldn't see what I was taking due to the beautiful weather today.

Blossom Balloon

The guy in front (who blends in with the tree) is Nathan Pacheco a Disney recording artist (who?)

Soldiers, sailors, and airmen oh my! 

Miss Piggy... don't ask why? just enjoy her.

Cherry Blossom morning

Friday morning I ran down to the tidal basin to check out the cherry blossoms without a crowd. There was a small crowd there already at 7 am. Mostly people with big cameras waiting for the sunrise and joggers with small cameras. It was definitely a different scene from the week before when I easily ran around the tidal basin without running in to anyone. This time I just ran to the edge and took some photos before running back home.

Jefferson memorial 

The woods

65 degrees at 7 am in March = sweaty

Sunrise

Washington Monument x2

Lions Tigers and Elephants (oh my)

On of the sweet things about DC is most of the museums are free this is including the National Zoo. Now the National Zoo is no Kansas City Zoo, but it does have animals. Since its free you just walk in and get to work. My favorites were:

The Lions

 The Tigers

 and the Elephants

When I reached the Elephants they were getting ready to feed them and having one of the elephants do tricks, which was really fun to watch.

How to celebrate Presidents' Day weekend: Day 3

Truth is I didn't do anything too Presidential on the actual Presidents' Day. The crowded museum on Sunday kept me from attempting one of the official activities. After a morning run and lazing around my apartment I walked over to Georgetown and bought an iPhone. I've wanted one forever and have been pleased thus far. The rest of my day was spent figuring the phone out and grocery shopping and making broccoli salad for the office Mardi Gras potluck on Tuesday.

However according to wiki George Washington frequented Georgetown and Thomas Jefferson lived there while serving as Vice President under John Adams. 

How to celebrate Presidents' Day weekend: Day 1

After contemplating for two weeks where I should go for Presidents' Day weekend (or Washington's Birthday weekend as the Federal Government apparently calls it) I ended up going nowhere.

After seeing this tweet 

I realized I was in the best city for celebrating this holiday and I should take advantage of it. Today the weather is beautiful, high of 55, sunny, not a cloud in the sky (calm before the storm I hear). So I decided to go visit all my favorite Presidents.

Starting out from my apartment I ran about a mile before waving hello to Obama, I continued on another mile to salute Lincoln, Jefferson just got a wave from afar, but I went up to and around Washington's twice, for good measure I went down to the Capitol, and then back to the Whitehouse in case Obama didn't see me the first time around.

I went 7 miles! That is two miles more than I've ever run. I thought it was going to be a 6 mile run, but when I wasn't going to make it back to my apartment in 6 I decided to keep going because I felt good. I credit, runner's world training calculator for telling me I should run at a 11:30 pace (oops missed it by a minute), jog.fm for suggesting songs perfect for a 11ish pace, the sightseeing along the way (both the statues and the people), and the beautiful weather.

In case you didn't believe me

The weathermen are calling for nasty tomorrow, so I might try to take in a museum or two.

Autumn leaves and monuments

Today was a beautiful fall day in our Nation's Capital so I set out to visit the Museum of American History (more on this later) and to check out the new Martin Luther King memorial. Along the way I took lovely photos that incorporated two of my favorite things... autumn leaves and monuments.

The Washington Monument is pretty cool, I can see it from my apartment building which is also pretty cool

I think I've only visited Jefferson once, he just seems so far away

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial is along the tidal basin across from the Jefferson Memorial, pretty nice spot. I heard a lot about how people were unhappy with the statue and that it didn't look like him. I must say in person I like it much more than in pictures. He doesn't look as angry in person, if that is possible. I didn't notice till I got home that his legs fad into the stone... I think it is just all around better in person, so go check it out!

"I have a dream"

I like the red leaves the best

Along the wall they had quotes from MLK. I watched the Republican debate on Foreign Policy last night and I wasn't very excited about some of the candidates responses about torture. When I read the quote below I thought of them.

From the side

From the back