DC April Trip

This picture of the Washington Monument through the Cherry Tree was taken close to sunset. It's dark but I still liked how it came out.
My Trip to DC was a lot of fun. I stayed with Shari & Mark. They’re renting a nice condo out in Dunn Loring, right across the street from the Metro Station. It’s really convenient, that’s for sure. Mary & Bill drove over from PA the day before I arrive. They met me at the airport on Sat morning, and then we all went to a late lunch when Shari got out of her mosaics class. We walked around downtown for a few hours, starting with the Law Officers Memorial and ending with the Jefferson Memorial. There were big crowds in town for the Cherry Blossom Festival.

Here is a picture of us 'girls' in front of the FAA Admin building :-)
And the next one is Mt. Vernon from the river.

Mary & Bill had to get home on Sunday. I spent the next week taking the Metro into town each day and exploring while Shari & Mark were at work. I tried to see most of the big sights, but still only saw a few of the big Museums. I like to walk and walked the Mall several times. I also took a boat trip down the Potomac to Mt. Vernon. The river trip is beautiful and Mt. Vernon was worth a couple of hours.

I guess I’ve been spoiled by my last couple of trips to Europe. In comparison DC was very new, very functional, plane & gray. All the buildings are stone or concrete, but there isn’t much ornamentation or variety. And there isn’t much color; even the metro was very colorless, all concrete. Though it was also without beggers & pickpockets, which was rather nice. There is also a LOT of security and standing in lines, to stand in another line, to see part of something and the rest of it’s closed.
This is the Capital Building from part way down the Mall.
Shari & Mark took ½ days off on Friday and we drove over to PA to spend the weekend. It was really a pretty drive. The grass is green but the leaves on the trees were just starting to pop out. Lots of rolling hills & fields. Virginia is definitely manicured looking, and PA is a bit wilder. It’s a 4 hour drive, which isn’t bad at all. Gio & Vince drove up from Newcastle and meet us for the weekend. We all stayed with Mary & Bill, Katie & Matt. The house was full but we had a good time. Unfortunately Katie & Matt both had to work on Saturday, but the rest of us went into PA and wandered around some of the river sites near the big sports arenas. We finally made it to a market area as it was closing, but had a good time anyway. Sunday after brunch we all had to head home.

Shari, Gio, Mary, Vince & Mark at Mary & Bill's.



I’ve posted a link to all the pictures. Please take a look if you’re interested.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorijmurray/sets/72157600718361346/
and then look for 6 Washington DC Trip

I’ve also added a new feature to this blog. Over on the left hand side is a subscription box. If you sign up, you’ll get an e-mail when ever I add a new entry to this blog. I know I’m going to be rather sporadic with additions.