Saturday Adventure - Newseum

Today, Kurt and I spent the day at the Newseum in Washington DC.  We've been

wanting to go here for awhile, so when we came across a great deal on Groupon, we jumped at the chance.  What a fun place to visit!  I will forever watch the news and read the newspaper differently now.  

Some of the things we saw today included amazing Pulizter Prize winning photographs, a portion of the Berlin Wall, sports photography of Neil Leifer, headlines from famous FBI cases and a heart-wrenching display at the 9/11 Gallery.  We also enjoyed the view of Pennsylvania Avenue from the Hank Greenspun Terrace.  Fun day!

National Cherry Blossom Festival

This morning we rode Metro in to Washington DC to see the beautiful Cherry Blossoms. We walked around the entire tidal basin and took in the views. It was crazy crowded, but we managed to get a few photos without a million tourists in them. We also visited the Jefferson Memorial and the FDR Memorial. There is so much to see here. The National Marathon was also taking place in downtown DC this morning, which added to the congestion, but it was so much fun to see and hear the ooooohs and aaaaaahs of everyone who came to see this beautiful sight! It was a crisp, chilly day, and it's supposed to snow again tonight. I hope the freeze doesn't affect the blossoms which are supposed to be at peak next week. Can't wait to see them then!

Great Falls Park

Our Saturday adventure took us to Great Falls National Park today. With all of the recent rain, the Potomac was at flood stage. You couldn't really even see the falls because the river was so full. It was beautiful though. Can't wait to go back when the river isn't raging.

Air and Space Museum - Udvar-Hazy Center

We've visited the Air and Space Museum in DC a few times but hadn't been to their companion facility in Chantilly, VA. Today was the day. We spent the day taking it all in. On display, among many other aircraft, were the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, the Enola Gay, and the Space Shuttle Enterprise. Fun day. Kurt was in his glory ;-)

Fun at the National Zoo

Our Saturday adventure took us to the Smithsonian National Zoo today. We had heard it was just an "okay" zoo, so we weren't expecting much, but I must say that we were both pleasantly surprised. Zoos can be a little depressing to me. I hate seeing animals caged in too-small spaces, pacing back and forth. This zoo wasn't like that at all. All of the animals had plenty of room to roam and play, and they all appeared to be healthy and well treated. The pandas alone were worth the trip. I LOVED the pandas! The meerkats were absolutely adorable too. I could have watched them all day. We ended up spending the entire day, and would go back in a heartbeat. What a fun day!

Rainy Day Adventures

As you can see by my limp, stringy hair, today was quite a rainy day. We had decided to go exploring in DC for the day and didn't let a little (or a lot) of rain ruin our fun. We began the day on Metro and went to the National Archives to see The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. It was such a sobering experience to think that we were actually seeing the original documents. Since photography wasn't allowed at the Archives, you'll just have to go and see it for yourself if you haven't been there. It was an unforgettable experience. We then walked to the Old Post Office and took the elevator to the top where you can see the Congressional Bells and look out over the city. It was too foggy to see much today, but we'll go back again. We then took Metro to Georgetown and had lunch at Martin's Tavern, a historical restaurant where many US Presidents have dined. Kurt had arranged, beforehand, for us to sit in the Proposal Booth - where JFK proposed to Jackie. It was a lot of fun. The food was amazing. After lunch we walked to Georgetown Cupcake for our $3.00 cupcakes. They have been made famous on the TLC show "DC Cupcakes." I love the show and just had to see what all the hoopla was about. The crowd was lined up down the street, in the rain, waiting to get in. Brought back memories of Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken. At least they served complimentary hot chocolate at Georgetown Bakery while we waited. We finished the day by browsing through shops in downtown Georgetown. What a fun day!! I'll post all of our pictures soon.