1 to 2 flights : Washington, DC 2018
Good afternoon Lj readers,
how are things? I : am back! from a recent trip I had an opportunity to take to Washington, DC with my friends John and Brian. We had visited previously last year, by an interesting coincidence, as well.
* Saturday
We took a direct Southwest flight (in which I solved my first ever sudoku puzzle! using the airplane's free wifi / homepage) and headed for the blue subway line, one of a few which would take us near our hotel. Alas it was literally day 2 of a 2-day temporary closing of that exact line. After transferring to a replacement bus and walking, we arrived at the red-colored hotel Kimpton Rouge.
As the closest subway line was temporarily down, I ate at a Starbucks en route to the National Gallery of Art, where I cut through the lit-up walkway between the west and east buildings. From there it was on to the painted-ceilings of the Library of Congress, east of the national mall, where I saw the circular main part from the balcony landing. Past that was the Foldger Shakespeare library, with an original 1623 printing of the bard's works, among other things. I watched some actors run lines from "The Scottish Play" before heading to German-themed Cafe Mozart, with its tasty veggie burger, for dinner.
* Sunday
Today was a "travel by train" day. After walking to Dupont Circle, a subway stop west of the hotel, I relaxed at a nice 2-story Starbucks there. The DC locations nicely have an all-vegetarian salad the Ohio ones do not. I used my MetroPass on the red line to the Cleveland Park exit, where I walked north and followed the Melvin C. Hazen trail east to where it essentially dead-ended at the river. Very peaceful - almost no one on the trail! Lots of ups and downs, including multiple crosses of the shallow creek, may have contributed, heh.
In the evening I walked uphill north from the hotel to Meredian Hill park, which has a nice cascading fountain which... was under construction, heh. So instead I explored the nearby crowded Whole Foods, which had some interesting things including a Santa Rosa plum varietal and coffee-flavored kombucha. Later in the evening all three of us went to a local ice cream place, where I tried Thai-tea-flavored ice cream and a nice coconut-milk-based halva blend as well.
* Monday
After using a Groupon to the located-within-a-museum-of-female-artists deli Dirty South, I continued south and eventually found the old post office building, alas now literally a Trump hotel. Multiple elevator rides provided access to a nice view of the huge, multiple-story open lobby and tower atop. One could see many of DC's main buildings from here.
From there it was on to the Art-Nouveau-esque Asian building the Freer gallery and the gardens and fountain east of it. Next to that was Smithsonian Castle, with a free make-yourself-into-a-mosaic picture application I used. After resting from walking, I continued to the circular, always-interesting Hirshorn Museum of Modern Art (alas accidentally missing the exhibits on the first floor). From there it was on to a place I had seen before, but which is always nice : the US Botanical Gardens / greenhouse.
Catching the red line at the Judiciary Station stop north of the national mall back to Dupont Circle, I relaxed and had a pea-and-pasta dinner at nearby hotel restaurant Nage, courtesy another Groupon.
* Tuesday
Today I explored areas around the hotel at which we were staying. After 2 breakfast burritos at a nearby cafe', I walked back north from the eatery to Anderson House, a large, lovely circa-1905 mansion with marble floors, a long well-lit orangery-esque back and a grand ballroom today used for wedding / party rentals. The house-seeing was by (free) tour only, so I stayed for a while and then continued on to another eclectic collection of art - the Phillips. A smaller collection, the building held 3 floors of art (the top one was 'special exhibits') and some well-known artists, including Renoir's famous Luncheon of the Boating Party, which was nice to see in person.
Having kept a well-organized schedule, I had some free time in the afternoon to not only metro back down to the National Gallery of Art to finally see the 'other' side of what I had thought was a one-sided picture by Leonardo da Vinci, but also to return to Rock Creek park with a calzone I got (using a coupon, of course) and relax by the creek.
* Overall
Of the (about) 12 different places I visited this particular trip, 8 of them were for the first time. Not too bad! I was also able to finally figure out how subway lines are actually organized, in terms of which side of the railway you stand on to get to where one would like to go, heh. I was good with my pre-loaded Metro card, and had just $3 left on it as of the conclusion of the trip.
Lots of Jeffersonian marble buildings throughout DC, including a few which are being renovated as hotels or business centers. We walked past some other interesting places as well, such as a Scientology center, embassies to various countries near the hotel and even a Freemason building (of which we alas did not go in) north of us.
For a gallery of 10 pictures, one may click here ~
Okay. Have a good evening!
Take care,
* Geoff
how are things? I : am back! from a recent trip I had an opportunity to take to Washington, DC with my friends John and Brian. We had visited previously last year, by an interesting coincidence, as well.
* Saturday
We took a direct Southwest flight (in which I solved my first ever sudoku puzzle! using the airplane's free wifi / homepage) and headed for the blue subway line, one of a few which would take us near our hotel. Alas it was literally day 2 of a 2-day temporary closing of that exact line. After transferring to a replacement bus and walking, we arrived at the red-colored hotel Kimpton Rouge.
As the closest subway line was temporarily down, I ate at a Starbucks en route to the National Gallery of Art, where I cut through the lit-up walkway between the west and east buildings. From there it was on to the painted-ceilings of the Library of Congress, east of the national mall, where I saw the circular main part from the balcony landing. Past that was the Foldger Shakespeare library, with an original 1623 printing of the bard's works, among other things. I watched some actors run lines from "The Scottish Play" before heading to German-themed Cafe Mozart, with its tasty veggie burger, for dinner.
* Sunday
Today was a "travel by train" day. After walking to Dupont Circle, a subway stop west of the hotel, I relaxed at a nice 2-story Starbucks there. The DC locations nicely have an all-vegetarian salad the Ohio ones do not. I used my MetroPass on the red line to the Cleveland Park exit, where I walked north and followed the Melvin C. Hazen trail east to where it essentially dead-ended at the river. Very peaceful - almost no one on the trail! Lots of ups and downs, including multiple crosses of the shallow creek, may have contributed, heh.
In the evening I walked uphill north from the hotel to Meredian Hill park, which has a nice cascading fountain which... was under construction, heh. So instead I explored the nearby crowded Whole Foods, which had some interesting things including a Santa Rosa plum varietal and coffee-flavored kombucha. Later in the evening all three of us went to a local ice cream place, where I tried Thai-tea-flavored ice cream and a nice coconut-milk-based halva blend as well.
* Monday
After using a Groupon to the located-within-a-museum-of-female-artists deli Dirty South, I continued south and eventually found the old post office building, alas now literally a Trump hotel. Multiple elevator rides provided access to a nice view of the huge, multiple-story open lobby and tower atop. One could see many of DC's main buildings from here.
From there it was on to the Art-Nouveau-esque Asian building the Freer gallery and the gardens and fountain east of it. Next to that was Smithsonian Castle, with a free make-yourself-into-a-mosaic picture application I used. After resting from walking, I continued to the circular, always-interesting Hirshorn Museum of Modern Art (alas accidentally missing the exhibits on the first floor). From there it was on to a place I had seen before, but which is always nice : the US Botanical Gardens / greenhouse.
Catching the red line at the Judiciary Station stop north of the national mall back to Dupont Circle, I relaxed and had a pea-and-pasta dinner at nearby hotel restaurant Nage, courtesy another Groupon.
* Tuesday
Today I explored areas around the hotel at which we were staying. After 2 breakfast burritos at a nearby cafe', I walked back north from the eatery to Anderson House, a large, lovely circa-1905 mansion with marble floors, a long well-lit orangery-esque back and a grand ballroom today used for wedding / party rentals. The house-seeing was by (free) tour only, so I stayed for a while and then continued on to another eclectic collection of art - the Phillips. A smaller collection, the building held 3 floors of art (the top one was 'special exhibits') and some well-known artists, including Renoir's famous Luncheon of the Boating Party, which was nice to see in person.
Having kept a well-organized schedule, I had some free time in the afternoon to not only metro back down to the National Gallery of Art to finally see the 'other' side of what I had thought was a one-sided picture by Leonardo da Vinci, but also to return to Rock Creek park with a calzone I got (using a coupon, of course) and relax by the creek.
* Overall
Of the (about) 12 different places I visited this particular trip, 8 of them were for the first time. Not too bad! I was also able to finally figure out how subway lines are actually organized, in terms of which side of the railway you stand on to get to where one would like to go, heh. I was good with my pre-loaded Metro card, and had just $3 left on it as of the conclusion of the trip.
Lots of Jeffersonian marble buildings throughout DC, including a few which are being renovated as hotels or business centers. We walked past some other interesting places as well, such as a Scientology center, embassies to various countries near the hotel and even a Freemason building (of which we alas did not go in) north of us.
For a gallery of 10 pictures, one may click here ~
Okay. Have a good evening!
Take care,
* Geoff