Thursday, September 20, 2007

Day Six
Washington DC

Sadly, we spent only one day in Washington. There just wasn't time enough to see anywhere near what we wanted to see. On the plus side, although we were way far south in Alexandria, we were on an express bus route that would take us to the metro station which we could rely on for the day's sightseeing.
We got off the Metro at Capitol South which was practically right outside the Library of Congress. My mom had pushed to go there both before we left and right then, but I wasn't all that interested, but since we were right there, I said ok. I am glad we went in. I was blown away by it's opulence and grandeur. I also thought it was interesting that they had a display room of Bob Hope's career.
Here's a few pictures showing it's grandeur. It wasn't easy getting pictures, so I'm sorry for the poor quality, but if you haven't been before, I think you get the idea.


After a couple hours in there taking a tour, we went outside and decided to walk down the mall. I really didn't have any specific plans. I kind of like it that way.
Here's a picture of the capitol building. It appears that the statuary crowning the dome is surrounded by scaffolding. I guess it's under construction as well as the whole backside, like just about everything else in the DC area.

We then wandered down the pathway on the south side of the mall and ran across the botanic gardens. That was a great place to end up. As it should be, it was tremendously beautiful and so incredibly lush.
Here are several pics... I will post them small, but click on them and you'll see a larger one.
Row 1: Entrance landscaping, Bee on familiar yellow flower, Water Lily

Row 2: Water Lily, Ceramic Tile Wall from UC Davis, Glass Sculpture in pond

Row 3: Rio Grande Botanic Garden display, Sculpture pond view, Dinnerplate sized Hibiscus (i swear!)

Row 4: Rio Grande display with Am. Indian museum in background, interior display, same, unknown awesome flower spike.

The grounds were incredible and well taken care of. The only drawback was that more plants were not labeled. It was kind of random what was and what wasn't.
And for my crowning glory... well of that day... a quick slideshow. Enjoy! :)

Look for some pics coming soon on my Mom's blog too!
I will continue Day Six in the next post... the memorial section!

6 comments:

RuthieJ said...

Ah, Washington, DC....I spent one afternoon there many years ago and have yearned to go back ever since. Thanks for sharing those pictures--especially of the monarch on Lantana (I think I can grow that here as an annual in summer, so I'll have to remember it for next summer).

Heidi said...

Good idea... Lantana really does attract the butterflies - especially the red and yellow version. I noticed that was one of the butterfly favorites back east.
This particular Monarch darted across my path and landed right next to me on the lantana... I just couldn't pass up taking a few pictures. I tried to get a video, but the sun was such that I couldn't see the screen and ended up getting only 1 second's worth of the Monarch.

Larry said...

Great photos!I especially like that photo effect with the Monarch.I think I'll look in to that Lantana as a possible addition to my garden too.

Heidi said...

Thanks for visiting Larry!
I don't know if you have photobucket to upload your images to, but it's just a slideshow. I like it too.

Mary said...

Red,

Thanks for visiting my blog the other day. Your photos are remarkable and I have enjoyed your Mother's blog and seeing familiar sights there since I am originally from Maryland.

I love that ceramic tile wall - well, I love all of your photos.

The Monarch on the lantana video - wow.

Heidi said...

Thanks Mary :)
Wouldn't you like to have a wall like that in your garden? I think it would be really cool. Hmmm... I know some ceramic artists... wonder if they could do that. Or maybe I should contact UC Davis!

 

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