Thursday, June 30, 2011
I got up again at 7:30 am, showered, changed, and ironed my new blue shirt to wear.
What a yummy breakfast I had!
I had scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, French toat, strawberry yogurt, butter, a banana, skim milk, and cranberry juice.
After applying my suntan lotion, I took the 9 am scheduled free shuttle to the Van Dorn subway station.
I took the subway to Capital South and went to the Library of Congress first.
 | The Library of Congress is, fittingly, next to Congress (the US Capitol). I was looking forward to seeing the Civil War-era photo collection. They were smaller than I expected but beautifully displayed. They even had a Lookout Mountain photo! | |
| The interior of the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress has been restored. I took a film class in 2005 at Eastern Michigan University. We learned about a 1917 film called Birth Control by Margaret Sanger. I was so intrigued by the idea of this early film by an American woman, which my textbook said the Library of Congress had a copy of, I said I'd ask about it if I ever got to Washington. It wasn't in the electronic catalog, but I was allowed to go ask the librarian, who let me call the motion picture librarian in another building. Turns out they don't have the film (it had been mis-identified) and don't know who has a copy! I was disappointed that they didn't have it, but it was so exciting to talk to the librarians! |  | |
 | Another picture with me and the pretty US Capitol dome, this time from the other side. | |
| My next stop was the Folger Shakespeare Library, which is close to the Supreme Court and Library of Congress. The Folger has a short film and nice public room with lots of Shakespeare First Folios. |  | |
 | Here is a photo of the Supreme Court. (I didn't go in.) | |
| It was lunchtime, so I decided to walk up the street from the Supreme Court to Union Station. Even from afar, it looks like a historic train station. |  | |
 | The inside of Union Station has been beautifully maintained/restored. I was happy to see the station so busy. | |
| I finally found the packed food court! |  | |
 | After making the loop and looking at the many, many choices for lunch, I decided on Great Wraps. I like wraps, and they offered me a free sample! | |
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| Here is my combo meal: chicken salad wrap, lemonade, and curly fries. | The wrap was very dense and delicious! The curly fries were completely bland. | |
| After lunch, I took the subway to the Smithsonian stop. My first site to visit was the Natural History Museum. I walked through the interesting Race exhibit to get to the rocks and minerals section. I ended with seeing the Hope Diamond. |  | |
 | After the Natural History Museum, I went to wait in line at the National Archives, which includes the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. Just as enjoyable as seeing our nation's (very faded) founding documents was the "What's Cooking, Uncle Sam" exhibit on the government's influence on how Americans eat. I had never seen a ration card or really thought about how ration cards worked. I learned a lot! | |
| After the National Archives, I walked through the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden to get back to the National Mall. I do love public sculpture! The highlights for me were the silver tree, officially named Graft, a work by Roxy Paine (in background of photo) and Roy Lichtenstein's House I (just "off-screen" to the left). The red sculpture is Cheval Rouge by Alexander Calder. |  | |
 | My final stop of the trip was to the National Museum of American History. Even though I was wearing out quickly, I really enjoyed the First Ladies exhibit. I found some of the other exhibits poorly laid out, though, especially the America on the Move and the military exhibit. (It made me miss the Henry Ford Museum.) | |
| I caught the subway at the Federal Triangle station at 5 pm to head back to the hotel. The dinner on my final night in Alexandria was cheeseburger sliders (delicious!), potato salad, baked beans, salad with shredded cheese and choice of dressing, nacho chips with salsa, and drinks (again, Sierra Mist for me). It was the best of the three nights! |  |
I really enjoyed my time in Washington, D.C.!
| Back to Itinerary | On to Day 13 |