Cherry Blossoms and Tired Tourist

David very nicely picked me up at 10 p.m. at Ronald Reagan airport in DC.

The next morning, my phone alarm went off at 7 a.m. (groan) and I hurried to shut it off so that I wouldn't disturb my hosts. I lay back and turned my head and I heard, "Meowrrf!" Apparently, Hawthorne and I had shared a restful night together. (He is a very friendly cat who likes to tell me how badly Jane and David treat him.)  David dropped me at the Metro in Silver Spring and I took it to Union Station where my Hop on Hop Off bus tour started.

There are 120,000 panels gilded here at Union Station. It's big!

 

Above is the Postal Museum, across the street from Union Station. This one's for you, Glen!

 Interesting pattern on buildings. (above)

 Impressionist effect (above)

 I know Sue would love this pay by phone. She could use her wrist!

 Even the Hard Rock Cafe has cherry blossom fever!

 

How tacky is this? It's across from Ford's Theatre where Lincoln was shot. I imagine if he had lived, he would have gone across the street for a waffle after the play.

 Above is the African American Museum. Oprah gave $12 Million toward its creation. See the woman with the hood? This is the second day with 30 m.p.h. winds.

 Sights leaving Union Station from the top of the bus.

 Below is the American Indian Museum with no square corners -- only rounded walls because evil spirits can dwell in square corners. There are, however, square corners in the rest rooms ...

 Below is the Natl. Aeronautics and Space Museum; astronauts on lower right. I have been there and seen Lindy's Spirit of St. Louis and some of the original space capsules (when they landed in water).

 Urban garden below. Do you suppose it was inspired by Mrs. Obama?

 

The digging here is to put in an irrigation system for the grass. I believe this is where people often congregate and it might be where they assemble for the Inauguration. However, I doubt the grass will be green in January.

 The National Archives (above and below).

 

Gold dome above one of the original fire stations. But it says Insurance Co. above the door. If you didn't pay them, they would let your house/shop burn down.

 International Spy Museum (a private business) was on my agenda for the day after this.

 

Sculpture from NYC was used for notes with people trying to find loved ones after Twin Towers attacks. It was removed to protect it from unstable buildings.

 

Very ornate building used to be a department store. It's empty but maintained.

 Above is a quick view on the right of St. Patrick's which was built for the Irish workers who came to build the original DC.

 Hey, Mom, this is for you: it's the Fed.

 I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed the Museum of American History! Below is the first exhibit on the first floor that caught my eye. Natch.

 Below you will see random photos that I took there. I did not photo Judy Garland's ruby slippers, or Ray Charles' spangled jacket, and so much more. I just enjoyed!

They wouldn't let me into the Archives, so I only pressed my nose against the glass door.

 Look at what I found!

 I also got to see Carnegie's note book and it was opened to the W's. He had noted "West Springfield, Massachusetts $25,000."

Not sure I would be good at using this toaster.

The Price of Freedom was very large beginning with the Revolutionary War.

Okay, I do my best, but ... the pictures garbled themselves when I uploaded them here. The larger captions are from the first day. Which leaves the small type for the second day. I think.

I decided to take today off. This is how I started my day: I scaled and cleaned fish! (David showed me how before he went to work.)

 Above is a walleye.

 The small fish are white perch. I won't show you the aftermath, because it's not pretty, but I'm sure they will be wonderful for supper.

Jane had said I could use a car today and I said, "Which one?" To which David replied, "The Corvette."  He was joking. Damn! Yes, he bought her a vintage Corvette. I get to drive the van with the shift stick (automatic) on the wheel.