Boy oh boy, I have a lot to post. I have been so busy that I’ve spent little time at the computer and a lot of time outside enjoying the warm and sunny summer weather.
Later we rode down to the National Mall and showed Perry the sites. (I rode Lorraine and they rode bikes borrowed from my friends.) He took lots of good pictures. You will eventually be able to find them here.
When Saturday came, we really got into gear, beginning the day at Eastern Market, a farmer’s market and flee market near Capitol Hill where we spent the morning ogling fresh local vegetables and trying on sunglasses and jewelry. I even showed Rachel and Perry my Eastern Market pastime of walking down the long, tent-covered corridor between the vegetable stands and trying each of the samples that the sellers have sliced and set out on plates. Red and yellow tomatoes, strawberries, and peaches. 
Homemade salsas and dips and spreads. Here’s my secret: When I reach the end of the row, I turn around and walk through again for a second sample. (The salted and peppered yellow tomatoes are the best.) The market is always crowded, but now that it’s summer it seems like everyone is out there making their way through the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd, examining the vegetables for ripeness and chatting with the vendors about where the fruit was grown. Yum.
Later on we also visited the US Botanic Gardens, another great photo op. There was some sort of earth / global warming awareness project outside it that involved big sculptures of Earth that had been dressed up by artists to communicate different solutions to environmental problems. I really liked this one that focused on wind energy. Note the real windmill in the background.
For dinner, we had falafel at Amsterdam Falafel (which my dad says will make you feel-awful, but we disagree) and walked down to the Lincoln Memorial to see it (along with the Capitol and Washington Monument) all lit up in the dark.
On Sunday we packed a picnic and went to see the National Symphony Orchestra perform on the Capitol lawn for Memorial Day. Except they pretty much just played in the background of famous actors and politicians telling war horror stories, so we left after an hour or so.
It was more fun to go hang out with some friends (some of whom, it turned out, had also left the concert.)
On Monday, reality hit that this vacation was almost over. We tried to get to the zoo early, but got sidetracked by Starbucks and the allure of coffee. Still, when we got there at 10:30 the animals were pretty lively. We watched the famed Pandas, the gorillas, the elephants and some fascinating reptiles. The elephants did tricks, which was a little weird, since we weren’t expecting a circus. Hopefully, all the animals are living contented (if lazy) lives and do not dream of miles and miles to roam and graze.
After seeing all the live creatures, we hit up the prehistoric fossil exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. I hadn’t been to that exhibit since it was redone and it is incredible! The most amazing thing to me wasn’t T-Rex, but a giant ground sloth that was nearly as big. I don’t think I knew those things exhisted!Next we headed to the east building of the National Gallery of Art, a beautiful building that houses some fantastic contemporary works of art.
We capped off the night with dinner at Thai Tanic (clever name, eh?). Thai Tanic is the restaurant I frequent most: I think I’ve been there four times now. : )
I had to work Tuesay, but took off early to see Rachel and Perry off at the bus stop that would take them back to Dulles Airport. I think they had a good time and I was certainly pleased to share my perspective of the city with them.
P.S. Rachel’s pictures should soon be posted here.
Tags: biking, biking dc, botanic gardens, busboys, capitol, DC, earth, eastern market, farmer's market, flowers, manny and olga's, memorial day, museum, national mall, organic, smithsonian, vegetables, washington, windmills, zoo
