S&M in DC VII

Day 7: Newseum and a walkabout


We went to the Newseum today. It had all kinds of stuff on the history of newspapers/journalism. Afterwards, we did a walkabout to see some of the other sights around the area. Here is a picture of the Capital building.


Here is another picture of the Capital only a little more artsy. Michael took this one. He likes to be artsy with his photos.


Oh look! I wonder who they are?


This is the Library of Congress.


And here is the Supreme Court.


Oh, and Union Station.

S&M in DC VI

Day 6: National Gallery of Art and Ford's Theater


Here is a fountain in the sculpture garden on the way to the National Museum of Art.


Here is a statue in the museum. The dog is licking her leg. I Thought it was a pretty cool statue. (Diana the Huntress)


Here is a painting. Can you guess who did this painting? That's right, it was Leonardo DaVinci! Apparently the only DaVinci piece in the U.S.


This is one that Michael liked. The artist is Canaletto.


Here is Michael enjoying the awesome art that is surrounding him. He was totally thrilled to be there.


We got to see a play at Ford's Theater. This is the new part of Ford's Theater.


And here's the old part where Lincoln was shot.


Here are some interior shots of the theater including Lincoln's box. It really is a cool place.


And the play we saw was all done in song. It was about the Civil War and very well done. I really enjoyed it.


Here is the section that we were sitting in. That's Michael towards the back hiding from the crowd behind a piece of paper.

S&M in DC V

Day 5: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and then the exciting Air and Space Museum

Here is an example of what is in the sculpture garden with the Hirshhorn Museum in the background.


Here is a piece of art that made me think of Gale. It's a little bit odd, kind of like the pig gut forms and the dead fish prints.


Here is Michael's wild and exciting attempt at art. He took a chair and a table in the the hall area and positioned them in a pleasing fashion and then took this picture of it. I think it should be displayed along with the other art pieces here.


I think this was Michael's favorite museum. He likes planes and certainly got his fill of them here.


Here is another example of what they have at the Air and Space Museum.


Here is Michael totally captivated by the museum.

S&M in DC IV

Odd to be passed on the way to breakfast by a gaggle of Bobbies, or is it 'passel' Anyway there was a bunch of them, right by Treasury, not the Justice dept. like you'd expect.


Even some of the less ornate buildings have little pockets of fantastic detail.


We spent most of the day in the Museum of American history. It may be newer but it didn't have as impressive displays as Natural History. The history of Transportation and the section on wars were well done, and one bit on the 250 year history of one house and all the people who had lived in it was VERY interesting. Sewing machines were in a section on inventions.




This is the Smithsonian 'Castle' main office and information.

S&M in DC III

Day3: le Sofitel Lafayette Sq. is a fairly amazing hotel almost a block off the square where the Whitehouse is. The staff and the rooms are impressive which they should be for it's location and the $500++ per night rate. We're paying a fraction of that, or we wouldn't be here. I gather it's a regular spot for french diplomats, not sure we fit in exactly. The small eatery starts off at $15 for a small bowl of breakfast cereal and goes up from there.
Below you can see the 35in. TV and granite topped desks with the featherbed on the side. The bathroom is bigger than some hotel rooms and is all marble and granite tile. The only clue to this being a 'low end' room here is that the window looks out on an interior lightwell.




A look down Pennsylvania Ave. The big tower is the Old Post Office. There is some other old building off in the distance.


We spent a rather long day at the Museum of Natural History. The picture is of the rotunda area. There are three floors each with a normal sized museum on it. They just re-did the whole thing in the last couple years and most of the exhibits are quite amazing. My feet are tired.


There is a very nice dinner place across from the hotel. Potenza http://www.potenzadc.com with good 'new Italian' cusine. They have only been open for a month or so and things are really hoppin' in there.

S&M In DC II

Day2, up late. darn those timezones anyway.

Street scene half a block from the hotel on the way to breakfast. Michael's friend that lives here called on the way and we'll hook up with them later.

I Guess the Washington Monument needs little introduction. You need tickets by 7:30AM to go up though.

Some other Monument.

The new WWII Monument is very well done. That's the Lincoln Memorial in the background

Korean War Memorial. We hear it looks great at night!


Lincoln. I always wanted to see this.


John and Robin picked us up and toured around for a bit. This is their house in Fairfax Virginia. The cookout and food was great and the compaany even better. Thanks guys!!

S&M in DC

The first thing we did after checking into the hotel and getting a bite to eat was wander down to Laffayette Square. About a block from the hotel. There is a big house there. You will probably recognize it.
The hotel is also amazing. More on that later.
We also found this Treasury type place. Not bad for in-the-dark-shooting.


Thats all for tonight