Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

I've been meaning to get through the oodles of pictures from my rainy afternoon spent here during our trip to DC for quite awhile now, and hooray! I finally did. 

I started off my tour in the Hall of Mammals. The taxidermy was really amazing, especially the action scenes.

But of course I appreciated the cute fuzzy creatures sitting still as well. 

I went through the Hall of Human Origins next and then came across this: 

I won't even pretend to understand what hyperbolic space means exactly, but the premise of this exhibit is that coral reefs and accompanying sea creatures as represented by bunches and bunches of crocheted odds and ends, illustrate a complex geometric concept. 

There are crocheted reefs in a handful of cities around the world. Made by volunteers, they are also meant to draw attention to ecological issues. The effort is quite impressive and the resulting myriad of colors and textures is really beautiful.

Next was lunch and then a really fascinating exhibit on recent studies of human remains from the 17th century Chesapeake. (Well fascinating to me anywho). 

After ingesting loads of information, my little brain needed a rest which came in the form of the eye candy that was the Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals.

Unfortunately I didn't get a good shot of the Hope Diamond which is on display there, but emeralds and sapphires such as these aren't too bad to look at I suppose.

But, as a girl who when she was little could be entertained for hours by picking through the rocks that made up the driveway looking for pretty ones, I think I almost liked the specimens in their raw forms better.

Amazing all these shapes, textures, colors, etc. can occur naturally. As rocks!

After I finished up at the Natural History Museum, I did dash into the Museum of American History long enough to peak at Julia Child's kitchen. Cozy and filled with gadgets, but mostly of the more low-tech variety.

And so I leave you with this sentiment (as it applies to museum exploration, cooking and everything else)...

♡,

Erin

Monumental DC

On Monday of last week, while Greg was attending a conference, I did a bit of site seeing. First stop was the Old Post Office, home to some of my favorite governmental organizations including the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

But I mostly went for the view, from the clock tower way up there.

I then headed to the National Mall to wander around, but my wandering was cut short, as these ominous clouds soon brought a steady rain that lasted the whole afternoon.

But I did manage to snap some pics first, of the Washington Monument...

the Smithsonian Castle...

the Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden...

the National Archives...

and of some early cherry blossoms.

But alas the rain came and I had to take cover, which I did here, at the Natural History Museum. Not at all a bad way for an anthropologist to end up spending the afternoon.

Greg and I both returned to the Mall Wednesday afternoon before we headed home and had a stroll around. Twas a much nicer day! 

We trekked past the Washington Monument to the WWII Memorial...

and then on to the Lincoln Memorial.

Be warned, when strolling around the Mall, the next site to see is further away than it looks! My feet were grateful for all the sitting that came with the car ride to the airport, the waiting for our flight, and the plane ride home. But as I'd never been to Washington DC before, it was fantastic to see these iconic places in person.

As I took a couple hundred pictures during my afternoon spent in the Natural History Museum, there is one more DC trip-related post to come.

♡,

Erin

Weekend Wanderings in Washington DC

The weekend before last through the first half of last week I spent in DC with Greg. On the weekend we stayed with friends who took us around a bit.

First stop on Saturday was the Eastern Market in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

There were vendors all around outside selling crafts and vintage things. (I really wanted to take one or two of these home, however as they weren't exactly overhead bin material, I had to pass.)

Inside was a nice assortment of fresh flowers, produce, meats and the like, along with prepared foods too.

Next we took a stroll through a residential part of Capitol Hill...

and I jealously observed spring was coming on a bit faster in DC than in Ohio.

After that we dropped in here. Clever name and stocked to the brim with cookery related things one never knew one needed.

I had more than a passing glance at this volume as the subject is quite dear to my heart. Figuratively that is, probably not so much literally. 

All our roaming made us thirsty, so we found a spot to grab some pint-sized refreshment. Though the interior was nearly brand new, Lola's had a very staid vibe that made it seem everything one might expect a Capitol Hill bar to be.

Then we hopped on the metro and headed to Dupont Circle to The Dupont Hotel bar. All sleek and modern, but not too pretentious, and the service was really great.

All the chrome and glass sort of made one feel obligated to order up a clear libation.

Sunday morning we drove up to Baltimore and had brunch at Mama's on the Half Shell. I was too concerned with feeding myself to take pictures of the restaurant itself, but the interior was done up in an eccentric British drawing room style (dark wood, dark paint, odd pictures and other things up on the walls) that felt authentic, rather unlike so many chain restaurants that attempt similar decor. I did manage to snap a pic of this lovely bit of hair-of-the-dog. And my lobster eggs benedict was insanely good.

I've got more of our trip to share. Probably two more posts worth! 

Coming soon, I promise.

♡,

Erin