April 1, 2011
Washington, D.C Trip
Day 1, Part 2
We rode the Metro to the Smithsonian exit, which drops you out right in the middle of the Mall - Capitol on one end, Washington Monument on the other, Museums to the front and back. Art galleries were on our agenda for this trip - we missed them last time in favor of Natural and American History. The Freer Gallery had a large Asian Art exhibit on display, and it was close, so we went there first.
I only took this picture for the elephants.
Obviously, there was a lot more, but I'm just learning how to use this here camera of mine in low-light settings, so a lot of the pics came out blurry and that makes me sad. But hey, if you really wanted to see this stuff, you'd go and see it for yourself, right? It's not like you're relying on my words and images alone to know that there's good art to be seen in Washington, D.C. You didn't come here for picture or art anyhow, did you?
Oh, but wait. There are more pictures. I'll get to those in a minute.
So we left the Freer Gallery, and just off to the side was an entrance to a park, in behind the Smithsonian Institution castle-like building. (I think maybe it used to be the Natural History Museum? Or something. Now it serves as the Information Center but I'm certain it was an actual museum at some point.) Anyhow, the garden. (Here come the pictures!)
Next time, I'm taking my tent and camping under the cherry tree.
We had lunch at a concession stand on the Mall - $6.55 for a dried out "all beef" hot dog, but they served beer and that sorta made it okay.
And I fed a squirrel by hand:
(That's him, taking a chip out of my hand.)I swear, I didn't see the sign until we were gathering our trash.
(Well, I saw it, but I didn't read it. Oops.)
And now I'm concerned my new little friend may have had a belly ache that night or some homicidal shits and it's all my fault.
And I hope I don't go to jail for posting on the internet about how I broke a Federal law, cause that would sure suck.
Oooh, I love all the Hindu statues, especially the little Ganesha detail.
ReplyDeleteThe sign about not feeding the animals is too funny. Oh noes, you might make them homicidal, don't give them the popcorns!!!!
If it makes you feel any better, then the squirrels in the park near us frequently eat discarded kebabs and fries out the bins, and do not appear to suffer any ill effects. And trust me, if squirrels can manage a donner kebab with spicy sauce then your chips will do them no harm (assuming we don't just have peculiar badass chilli-munching squirrels here).
ReplyDeleteI think we might be elephant soulmates. I take pictures of elephant-related things just for the elephants at museums too! People are like, ooh, what's the stone carving from? And I'm like, oh, is it made of stone, I just saw the elephant.
ReplyDeleteAnd you are too cute offering me your elephant rainboots! Don't worry, I'm getting a refund and I'll probably try reordering them (fingers crossed). Just thought you'd enjoy the story. ;)