Washington D.C., A Totally AWEsome Vacation : ) #Washington #Travel #AmazingVacations #Museums #MartinLutherKing

Man, are the roses ever big in Washington! lol!  Isn't this a gorgeous sculpture of a rose??

Hmmm, for some reason, these 2 pics keep sliding on up to the top, when I go to the posted page... let's see if this works! I just play around with things, 'til they work - in my whole life - lol! 

Interestingly enough, the first thing we came across in Washington, DC, was Occupy Washington. Good place to make a political statement!

Occupy Washington, about 1 block from The White House

 Well, is Washington synonymous with Healthcare, now? lol!

Cara at the back of The White House

 Speaking of a nice place to stay in Washington, DC... Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump - or maybe Bernie Sanders?  Huh?  Huh?? (I'm nudging you, now - lol!) I love me some Bernie Sanders - lol!  Here's an easier way to find a great place to stay in Washington - lol!

Wow, I called it on the Donald Trump thing - very inneresting, eh?!

And now I LOVE Andrew Yang - Andrew Yang is so kind, so smart, and Andrew Yang wants to give every American adult over 18+, $1,000. a month - that is HUGE! That would pay part of your rent, let people finally get a mortgage (provided the banks are forced to accept the Freedom Dividend, Andrew Yang's Signature Policy, the Guaranteed Income of $1,000 a month, for life - the banks are notorious for not allowing people to use real sources of income, in order to get a home loan - AND, I would like to see the percentage that you have to put down on a home to be lowered - they used to have 5% Down, but that was back when houses were a normal price, and now homes are often in the million dollar mark, so, everyone needs a longer mortgage, and an easier path to home ownership... but I digress - What? Has that ever happened to me, before - haha!) ~

Anyway, I looove Andrew Yang! And I hope you do, too! lol! 

Me at the FRONT of The White House... we got a little bit lost! lol! And it was freeeezing, that day! 

Am I holding UP The Washington Monument?? lol!  Is critical to pretend to hold anything up in any picture! hahaha!

The Washington Monument is phenomenal -- soo hard to look straight up at it! 555 feet high! 

Cara in front of the Lincoln Memorial Statue.  Is incredible!

EVERYTHING is massive in Washington -- the monuments, the statues, the pillars (meee??  Ruh-roh!  Who's goin' back to the gym?? lol!)... and that's the Washington Monument behind me -- was freeeezing that day!

Aidan in the Lincoln Memorial, in front of the carved speech from Lincoln.  So moving.

Looking out over the Mall at the Washington Monument -- we're sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial

This is where Martin Luther King, Jr. stood to give his I Have A Dream Speech, right  at the top of the steps of the Lincoln Memorial looking out over the Washington Monument

The Potomac River -- what a famous river!  And I really liked this tree, too! lol!

These walls surround the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial -- so moving.

Ailsa in front of the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial  -- unbelievably moving.

Aidan in front of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial -- it's critical that the next generation, and every generation after them, know the past, see where we've come from, where we need to go

See the walls surrounding the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial? They all have beautiful quotes on them

Aidan going into the Natural History Museum, part of the Smithsonian series of museums

The Hope Diamond! 

How much for all of these?? lol! The Gemstone section of the Smithsonian Natural History  Museum

This gemstone section of the Natural History Museum was so beautiful 

Cara considers changing her name to 'Jonah'! lol!

Get a 'whale' of a deal with Priceline - bah'hahahaha! Like that? Hahaha!  Silly!  Made me laugh!

Aidan loves dinosaurs!  Who doesn't??  Okay, Creationists, but everybody else! lol!

Aidan in the Land of Time?? lol!

He's safe, don't worry!  Looks like the one dinosaur is desperately trying to warn his buddy  of something ("I'm tellin' you, we gotta get outta here, man!"), but, noo, he doesn't want to listen, just eat 'til he drops! lol!

I loved the architecture in the Natural History Museum -- would this look good in my next house?? lol!

Cara loves diamonds -- especially the Hope Diamond!! hahaha!

This is hilarious, because this is a SCULPTURE of a tree -- it's all metal -- cool, eh??

Cara and Aidan on the steps of the National Gallery of Art - West Building, part of the Smithsonian Museums 

Well, not a great pic of me (lol!), but sooo pretty inside the National Gallery of Art - West Building ... flowers everywhere, just what I love!

The underground tunnel between the West Building and the East Building of the National Galleries of Art

Aidan in the moving walkway tunnel -- it was like a giant piece of art, in itself!

Whaat??  I couldn't believe my luck to find some Georgia O'Keefe paintings in the Museum of  Modern Art, in the National Gallery of Art - East Building 

I loved this piece of Modern Art because another 'Ailsa' had sponsored it! lol!

Cara in front of Andy Warhol -- cool, right??

Aidan and Modern Art -- can you see the building -- was incredible modern architecture -- glass and metal!

I just loved this piece!

A gorgeous water wall -- and I looove water walls!!

We were freezing and worn out from all the walking, and everything we'd taken in, that day, and here's Aidan in front of the Capitol Building,  where Congress meets, and we were right beside their parking lot -- pretty cool! 

Looking for something amazing and awe-inspiring to do over the Spring Break, or any time you happen to find yourself on the East Coast, like maybe for an Inauguration??  How about Washington, D.C.?  We were just there, and it was incredible.  More AWEsome than I would ever have imagined.  And I rarely use the word 'awesome'! lol!  We did the whole Historical Circuit, starting at the White House, first thing in the morning, over to the Washington Monument (unbelievable! I could hardly even look up at it -- if we hadn't actually been right there, I would never have known it's vast size -- 555 feet high. Incredible.), to the Lincoln Memorial (waaaay bigger than you would think, too!), then to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial -- so moving. The Civil Rights Movement is so close to my heart, so standing right there was one of the most meaningful things I've ever done. There are quotations on the surrounding stones that are so important... and what a beautiful setting, right across from the Jefferson Memorial, right on the water.

We spent the whole afternoon at the Smithsonian, which was incredible.  Really, the whole day was out of this world amazing.  Everywhere you looked, you were looking at the face of history, and phenomenally crucial history.

We went to the Natural History Museum, first, and it was stunning -- my favorite part, not too surprisingly, if you know me at all, were all the gems! lol!  I loved the Hope Diamond -- so beautiful. And the massive gemstones... dazzling!  Aidan loved the Dinosaur section, of course, what with being a 12 year old boy, 'n all... lol!  We must have been in the Natural History Museum for hours, there was so much to see.  I loved the whole section on Pangea -- that is soo fascinating to me. I love that stuff! haha!

We went from the Natural History Museum over to the National Gallery of Art - West Building, which houses all the Masters, and that was stunning, but here's what was unbelievable, and I'm glad one of the Guards in the Museum told me about it (I am forever chatting with people, and I canny tell you how much more I find out/learn/have great laughs and experiences because of that little social skill! lol!)... anyway, he told us to take the elevator to the ground floor of the National Gallery of Art - West Building, which takes you to the tunnel that connect the West and East Art Galleries, over to the National Gallery of Art - East Building, the Museum that houses the Modern Art, and, oh, man, was he right about it being spectacular.  You come out the elevator and go along an underground tunnel to the National Gallery of Art - East Building, go past a beautiful Water Wall, which I looove (I wanted one in our last big house! lol!), then you go through this stunningly beautiful walkway, a little like the moving walkways in airports, but completely surrounded in lights... sooo cool!  The kids will loove it!

Here's a much better photo of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, DC.  Is so moving. 

Oh, and guess how much this day cost us??  Nothing!!  Admission is FREE at all of the Smithsonian Museums we went to, so check and see before you go, but I think they're all free admission to the Smithsonian Museums... if we had had more time, there are soo many incredible museums in the Smithsonian, and soo much to do in Washington.  We met our wonderful friend, Mike (he's siiingle!!  Ready to mingle!!lol!) (me, too! lol!) (or, rather, Mike came and picked up our freeezing cold selves up in front of the Capitol Building, our last touristy thing of the day, and Mike took us to this fantastic restaurant about a block from the White House... I'll have to ask him what it was called, but we were freezing and starving, and it was the BEST Brisket I've ever had... was deeeelicious, and the restaurant was really pretty, and very reasonably priced, for such a nice restaurant :)  Thanks, Mike, for the great dinner!  See how useful and practical it is to have friends?? lol!  and in different and fascinating places, no less? Fascinating Friends in Fascinating Places! Sounds like a new site for me! lol!  Turns out, the phenomenal brisket is at a really, really good restaurant, The Hamilton , and I highly recommend it - deeelicious!

WASHINGTON DC Deals from Specials by Restaurant.com

Oh, and be sure to stop by the National Museum of Natural History GIFT Shop -- omg, it's amazing, and their prices were really good, too.  Aidan got a beautiful piece of Agate Crystal, blue (maybe $8.50, I think), and Cara and I each got a lovely Crystal Necklace -- both Quartz, which I love, and mine is shaped like a pyramid, so of course I feel like it's really lucky (I'll let you know! lol!).  Was sooo much fun -- one of our most memorable days ever!! And only a days drive from where we live in Ontario, Canada, so, easy to get there -- perfect!

We took the Subway (the Metro) from the hotel into the Federal Triangle, where all the 'good stuff' is!  Was pretty easy, but we were super happy that Mike drove us back to the hotel -- was a phenomenal day, but exhausting trying to fit everything into one day!  Would be great to have a whole week in Washington, DC (or just move there! lol!).

The Hope Diamond, absolutely stunningly beautiful, at the National  Natural  History Museum in Washington, D.C.  Always nice to have a little hope, right?? lol!

Ailsa in front of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial  -- was so emotional for me, and there happened to be a little class of  older students with special needs -- reminded me of my wonderful students in L.A., and how much I would have loved to have taken them to see this incredible Memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr.  My students used to love to look up Martin Luther King, Jr. on the computer, almost any time they were on the computer... I hope all students who have really special needs have teachers who give them full access to the computer and to the internet -- it is the biggest break-through in improving the lives of people with Special Needs, since it allows them access to the world, no matter where they are in the reading scale, and the computer is the best tool to teach reading to adults... clearly, I am a big believer in technology in the classroom... and everywhere else! But they would have loved it, there.  I wish I could have shared that with them -- maybe they'll find my blog!! lol! (Helllooo, if you do, and giant hugs all around! )

I love the Groupon Deals - we got some fantastic packages for Niagara Falls, and then local deals for restaurants that we wanted to check out - was great!


 


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