Archive for the ‘DC’ Category

Washington DC Fireworks 2014

Posted in DC, Photography, Travels, United States, Virginia, Washington DC, tagged , , , , , , on Saturday, 5 July, 2014| 3 Comments »

It’d be YEARS since I’ve seen the DC fireworks in person. We braved the mobs of people and checked out the show. We didn’t go to the National Mall but watched from a lawn overlooking the city so we avoided the complete crush that I’m sure was at the Memorials. We couldn’t have picked a better view and, besides the main fireworks, we were afforded a glimpse of multiple firework displays in the distance and on the horizon.

The weather was perfect ~ cool but not cold, low humidity and clear skies.

Fort Myer WA monument capitol helicoptor
Looking out to the Washington Monument and Capitol Building (notice the helicopter flying low)

Fort Myer Fireworks III

Fort Myer Fireworks II

Fort Myer Fireworks
It was a spectacular display of fireworks. They even had one part which spelled out USA.

We’re already planning next year’s adventure ~ we might even brave the crowds and see the fireworks from the Lincoln Memorial!

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Washington DC: Cherry Blossom 10M/5K Run

Posted in DC, Exercise, Virginia, Washington DC, tagged , , , on Monday, 7 April, 2014| Leave a Comment »

It was a gorgeous day for the Cherry Blossom 5K run! This was our second time volunteering for the race and, this year, we brought our exchange student from Bangladesh. It was a great new experience for him and he really enjoyed himself. It’s hard not to get caught up in the excitement when the runners are coming through.

Lincoln Memorial at dawn

Lincoln Memorial at Dawn

Memorial Bridge early morning

Memorial Bridge as the sun comes up

We were assigned to the first Water/Gatorade station which is located just over the Memorial Bridge on the left side of the Lincoln Memorial. We woke at 4:15, took the metro to the Arlington Station, walked over the bridge and made it to our volunteer check-in spot at 6:00. Then it was time to fill the cups ~ all 1,000 of them.

CHerry Blossom Run Water/Gatorade station cups

Handing out gatorade

We had plenty of Gatorade for the runners!

At the end of the water/gatorade handout

This is what it looked like once 18,000 runners went through the water/Gatorade stop

Cherry Blossom Water/Gatorade station

Happy Volunteers

Next year, I hope to run the Cherry Blossom 10M/5K ~ most likely the 5K. It’s always inspiring to see the runners go by with smiles on their faces even if they’re a little behind the rest of the pack. The last group of runners/walkers to go by got the biggest cheer from all the volunteers at the stop. Good for them to keep on going…

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Washington DC: Arlington Cemetery

Posted in DC, Family, Photography, Travels, United States, Virginia, Washington DC, tagged , , , , , on Friday, 4 April, 2014| 9 Comments »

Arlington House and cemetery

Arlington House ~ The Robert E. Lee Memorial

Arlington House was built by George Washington Parke Custis and his slaves between 1802 and 1818. His daughter, Mary Custis, great-granddaughter of First Lady Martha Washington, married Robert E. Lee. The Lees inherited Arlington House when her father passed away. Arlington House has a long, interesting history ~ it’s been a home for the Lee Family and Custis Families, a plantation estate and home to 63 slaves, a monument honoring George Washington, a military headquarters, a community for emancipated slaves and is currently a National Cemetery.

Arlington Tomb sign

Alrington Single cross
Arlington Cemetery

Arlington Guard
Old Guard Soldier at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.

We stayed for the changing of the guard ceremony which takes place on the hour (Oct-March) and every half hour (April -Sept). Note: the ceremony may seem “over” but don’t start talking until you leave the site of the “Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.” We were “shusshed” for whispering after the ceremony. I cringe at that as I would never want to be disrespectful in such a place of honor.

Arlington Eternal Flame
Eternal Flame at the John F. Kennedy gravesite

Arlington Amphitheater
Arlington Amphitheater

Arlington Women's Memorial
Quote at the Women’s Memorial at Arlington Cemetery

Arlington House Sideview

Gravestone of George W. George ~ I tried to find more information about him but there wasn’t much on the internet. One of the fascinating things about Arlington Cemetery is all the famous people buried there. It reminded me of when I went through the National Portrait Gallery in London. I wanted to look up the stories of all the names I saw. I’m sure there’s an interesting life story behind all of those graves.

Arlington L'Enfant site

Burial site of Pierre L’Enfant, a French-born American civil engineer who designed the streets of Washington DC in the late 1700s. His grave has sweeping views of Washington DC ~ including the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol.

Arlington Cemetery
The family photo at Arlington Cemetery

If you visit Arlington Cemetery, check out their site here. The cemetery is open 7 Days a week, 365 days a year. The hours are 8am – 7pm (April – September) and 8am – 5pm (October – March). The parking garage closes 1 hour after cemetery. From the Arlington, it’s an easy walk over the Memorial Bridge to the Mall and the monuments.

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DC: Mama Mia! ~ Five times a charm

Posted in DC, Theater, Virginia, tagged , , , , , , , , , on Monday, 10 March, 2014| 8 Comments »

We are officially Mamma Mia! fans.

Mama Mia

Logan in front of the Broadway poster (2014)

and a few years before…

Logan at Mama Mia Nov 2007

Logan in front of Broadway Mama Mia! poster (2007)

We went to see Mama Mia! for the fifth time last night at National Theater in Washington DC. The show was  fabulous! My daughter leaned over after the third song and whispered “It never gets old!”  We all agreed we liked it even better than the Mama Mia show we saw on Broadway in January 2014. In fairness, the Broadway show had just recently changed out almost all of their cast except for “Donna.” Unfortunately, the chemistry hadn’t developed yet among the new actors.

The musical is campy, funny, and you can’t help but start tapping your feet when the music begins. Mamma Mia! is based on ABBA songs. ABBA was an internationally popular Swedish pop group that started in 1972. They won Eurovision in 1974 with the song “Waterloo”   The play was written by British playwright Catherine Johnson and opened in London in 1999. It’s currently ranked as the 9th longest running Broadway show. 

Admittedly, I was not an ABBA fan before seeing the play in 2007 but there’s just something about the play that makes me smile and I can relate to most of the songs.  I’m glad John likes it too ~ makes it more fun for the whole family to enjoy.

We each have our favorite songs and mine is “Does Your Mother Know” It’s sassy and, last night, “Pepper”(P. Tucker Worley) and “Tanya” (Gabrielle Mirabella) did a great job with the song and dance. P. Tucker Worley did a back flip and some killer toe-touches.  Fun, fun, fun!

There is a sad part of the play that causes both myself and my daughter to shed a tear.  It’s the song “Slipping Through My Fingers” It goes right for the heart. Here’s a video of ABBA singing the original.

One of the best parts of the show is at the very end when everyone stands up to sing and dance along ~ it becomes a feel-good party.

I’m glad we went on the closing night or else we might have been tempted to go again before the show left town. If it comes to your town, be sure to go. You won’t regret it. Since some people consider us groupies at this point, we might have to travel down to Atlanta in September and see it there at the beautiful Fox Theater.

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DC: White House Easter Roll Lottery

Posted in DC, Virginia, tagged , , , , , on Sunday, 9 March, 2014| 4 Comments »

White House

It’s not too late to enter the White House Easter Egg Roll. I’ve had a few friends attend the Easter Roll and, for them, it ranked as an experience of a lifetime. My daughter has aged out (it’s for children 13 and younger) but for anyone with young children who are within the DC area, here are the details:

The online White House Easter Egg Roll lottery will be open this weekend only. It ends Monday, 10 March at 10 am. The non-transferable tickets are free.

This year the event, which dates back to 1878, will be held on April 21 and will consist of several types of events. Besides the traditional rolling of hard-boiled eggs on the South Lawn, there will be live music, storytelling, sports courts and cooking stations. The results of the lottery will be available on March 14 and over 30,000 people are expected to attend.

For lottery registration go here. GOOD LUCK!

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DC: Eastern Market

Posted in DC, Travels, United States, tagged , , , , , , on Sunday, 9 February, 2014| 8 Comments »

When my friend, Jayne, suggested an impromptu visit to Eastern Market, I jumped at the chance. It’s a seven-days-a-week market in the Capitol Hill area of Washington DC. On weekdays, the South Market (indoor) offers produce, meat, poultry, cheese, dairy products, vegan items and flowers.  On the weekends, local farmers and local artists/crafters come out to play.

We got there early (about 8:30am) and snagged a great parking spot just off the market area but many of the vendors were a little late setting up. Can’t blame them since it was freezing cold! We popped into Le Pain de Quotidien for tea and to warm up a bit. Great dog watching too ~ lots of folks out with their beautiful puppies.

Here are a couple of my “finds” for the day:
Vintage Purse Logan

Eastern Market Vintage Purse

A vintage purse with a painted shoe ~ got it for my daughter

Coffee Table

Coffee table close up

Coffee table and couch

A coffee table made of yardsticks ~ what’s not to love. It’s completely covered with the yardsticks, every inch. It’s very sturdy and the writings on the yardsticks are funny such as: “Report suspicious activity to Sherriff Larry R. Mincks, Sr.”

DC Scream

I love this painting inspired by Edvard Munch’s “The Scream”. The artist, Zachary Sasim had several paintings I wanted to purchase but, in the end, I couldn’t resist this one. I relate to it ~ don’t we all feel the anxiety when I think of DC politics.

Mirror

Couldn’t resist this old window pane with mirrors ~ goes perfectly over the mantel.

I feel like my house décor will be going in a different direction and I’ll call it “local artist chic”

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DC: Washington Capitals Hockey Game

Posted in DC, Travels, United States, Virginia, tagged , , , , on Friday, 7 February, 2014| 4 Comments »

Went to my first professional Hockey Game last night and had a fabulous time. I can only imagine what fun the true die-hard hockey fans feel like, especially when the puck goes in the net which it did FOUR times! The Capitals beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-2!
Hockey Game III
View from the nosebleed section. We had plenty of company up there.

We hopped on Metro’s yellow line at Huntington in Northern Virginia and it took us about 20 minutes to get to Gallery Place/Verizon Center. Too easy! We went half a block down to Clyde’s for a quick bite. It was packed with Capital fans and we started to walk out thinking it was too busy when the maître de stopped us and said he’d check for a table for four. He led us to a booth in the bar area and we ended up having a great meal (burgers/Portobello sandwich/salmon ~ all good). The question is how much should we have tipped for such special attention. Haven’t had that happen to us before ~ usually they let us walk out the door. Service at Clyde’s was fantastic ~ our server was so efficient and I marveled at her friendly, unflappable attitude amongst the crush of people. I highly recommend Clyde’s if you’re going to a show/game at the Verizon center.

Game time was 7pm and it started off with beautiful renditions of “O, Canada” and “The Star Spangled Banner” ~ loved that the announcer encouraged the audience to sing along! As I looked around from our nosebleed seats, I could only see red ~ everyone (except us) seemed to be wearing a Capitals jersey. It was a relatively youthful crowd and I’m guessing more than a few were on “dates” ~ I love to people-watch especially people on first dates. So romantic.

Secretary of State John Kerry was there to drop the ceremonial puck and to honor eight players going to the Sochi Winter Olympics.  When the US team members, John Carlson (Capitals) and Blake Wheeler (Jets) were announced, the “U.S.A” chant began. Left me feeling rather patriotic. Other Washington Capital team members going to the Olympics are: Alex Ovechkin (crowd favorite) for  Russia, Nicklas Backstrom for Sweden and Martin Erat for the Czech Republic. From the Winnipeg Jets: Michael Frolik and Ondrej Pavelec will play for the Czech Republic, and Olli Jokinen for Finland.

Hockey Secretary on the ice
Not the best photo but that’s John Kerry and the Olympic-bound players.

The game was very exciting with non-stop, back and forth skating. I was exhausted just watching. The Capitals not only won last night but gained four new hockey fans!

If you want to attend a game, click here for tickets.

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Book Signing in Arlington

Posted in Books, DC, tagged , , on Monday, 16 January, 2012| 1 Comment »

Update:

It was definitely worth the drive to see Brad and, BONUS, we got to see his lovely wife, Elaine.  Brad’s talk before the signing was very informative (& funny).  He spoke about character development, how he selects locations, and how he takes precautions to protect those who are still serving.  I’m happy to see they are both doing so well and wish all good success for Brad’s future novels.

Here’s John and Brad at the signing:

I wasn’t quite so impressed with the Book Store 😦   I emailed a week ago and specifically asked if I could have a copy of All Necessary Force set aside along with the David McCullough book, The Greater Journey ~ Americans in Paris.   Unfortunately, they sold out of the book and decided to sell MY copy before I got there.  I know you Kindle readers are laughing at me because all you have to do is click a button for your book, but I still like reading hardback books.  It’s easier on my eyes.

If you’re looking for a good read, I recommend you start with One Rough Man. 

I’ve always wanted to attend a book signing/author talk but, for some reason or another, have never make it.  But I’m determined to go to One More Page bookstore this Wednesday (18 Jan) for Brad Taylor’s book signing for his new book, All Necessary Force.  Brad is the twin brother of Scott Taylor, who was the best man at our wedding.

Brad’s first book, One Rough Man, is an action packed story of a Special Forces soldier who finds himself on the edge after his family is murdered.  For the first few chapters, I had a hard time not imagining Brad as the main character but, as the story went, I became so engrossed I forgot all about Brad and just enjoyed the rest of the novel.  All Necessary Force continues the adventures of Pike Logan and I’m looking forward to reading about how he gets in and out of predicaments.

The author, Brad is a former Special Forces officer and I can’t help but wonder how those who are still in Special Forces feel about his book. It contains A LOT of,  what seems to me, insider information.  If that were my profession, which relies on anonymity for safety reasons, I’d been a bit put-out but as a lay person, I found the book to be interesting and fast-paced.

One More Page promises to be an interesting book store to visit ~ they not only sell books, but they sell wine (and have wine tasting on site) and chocolate.  Can’t go wrong with books, wine and chocolate!!

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Houseguests

Posted in DC, Family on Saturday, 22 October, 2011| 1 Comment »

We love having houseguests ~ it’s always fun to reconnect with family and friends.  Last weekend, we had a visit from Arnis, who was a friend of my mom’s and is now a friend of ours. 

Arnis Patti and Logan Welcome to DC

It was a short visit but we squeezed in as much DC sites as we could.  First stop ~ the Pentagon. Then it was on the metro to Rosslyn for a quick walk over the Key Bridge into Georgetown.  Had a wonderful lunch at The Tombs then walked along the Potomac to the Lincoln Memorial.  Got a good view looking back towards the Washington Harbor:

Unfortunately, the reflecting pool is still ugly under renovations:

We ran into a few “Occupy Wall Street” protesters and John decided to join in (not really but…)

     

Next stop was The National Archives for John and Arnis. Logan and I went to The Gallery of Art’s outdoor park. We’d both been to the Archives twice so we decided to enjoy the wonderful fall afternoon and people-watch in the park.  We ended the day with a wonderful dinner at a Thai restaurant in Old Town. 

The next day, Arnis and I went to Mount Vernon and took Maya (my dog) along with us. The nice thing about the Mount Vernon Estate is they allow dogs on the grounds (everywhere except in the House and the visitor center/museum).  Again, couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful fall day. 

Arnis left on Sunday afternoon and, on Sunday evening, I got a call from my Uncle Jules (my mother’s brother) and he said he, my Aunt and cousin would be in town on Wednesday for an overnight stay.  Last time I saw my Uncle and Aunt was at my mother’s funeral which was a year and a half ago and I hadn’t seen my cousin in YEARS!!!!  I was so thrilled to see them.  And it made me miss Hawaii A LOT! I t was a rainy afternoon so we ate and went down memory lane 🙂  My Aunt is a ardent gardener and spent a lot of time discussing my garden.  It was nice to get some expert advice.  Here I am with my Uncle and Aunt (and the Hawaii Ginger plant):

My cousin Jade and my Aunt:

And another nice surprise was that my Aunt’s niece was in DC with her husband who was on a business trip.  They came to the house for dinner and we enjoyed hearing about their travels.  They make us look like homebodies!

The biggest raves I got was for my eggplant/zucchini casserole and the “dump cake”  which is always a big hit 🙂

I have to say seeing my Aunt and Uncle makes me realize it’s been way too long since I’ve been to Hawaii ~ time to start planning a spring trip!

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US Botanic Garden

Posted in DC, Travels, tagged , , , , on Sunday, 15 May, 2011| Leave a Comment »

After enjoying the flowers in my pretty Virginia backyard, I decided it was time to visit the US Botanic Garden which is located at 100 Maryland Ave SW in DC. It’s between 1st and 2nd streets SW and is adjacent to the US Capitol. We drove into DC and found metered parking on 3rd street. The closest metro stations are Federal Center or Capitol South. The metro bus lines are #30, 32, 34, 35 or 36 which you take to Independence and 1st Street SW. Just walking up to it is so impressive with all the beautiful glass and the US Capitol in the background.

The Garden has been open to the public (continuously) since 1850. There are more 60,000 plants among the gardens collection and it even has historic specimens which date back to 1842.  I enjoyed the different sections which included medicinal plants, garden primeval, children’s garden, Hawaii, World Desserts, Plant Exploration, Rare/Endangered species, Jungle, Southern Exposure and the Orchid room. I spent about an hour in the building and another half hour roaming around outside. You could do it in less but I was taking my time and sat out to enjoy the beautiful day.

         

There is a fun section for kids and the outside garden area was spectacular. Rose section, First Ladies Water park, and benches/tables everywhere in case you want to picnic.  Being from Hawaii, I particularly enjoyed the Orchid Room but have to say, my daughter has been growing orchids which are just as gorgeous.

Favorite Girl’s Orchids:

There’s no entrance fee and the gardens are open from 10 am to 5 pm daily and you’re welcome in the Bartholdi Park (outside) from dawn until dusk.  No smoking allowed anywhere.  Handheld cameras and videos are allowed anytime. Sketching is allowed along with the use of easels, tripods and art material but if you’re using solvents you’ll need to get permission and a permit.

For detailed information, go to: US Botanic Garden

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