The National Christmas Tree

We saw the National Christmas Tree in October, 2010.

Did you know high winds snapped the trunk of the tree and it is now gone to mulch heaven? Read about it here.

Hopefully, someone will quickly come up with a plan to replace the tree.

Washington, DC - Part 4 of 4

Our last full day in DC started at the National Air and Space Museum.

The Husband loved seeing The Spirit of St. Louis. I loved seeing the space capsules. I was 9 years old when man landed on the moon. My 12 year old brother was extremely fascinated with the entire space program, so of course I was also!

We left the Air and Space Museum and were walking across the mall when we stopped and offered to take a young couple's photo. They returned the favor for us and this may be my favorite picture of our entire trip:

We then walked over to the City Segway Tours office for an afternoon of fun. Yes, I said segway. Have you ever ridden one? No? Neither had we.

After watching a safety video, we were assigned to a small group and taken to the alley to learn to ride.

Here I am. Aren't I cute? (dork)

Here's a photo of The Husband.

And here we are together.

The tour took us to places we had already seen, but that was okay. What took us two days to see on foot, took us two hours on a segway! 

The funny thing is, when you are on a segway, you are an object of curiosity to other tourists. At least two groups of tourists videotaped our group as we drove by them. The Husband waved at one group and they all smiled, laughed and waved back at him. Children were also fascinated with the segways. I waved at several kids who waved back and then turned to the parents and started chattering. I can just imagine the conversations.

Next time we are on vacation and there are segway tours available, we will definitely sign up. If you have the opportunity, you should try it. Trust me, if I can do this, you can do this!

We had dinner at Luigi's, which is a great Italian place. And, guess what? Bottles of wine were half price that night. Score!

So this was our last day in DC. We had a great time. We hope to go back in the future and spend more time in the museums. 

How about you? Have you been to DC? What's your favorite thing in the city?

Washington, DC - Part 3 of 4

After attending the Rally to Restore Sanity on the National Mall, we spent two more days exploring and enjoying DC.

On one day, we spent a lot of time in Smithsonian Museums. Just a few of the highlights were:

Ben Franklin

A Girl with a Watering Can

Girl With A Hoop

Marie Antoinette (and The Husband)

Other highlights were Dorothy's red slippers, Archie and Edith's chairs and Julia Child's entire kitchen!

We saw many, many more interesting items this day. A person could spend weeks in the Smithsonian Museums and not see everything. We plan to return in the future!

After leaving the museums, we walked to Central for a lovely dinner. And let me tell you that their Chocolate Mousse is absolutely scrumptious!

I have one more post to write documenting our last day in DC. Be sure to return and read it, because a safety video and a helmet were required!

Washington, DC - Part 2 of 4 (Rally to Restore Sanity)

The main purpose of our trip to DC was to attend the "Rally to Restore Sanity."

The Husband designed this shirt. It says, "Oklahoma - Restoring Sanity" and displays the image of one of Oklahoma's favorite sons: Will Rogers. Who was a Democrat, a comic and a social commentator. Can you say Jon Stewart?

He also designed this hat. It says, "I'm a Patriot Who Supports President Obama."

One for me too!

Here are a few of the people we walked with to the rally.

There were free hugs.

There were Canadian anchor babies, who brought their grizzlies.

There were funny signs.

"Relax, it says McDonalds!"

There were people who were experienced at rallying on the National Mall and showed us how to save our spots.

There were ladies from Alabama who were as happy to be amongst "their own" as we from Oklahoma. They told us they had a small, formal inauguration party on the night of Obama's inauguration. How fun!

This was our view. We were lucky to be able to see the screen and hear the audio. We arrived at this spot 1.5 hours before the start of the rally. Fifteen minutes later and we would not have been able to see or hear anything.

We enjoyed all the rally entertainment: Father Guido Sarducci, Yusuf (formerly known as Cat Stevens), Ozzy Osbourne, The O'Jays and everyone else.

We laughed when Jon and Steven sang. We laughed when Jon and Steven disagreed. We laughed when Jon and Steven agreed. And we listened closely to Jon's speech.

We met some lovely people at the rally. They were all surprised to hear we came from Oklahoma. We told them our purpose was to prove, contrary to what you see in the national news, that there are Democrats in Oklahoma. People who feel, as they do, about the state of our nation.

We were asked "What is it like to be a Democrat in Oklahoma?" Our response was, when we tell people we are Dems, typically their response is "We'll put you on the prayer list at church."

And, you know what? We don't need to be put on a prayer list. We just need to be able to have a civil conversation about our beliefs with each other. An attempt to find common ground, from where we can move forward together to fix the things that need to be fixed. The economy, perhaps? Or maybe healthcare?

So here's hoping that a civil discourse can begin now that the mid-term elections are over. If not, we may have to rally for sanity again. We'll be there. Will you?

Edited to add:
I forgot to tell you that we had dinner at Vidalia after the rally. This is an excellent and elegant restaurant. We would dine there again, if the opportunity ever presents itself!

We did laugh, however, after seeing they listed deviled eggs on their bar menu as an appetizer. Three for $5.50! Perhaps I should just whip up a plate of my special deviled eggs and stand outside their front door?

Washington, DC - Part 1 of 4

Our recent trip to Washington, DC was to celebrate The Husband's upcoming birthday. And celebrate we did!

We arrived in the early evening and checked into The Quincy hotel, which is located within walking distance of multiple attractions. Just around the corner were a number of restaurants, so we took a stroll and ended up at Smith & Wollensky. The weather was so nice we were able to sit outside and people watch!

The next day found us walking, walking, walking.

We walked to the most famous house in America, but didn't get past the fence. (Next time!)

We walked to The National Christmas Tree.

We walked to the Washington Monument.

We walked to the World War II Memorial.

We walked the length of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. We were shocked at the terrible condition of the pool.*

We walked up the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial.

Fun fact about The Husband, he was born, to the day, "four score and 7 years" after The Gettysburg Address. 

We walked to the Vietnam Memorial. 

I was totally walked out at this point, so we caught a cab to the Jefferson Memorial.

We then caught another cab to return to the hotel. 

After resting for a while, we walked to dinner at Rumors, a local restaurant/bar. We were there between 7-9pm, so we didn't see any heavy bar action (as indicated in the reviews). We were pleased with our dinners. I had the crab cake and it was, perhaps, the best crab cake I've ever had. We were happy with the good food and drinks for decent prices. 

After all the walking we did this day, we slept soundly that night. Which was great, because we were attending the Rally to Restore Sanity the next day and needed to be rested and refreshed! 

Come back tomorrow for our story from the Rally. It was loads of fun!

*If you can afford to make a small donation for the repair and upkeep of the National Mall, please consider doing so. We did.