June 6, 2014
Eleven o'clock is checkout. We barely made it. Late night last night. By the time I showered we were a little late. Didn't even have coffee. Grabbed our passports out of the hotel safe and bailed the rental car out of the car park and made ready to drive into DC for the first time. Every one told us don't do it. Parking is hell in DC. These people obviously have never met Lisa.
Straight up. Thank god for GPS! I'd say ninety percent of our arguments happen when we are driving. I am not going to discuss it in detail because I love my wife and want to stay married to her. I probably could say anything I want, because she doesn't read my blog. Hey, lets do a little experiment. Lisa has a funny shaped head and her ears smell weird. Will I still be married next week? Only the shadow knows!
Back to the adventure. I read in the Vancouver papers that we have the worst traffic in Canada. The worst traffic day in Vancouver is like a Sunday drive in Bethedsa Maryland. It's some where between a NASCAR race and a Demolition Derby. We drove through DC's Chinatown, even in Vancouver I have never seen this!
The GPS said it was seventeen miles to the National Mall and it would take us thirty-two minutes to get there. Two hours later we were there, driving aimlessly around the Mall looking for a parking spot. Lisa said her parking prayer.
"Hail Mary full of grace, help me find a parking space." Voila, we got the spot right were we wanted to be. One hundred meters from the Smithsonian Castle.
We got the last spot in the line. Twenty feet from a fire hydrant so no one could box us in, and it was free! I love that!
There are twenty-five museums and Galleries around the National Mall. All of them free. Most of them, like the National Gallery don't allow picture taking but a couple do, and of course all the Sculpture Gardens allow it. Below are some of the sculptures in the National Sculpture Gardens.
There were dozens of more sculptures, Some actually looked like things!
After walking through the Gardens we went into the Freer and the Sackler Galleries. You enter through this tiny building. Go down three floors, and the two galleries are connected. It also leads you to the African Art Museum. You can take pictures there.
From there we walked over to the National Archives Building. On our way we came across a huge fountain. It was surrounded by marble seating and they do free Jazz concerts fro 5:00 till 8:30. We were only four hours early.
Lisa and I shared a sandwich salad combo. She ate the Chicken salad sandwich, and I ate the salad. Washed down with unsweetened Ice Tea. I got hooked on Iced Tea last year in New Orleans.
I have been eating erratically since we got here. After the Great Pizza adventure, I'm back on the plan. As we made our way to the National Gallery of Art we came upon a few more sculptures. Here are two of my favourites.
Once through security, we didn't know where to start. The place is huge! Oh yeah, no pictures. A woman was trying to take a Secret Squirrel shot of a Mattise Sculpture, the picture Nazis were on her like a monkey on a cupcake! "If you take that picture you will have to leave" she was told. She put away her cell.
Now I don't know much about Art, except he played with Paul Simon, but I know what I like. I liked a lot of it. Paintings by VanGogh , Mattise and Monet were especially eye catching. They have four rooms filled with the most beautiful furniture I have ever seen. All of it hundreds of years old, all of it American made.
All of a sudden it was four o'clock and we had to get going. Took the long walk back to the car and called Cousin Rob. He lives in Sanatoga, Pennsylvania, three hours away. First of all, rush hour on a Friday, in DC, starts at about noon and turns the streets into parking lots. We escaped the bedlam just in time to hit Baltimore's rush hour. Drinking bad 7/11 coffee and "Balls O chicken" we rolled into Rob's driveway at 9:30.
I have never met Rob before. We have been facebook friends for quite a while so I was looking forward to it. Very interesting guy. Designs software for a cable TV channel. Pottstown is not NewYorkcity, not much open late, even on a Friday night. We went to Red Lobster. I haven't been there in years. The food was good. We shared a seafood sampler, and Rob and I had Lobster Bisque.
I had steak, prawns and a salad. Lisa and Rob had a seafood bake filled with lobster, shrimp and scallops, that came served on Linguine. You would think that with all I'm going through with my diet, they could go easy on the Pasta. I love pasta. Jealous again.
Oh yeah, stupid too. I left the camera at Rob's.
Came back to Rob's, where Lisa and him went through some pictures that Lisa had rescued from the basement at Charlies, hoping to identify some of the people in the pictures. When 3am rolled around, we finally hit the sack. Well, Rob and Lisa did. I stayed up and wrote this while it was still in my head.
That's it for DC. Had a great time, and saw lots of cool stuff. Headed back to Charlies in the morning and we will stay with him until Monday. Then we are going to catch the train to Port Jervis NJ. It's the last train station in New Jersey and fifteen minutes from Joan's house where we stay.
I didn't work out today but we must have walked ten miles. A little tired but feeling great.
That's all I got.
Till next time
Peace Out Ya'll
©2014 Dave Squatch Ward
Straight up. Thank god for GPS! I'd say ninety percent of our arguments happen when we are driving. I am not going to discuss it in detail because I love my wife and want to stay married to her. I probably could say anything I want, because she doesn't read my blog. Hey, lets do a little experiment. Lisa has a funny shaped head and her ears smell weird. Will I still be married next week? Only the shadow knows!
Back to the adventure. I read in the Vancouver papers that we have the worst traffic in Canada. The worst traffic day in Vancouver is like a Sunday drive in Bethedsa Maryland. It's some where between a NASCAR race and a Demolition Derby. We drove through DC's Chinatown, even in Vancouver I have never seen this!
 |
| All the tea in China. |
"Hail Mary full of grace, help me find a parking space." Voila, we got the spot right were we wanted to be. One hundred meters from the Smithsonian Castle.
 |
| At one time this was the entire Smithsonian. |
There are twenty-five museums and Galleries around the National Mall. All of them free. Most of them, like the National Gallery don't allow picture taking but a couple do, and of course all the Sculpture Gardens allow it. Below are some of the sculptures in the National Sculpture Gardens.
There were dozens of more sculptures, Some actually looked like things!
 |
| Girl in a chair |
 |
| WTF |
 |
| Just what you need in Africa...a hair coat! |
 |
| True Love |
 |
| Three floors down a cool fountain. |
 |
| Jazzy fountain |
Lisa and I shared a sandwich salad combo. She ate the Chicken salad sandwich, and I ate the salad. Washed down with unsweetened Ice Tea. I got hooked on Iced Tea last year in New Orleans.
 |
| We don't need no stinkin map! |
 |
| Lisa and the Silver Tree...Tada |
 |
| WTF |
Once through security, we didn't know where to start. The place is huge! Oh yeah, no pictures. A woman was trying to take a Secret Squirrel shot of a Mattise Sculpture, the picture Nazis were on her like a monkey on a cupcake! "If you take that picture you will have to leave" she was told. She put away her cell.
Now I don't know much about Art, except he played with Paul Simon, but I know what I like. I liked a lot of it. Paintings by VanGogh , Mattise and Monet were especially eye catching. They have four rooms filled with the most beautiful furniture I have ever seen. All of it hundreds of years old, all of it American made.
All of a sudden it was four o'clock and we had to get going. Took the long walk back to the car and called Cousin Rob. He lives in Sanatoga, Pennsylvania, three hours away. First of all, rush hour on a Friday, in DC, starts at about noon and turns the streets into parking lots. We escaped the bedlam just in time to hit Baltimore's rush hour. Drinking bad 7/11 coffee and "Balls O chicken" we rolled into Rob's driveway at 9:30.
I have never met Rob before. We have been facebook friends for quite a while so I was looking forward to it. Very interesting guy. Designs software for a cable TV channel. Pottstown is not NewYorkcity, not much open late, even on a Friday night. We went to Red Lobster. I haven't been there in years. The food was good. We shared a seafood sampler, and Rob and I had Lobster Bisque.
I had steak, prawns and a salad. Lisa and Rob had a seafood bake filled with lobster, shrimp and scallops, that came served on Linguine. You would think that with all I'm going through with my diet, they could go easy on the Pasta. I love pasta. Jealous again.
Oh yeah, stupid too. I left the camera at Rob's.
Came back to Rob's, where Lisa and him went through some pictures that Lisa had rescued from the basement at Charlies, hoping to identify some of the people in the pictures. When 3am rolled around, we finally hit the sack. Well, Rob and Lisa did. I stayed up and wrote this while it was still in my head.
That's it for DC. Had a great time, and saw lots of cool stuff. Headed back to Charlies in the morning and we will stay with him until Monday. Then we are going to catch the train to Port Jervis NJ. It's the last train station in New Jersey and fifteen minutes from Joan's house where we stay.
I didn't work out today but we must have walked ten miles. A little tired but feeling great.
That's all I got.
Till next time
Peace Out Ya'll
©2014 Dave Squatch Ward
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