April 2 Monday Day 36 visited Washington DC staying in Lorton VA – Comfort Inn

Cherry Blossoms just beautiful. Walked down the Potomac with blossom pedals blowing in the air. Later - jerr
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April 2 Monday Day 36 visited Washington DC staying in Lorton VA – Comfort Inn

Our day was started at the U. S. National Arboretum in Washington DC outskirts. They house the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum of bonsai exhibit and it was striking; the oldest bonsai tree was started in 1785 and not over a foot tall. These old trees are usually conifers. There were many nicely trained trees, with varying ages to them, flowering azaleas and a variety of other trees. We were introduced to a display of stones, called Scholar’s Rocks traditional Chinese Gongshi displayed on an individually carved wooden base, in a ceramic container, or in a tray of sand. They can be called spirit stones or viewing stone. They are unusual stones, ideally shaped by natural forces, catching the essence of Earth’s life-energies.

We did a walk through some of the shorter paths as the area covers 454 acres. There were some big columns on a mound that came from the Capital building when it underwent a renovation years ago and never replaced back to the capital. There was a cherry blossom path to follow on the acreage, these turned out to be much larger than the Potomac trees these were big, well rounded and sitting by themselves in all there glory. As we were walking around the park we were passed by it turned out three young adults, I said to them, I knew we’d be passed up. One of the guys turned around and smiled and said, the race does not always go to the swiftest! We all laughed. Straggling behind but with this group was an older guy, in his 50’s, who was walking with them. When he caught up with us I ask him to walk along. He said that he had lost 100 pounds and walks the garden three to four times a week, Monday is his slow day – that was today, other days he keeps up with the kids.

Time for a quick snack. We were standing on the corner of 7th and Constitution with a puzzled look on our face. Along came this suited man and asked if we were lost? I said no, looking for a place to eat. I looked at his ID tag, he worked at the Federal Transportation Unit, added some creditability again. He sadi right us, I’d recommend it. It was the Potbelly Sandwich Works. Shirleen’s roast beef with chips and I with a cup of delicious chili and a, to die for - only as the easterners can make, a meatball sub and a coke. And off we were again. Looking for a map, Found a gal stationed in that area with maps, ended up she was out and also her buddy, so she gave us the one she usually keeps showing people where they are. I looked up and saw the U. S. Naval Log society and went in . a small room on the ground floor but an extensive Navy set-up beneath street level. Fun to walk through and think back.

So we footed it to our other intended stop in DC and that was the National Museum of the American Indian. For those who do not know, the stone that was used in this building was harvested from the Vetter quarry in Mankato over a 10 year period. The design of this building was flowing without square corners, except in the elevators. We waited for a guided tour. The gal was a Cherokee from around Oklahoma. She added an element of creditability throughout the tour. The exhibit covers all the Indian tribes of the Americas and Hawaii. It starts by showing their universe by presenting there Native beliefs, it moves to there Peoples centering on Native history, and there Lives focuses on contemporary Native life. It stresses the belief of the Indian in the careful nurturing of the Earth. She showed us the many different types of Indian dress, notably the women’s. The different uses of the hide, two sides or front and back of dress was from two deer sewn together; three sides or three hides like before but across the top was the third hide to make a shawl arrangement. Some adorned with elk’s teeth, rolled tobacco lids that would jangle, many with glass bead work and some with porcupine quills. They display figured art from 3,000 years ago, different forms of gold work and some compositional metals – copper, silver and gold. At the start of the tour we meet some people from Denmark and I chatted along the way with him. They had a daughter going to school in DC.

We also had time to take n the National Botanical Museum. It is quite the showcase. Again we waited for a guided tour. The beauty of the orchids again overtook us. Every once and a while we could feel rain, it was from, you guessed it, the automatic sprinkler system our taxes paid for. She said it worked as designed and included a shade system to decrease the amount of sunlight. We walked out through the new garden part and viewed another Chihuly art work, much like the one in Florida, many bulbs and elongated bulbs of from one to five feet long, piled in an old wooded green boat tied to the side of the pool. Off to the car we go.

Now we are off to the Cherry Blossoms just beautiful to view from the car along with a thousand other gawkier’s. We noticed we could park next to the trees. We got in line and after ten minutes we parked in the center of the tree area. It was fun to see families with children enjoying and playing amongst the trees and blossom pedals falling down, many others strolling hand in had. We walked down the Tidal Basin with blossom pedals blowing in the air. We took pictures with the Jefferson monument and cherry blossoms and us and the Jefferson and the cherry blossoms. We took more pictures of the blossoms, never could get enough. We were really lucky, the opening of the Cherry Blossom Festival opened two days before. The cultivar of cherry tree is the gifted one from Japan, Yoshino. As we left, where we were waiting to get in had grown to block after block of waiting people.

Now off to dinner. We had seen a The Capital Grill on our walk back to the car, could we find it again? With Shirleen’s innate guiding ability we parked right in front of it. We sat at a bar table, much like the full dinning room but without table linens. We grabbed a couple of waters, which I guzzled down quickly and two house cabernets which turned out to be pleasant, bill said they were: Yalumba Y Series of varietal wines express the lively personality and colourful 150-year history of the Hill Smith family of Yalumba, Australia's oldest family owned winery. These are fresh and flavoursome fruit-driven wine styles of quality and consistency, highlighting the true regional character of South Australia's most renowned viticultural areas and confirming Yalumba's reputation as Australia's finest independent winemaker – from their website. We mixed and matched something together, a spinach salad with warm sweet sour dressing and real crumbled bacon bites. An order of onion rings and a couple of lobster and crab cakes, not as good as those that Shirleen had the day before, might be because of the lobster. I asked the waitress if this was part of the same Capital Grill we have in St. Paul. She said that that company owns 27 of these in state capitals. Another quest.

Off we went to the south in preparation for a trip to Fredericksburg in the morning. I looked at what it had and that night decided not to go there. But where, well there is always tomorrow morning. Later - jerr