We stayed up too late talking and watching Down With Love the night before, so we took it easy in the morning. We got ready and headed for the Metro and lunch with B's relatives. We waited forever for the bus, but the food was scrumptious (+ free) and the company was sweet. Once lunch was over, we traveled to the Metro Center area for some bookstore browsing and coffee drinking. Mmm, the finest of afternoon activities. Then we got the bright idea to hit THE NATIONAL ZOO. Behold one of our favs, an adolescent pachyderm, hamming it up for the eternally-childlike, easily-amused humans:
Dude, he's totally adorable.
We had so much fun at the Zoo! We saw a tenacious beaver clawing at one of his water tunnels that was closed off (actually, that was sad), but then we saw preening pelicans, an otter who was happy to do laps for our amusement, and lots of beautiful flowers on the grounds. I got some great photos, too. This is one of the best:
JB, BL, and NM, wondering why there are no Golden Lion Tamarins who will come out to play. Or, more likely, throw feces on them
Plus, that whole side-trip meant we got a chance to ride this thing:
It's no "longest escalator in the Western Hemisphere" like the Wheaton station, but I wouldn't recommend it if you're afeared o' heights.
Afterward we headed down to dinner at Five Brother's Restaurant (mmm, burger) and then the Mall to get through security and see some sweet fireworks. N and B left early because they had long drives home and weren't that dedicated to crowds and things going boom. At first I felt like I should have gone with them. Feral children were throwing frisbees, hitting unsuspecting people, and the sheer volume of humanity (not to mention the noise) wore you down after a while. Plus, obnoxious, barely-dressed high schoolers and their flirty cackles. Please, girls, save the hyena shtick for prom! Eventually, however, it got darker and the footballs were put away in favor of quieter talking until BOOOM . . . booom, boom, BOOOOOOOOOM (that one smacked you in the sternum).
I didn't think it was going to be all that much better than anywhere else, but it was. At first we were saddened that our view was blocked by the Washington Memorial, but it was actually nice to see how it framed the explosions, and it definitely gave you a reference point for understanding how HUGE the blasts were. A few to spanned from close to the ground to the top of the monument. That's 500+ feet of dazzling light. What a way to celebrate!
Washington gets its 4th on.
1 comment:
What a fun place to live! I do love ID, but our town, in the tedious and unpatriotic spirit of a balanced budget, skipped out on the fireworks this year. We had to settle for a local pyro's smaller show. Still fun, but nothing like the big city.
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