Day4-5

My aunt and I had an early start in DC on Tuesday. We went on a tour of the White House which started at 8:30 am. That meant that we had to get on the rail early so that we could get a parking place before the commuters. Another difficulty arose when we found that we aren't allowed to take anything into the White House- no cameras, not even purses, and the only rental lockers in DC are at Union Station. This meant that I had to get off the Metro at Union Station, put our stuff in a locker, get back on the train and then ride it down towards the White House. It was quite the effort.
The tour was fun. We got to see a few rooms located in the "public" part of the White House.. These included a library, the China Room, the East Room, the Blue, Green, and Red Room, and the state Dining Room. We saw the stairway that the president walks down when he goes to the state dinners or walks to a press conference. I remember getting to see more when I went on this tour as a kid. Hmmm.. oh well. It was still cool. The East Room is actually pretty cool because so many things have happened there. Seven presidents were layed there after their deaths (including Lincoln and JFK). The president's news conferences are held here as well as dinners and performances. Teddy Roosevelt held wrestling matches in the room (and even is said to have participated in some of them). Gerald Ford's daughter hosted her senior prom in the East Room, and Abigail Adams (the second president's wife) used to hang her laundry to dry there. So, the East Room has a long history and many different uses!
The state dining room was also pretty neat. I learned that if you attend a dinner at the White House; you are seated away from your significant other (even the President and First Lady) in order to keep the conversation going.
We did not get to see the Oval Office or anything like that, but I did learn that the Oval Office was first used in 1909 and that it is redecorated to suit each new president. Even though we did not see too many rooms (or anyone in power), the tour was still interesting.

At the FDR Monument, rocks read "I hate war."

There was much controversy regarding this statue because the president is not shown in a wheelchair but a regular chair. A statue was added later to a different part of the monument when disability advocates raised the money for it. I am glad that they did that. I am also glad that his dog is represented!

After the White House tour, we headed back to Union Station for our belongings! Hello... I need my camera! After that we took a taxi to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. It is a ways off the National Mall on the Tidal Basin. I have never been there before and it was actually pretty cool. I like FDR and good old Eleanor. The Memorial is divided into 4 sections, representing each of the President's terms in office. There are also quotes from the president carved into the stones. My aunt says that there is speculation that a lot of FDR's "great ideas" were really from his wife, Eleanor. This makes me all the more interested in the two, and I really enjoyed the Memorial.

View of the Washington Monument from across the Tidal Basin

After visiting this, we went to the Einstein Memorial at the National Academy of Sciences. Tripadvisor.com said it was okay to sit on Albert's lap.... so you know I did! I was hoping he would impart some great wisdom onto me. Maybe he did.. and maybe he didn't. I will never tell! It was a pretty cool monument also.

Afterwards, we walked to the Whitney Museum of American Art in Dupont Circle. On the way there, we passed the Polish Embassy. My peeps! We visited the art museum so that my aunt could visit an exhibit featuring the artist, Georgia O'Keefe. My aunt went through this exhibit but I stayed in the main part of the art museum.

Cezanne portrait- I was so proud that I recognized him. I like him, because I too have problems making straight lines- even with a ruler! (maybe he does it on purpose though)

It ended up being pretty cool as I saw a few paintings that I recognized, such as ones done by Van Gogh and Cezanne. When I was growing up, I went to the Art Institute of Chicago with my grandma where she taught me that the artist, Cezanne always paints tables crooked. I was able to find this quickly in a few paintings featured here.

These are not Georgia O'Keefe paintings, but I still liked them (even though I could so paint that last one).

I did not pay the extra money to see the Georgia O'Keefe paintings but I found myself liking this artist's interpration of nature, and she uses many brilliant and wonderful colors.
After the museum, we ate at this cool restaurant I found online. It was called Founding Farmers and is a restaurant in DC near the art museum. The restaurant is certified "green," ant it has a cool name. The restaurant features locally grown food products and/or sustainable and environmentally conscious products (meaning that no dolphins are killed so that you can have your tuna melt). So, this restaurant rated very highly for me. It didn't hurt that I had the best honey mustard dressing there that I have ever tasted in my life and am dedicated to recreating it on my own. It was a really enjoyable meal.
Afterwards, we headed back home. We were pretty tired. My aunt is definitely a traveler. She has been all over the world and likes to see and do many things. I felt very proud when she told me, "I don't know if it is the weather or if it was you; but I am worn out. Nobody ever wears me out." That's right. That's how I roll when it comes to traveling and sightseeing!
That night, we taught Baxter how to play a dice game called 10,000 (pictures to be posted in a later post). We had fun relaxing from the day and playing the game.

On Wednesday (MY BIRTHDAY), my aunt flew back to Michigan. Before she went home, we visited Fort McHenry in Baltimore. It was pretty cool and was in the shape of a 5-pointed star. Fort McHenry is where the English attacked during the War of 1812, trying to get into the port of Baltimore. The English thought that they would have no problem over taking it because America was such a new country, but we (at least in Baltimore- not DC) were ready. The British attacked Fort McHenry on Sept 13, 1814. They bombarded the fort with rockets for 25 hours but the rockets were not very accurate. The British navy could not really get close enough to the fort to cause any damage because of the American cannons. The navy also couldn't get down the chanel into Baltimore because the Americans had sunken ships there to block their passage. The British eventually retreated when their land and sea attacks were thwarted.
This battle inspired our national anthem. The Star Spangled Banner was written by a lawyer, Francis Scott Key, who was a civilian prisoner of war on a British ship during the battle. He wrote the poem after observing the American Flag still flying high after the battle had commenced and the American fort had survived the attack.

After we visited the fort, we grabbed lunch at another cool restaurant. It was a restaurant shaped like a boat! It was called the Captain James restaurant. The inside was actually really nice and resembled being inside of a cruise ship. There was a misunderstanding and I thought that we could not eat there due to dress code. I thought, I can't believe that I do not have the proper attire to eat in a restaurant shaped like a boat! Luckily for us though, it was just a misunderstanding, and I was able to have my birthday lunch there. The food was good, and my dessert of rice pudding was fantastic. I love that stuff.
I had a great time with my aunt and had a good birthday. Unfortunately, for me I dropped her off at the airport and then had to go into work!