Sunday 12 April 2009

Easter weekend

This weekend we began our Smithsonian tour, the goal of which is to see one Smithsonian museum each weekend for the next four months. We began our tour on Saturday with the National Museum of American History. It was a rainy day and we stood in line outside for about 45 minutes. Good thing we had our trusty umbrella (thanks for sending it, mom)!

Almost to the doors!

The museum itself was quite interesting, though packed with tourists. We were not patient or energetic enough to stand in the long lines for the American Presidency, First Ladies, and Thanks for the Memories exhibits but we plan to go back right at opening time one of these days to hit those three must-sees.

After the American History Museum we Metro-ed out to Target and Bed, Bath & Beyond to get a few home furnishings. It was quite an experience Metro-ing and walking home with big bags! I was very thankful for Tim (who taught me about Waltzing Matilda ... as seen below)!

Timmy going "Waltzing Matilda"

We spent Easter Sunday morning at the Union Station location of National Community Church. It was interesting, but too showy, hyped and shallow for our taste. We walked there and home, which was nice given the sunny weather.

Tulips and Fountains

Model Pose - SPRING!

Stoic Timmy with the Capitol Building

This afternoon our landlords hosted what they had described as a "little brunch". As it turns out, it was a FEAST! And at one point Tim turned to me and said, "I think I'm the only person here who doesn't speak Spanish!" This was due to the fact that the crowd invited was the "Latino friends," and Tim's statement certainly explains the vibe of the afternoon. There were people from all over Latin America, and all were well-educated, bi-lingual, and professionally successful - a fun group to meet and chat with!

As if that wasn't fun enough fun, there was enough food for three Christmas dinners! Marc and Dale cooked a turkey, a ham, shrimp (on the barbie), sausages, turkey dogs, and hamburgers - and that's just the meats! There were also mashed potatoes, pasta salad, crackers with cheese, multiple fruit and veggie salads, deviled eggs, pastries and numerous desserts! Needless to say, we won't be hungry for a day or so... and they want to give us left-overs as well ... can't say no to that!

What can I say? We've got a pretty SWEET set-up!

2 comments:

Amber said...

You DO seem to have a pretty amazing set-up! Your landlords seem like such warm and thoughtful people. You are lucky to have an insta-community. ;)

Also, I liked your comment about the church. "Interesting" as a descriptive word always has negative connotations in my family. What? Showy and shallow aren't your thing?

Ally said...

I love your goal of visiting all of the Smithsonians! So fun! And the waltzing matilda-- brilliant!