An Afternoon as a Tourist

Hello, dear blog readers! Yesterday we thought we'd take advantage of the warm afternoon to do some driving around downtown DC since the spring blossoms are out. It seemed that every other tourist with a reason to be out and about was doing so as well, but nevertheless, it was a memorable experience.

 Yes, dear blog readers, you guessed it: I forgot my "real" camera, but I was more than happy to use my phone camera. I should have probably rolled down the window for a better shot. The trees were magnificent. I'm glad I got to see a few more blossoms before it rained.

We drove around admiring the architecture. Yes, we "young" Americans don't have anything nearly as old as Europe or other continents, but I still like what we saw, and hey! This building is older than me, for sure! We were trying to figure out what "department of" government branch works here, but we never did see a sign. For all we know it might be a nifty museum that we passed.

Ideas, anyone as to what building this is (above)? I meant to look online today to see if I could identify it, but that hasn't happened yet.

Regardless of what your views are of American politics, it was a little surreal to be in the midst of where it all happens.

Then, things got interesting. Since we hadn't really encountered much traffic up to this point, we thought we'd try to circle around and see the White House. So far the kids had been in the car for about an hour and were doing ok. But....It took another forty-five minutes to circle back through various neighborhoods to come down the street and see the wings of the White House. I had a nice shot (from a distance). I even remembered to roll down my window! And then....an anonymous caller performed a pocket call, and my shot was lost! I ignored the call and snapped what I could of a view as we were driving down the street.

The East Wing (I think! I can't be sure...I haven't ever been here before, and my cinema viewing probably doesn't help make things any clearer.) At this point both of our two little howlers were making it very clear they were hungry, so we sat through the last of the traffic and tried to see the South Lawn on the way out of town. It was at this point that we realized that a vast majority of traffic was due to all the pedestrians who were out and about for the day. Cars couldn't turn or go through intersections efficiently due to all the folks enjoying the Spring weather.

At least I got a tiny shot of the South Lawn before a SUV pulled up next to us at a stop light and obscured the view!

All in all, though, it was a great day. My hubby really went above and beyond to make it a nice trip for the kids and me.

Happy Monday to you all, dear blog readers!