Adventures in Washington D.C. (The Monuments)

After spending the majority of the previous day at the National Zoo, my people finally arrived in D.C. and we were off to visit with family!  The next day though we set out with the goal to see practically every monument in Washington D.C.  I had not done this in a LONG time; probably since high school so I was excited to walk around, and it was a gorgeous day!  We set out on the loop - the National Mall, Washington Monument, Thomas Jefferson, George Mason (yes there is a monument to George Mason), FDR, MLK, the National War Memorial, Korea, Lincoln, Vietnam, WWII and lastly the 'flaming sword' which I am pretty sure is a monument to all the wars. 

 

Adam and I in front of the Washington Monument - still neat even covered in scaffolding

View of the Jefferson Memorial from the Tidal Basin (i.e. where the cherry blossoms bloom every year)

Me and George Mason!

(I felt a little bad for good ole GM - his monument was incredibly poorly maintained - the grass hadn't been mowed and there was algae covering the entire pond; but his statue was still pretty cool!)

 

Entering the FDR Memorial

FDR is one of my favorite memorials!

Had to get a picture with the puppy!

My tourist buddies!

 

MLK Jr. Memorial

Unfortunately the monument was covered with scaffolding and construction equipment because they had begun removing the 'drum major' inscription that week.

Just hours before we arrived someone had thrown green paint all over the base of the monument!  Because of this the majority of the monument was roped off and we weren't able to get very close.

Elise on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial

 

Entering the World War II Memorial.  This and FDR tie for my favorite memorials!

Woot woot Virginia!

New Yorkers

The flaming sword!

Once our monument tour was complete we headed over to the sculpture garden for 'Jazz in the Garden' - an awesome event they do on Fridays during the summer at the National Sculpture Garden.  I didn't take any pictures because I was too busy drinking sangria but it was a lot of fun.  After that we headed over to Graffiato for dinner - which I can only describe as a complete culinary experience!  It was amazing and we had the best time.  Graffiato is owned and operated by Mike Isabella of Top Chef fame (yes I watched that season so I definitely geeked out a little)!  Also, Adam's cousin used to work at Graffiato and knew practically the entire staff - which was great for us because they kept bringing out dishes for us to try.  We left full, happy and having tried foods that I will not soon forget!

All I can say is - AMAZING!

 

Our day playing tourists in D.C. was awesome and I was really happy that I was able to do it with Adam and Elise.  Next up - we head to Baltimore to meet up with my parents, eat the best crab cakes ever and watch the Red Sox beat the Orioles.