An art museum and a few sights of DC

28 Sept 2018

I should mention that I worked in DC for three years at Coast Guard Headquarters.  It was the longest three years of my career. We have seen many of the downtown sights but wanted to see some of them again and certainly see the new memorials that were not completed when we left the area.

We took the metro into DC and our exit happened to be adjacent to the Navy Memorial.  We spent a few minutes enjoying it.

Our main goal for the day was the National Gallery of Art Museum.  It is housed in two buildings connected by an underground passage.  The building itself is certainly a work of art. 

We spent time in both buildings.  I always enjoy the amazing works of the old masters.

We really enjoyed the temporary Old Dutch Masters exhibit: Water, Wind and Waves.

This is a painting of the town of Rhenen, where Anneke’s sister lives along the Rhine River.  It is a short walk from her home to the church in the picture, which still stands.

  I admittedly do not really get some of the modern art, but others seemed very interested in it.

After the museum, we did a short stroll around the area before catching the metro home.

100,000 steps in nine days

A few months ago, we visited our youngest daughter and husband in Alexandria, Va.  She was transferred to the Pentagon and chose Alexandria for its easy commute to work.  We enjoyed exploring the area without ever using a car.  We walked everywhere except riding the metro to go to Washington, DC.  In all, we walked over 100,000 steps in nine days.

Alexandria is an historic town that began before the founding of our nation.  The marker below I thought gave a pretty short and concise history of the town.  There are many details beyond that for those who love history.  For the rest this will do.

We strolled the streets passing by the former homes of Robert E Lee and George Washington and others noted in the history books.  Washington used this townhome when he did not want to travel to Mount Vernon.

We toured the Carlyle House owned by a wealthy early resident of the city which played a role in both the Revolutionary war and the Civil war histories.

Christ Church (Episcopal) founded in 1773 has seen many presidents and other DC folks passing thru its doors.  Unfortunately, when we visited, the church was closed. We strolled the graveyard with its own history record.

We also walked the upscale downtown shopping and restaurant districts and enjoyed a meal along the waterfront on several occasions.

On the waterfront a former Naval Torpedo station has been converted into an arts and craft mall.

A boat ride on the Potomac let us see the city and surrounding area by water.