A Week in D.C. (Part 6)

November 14

Our last day in D.C.  Time to get crazy . . . 

[By getting crazy, I mean going down on the mall and confronting the sight of Trump International Hotel & Tower . . . ]

[And then the mall itself . . . ]

[A monument to a president, as I recall.  Went to the top of it in 1964.  Never did it again though it has reopened since the earthquake . . . ]

[Capitol Hill, including the Capitol . . . ]

[Something was going on down there – we didn’t check it out . . . ]

[Then my job was to shoot Jeanne and Ken . . . ]

[In both directions (Smithsonian Castle on the right) . . . ]

[Wow, they all seem calm exploring their devices while a large tusked creature looms over their heads.  Why yes, we are in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History . . . ]

[This is a Mastodon . . . ]

[Same Mastodon, different angle . . . ]

[Same Ken, Jeanne, and Super, different angle . . . ]

[We went up one floor to the live lepidoptera exhibit – Jeanne and Ken had seen that elsewhere so struck out on their own . . . ]

[Here is one of said lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) . . . ]

[We all took several such photos.  You enter their room in small groups and try hard not to step on any of them . . . ]

[Sorry, I really don’t feel like Googling each species . . . ]

[But they were all quite lovely . . . ]

[Sister Gretch joined us here as we continued our expedition . . . ]

[Here you can do your own research . . . ]

[Whom amongst us doesn’t enjoy a little melon?]

[Try as it might, it wasn’t quite capable of opening the door to escape . . . ]

[The Super found the place quite exciting . . . ]

[As did Gretch . . . ]

[And the moths liked her!]

[A moth selfie . . . ]

[And 5 shots by the Super in the butterfly house.  A staff member hoped to encourage wing display with a paint brush . . . ]

[Also catching my camera in action . . . ]

[The Super got an attractive background here . . . ]

[The Super also got an attractive background here . . . ]

[Thus, they will likely be the ultimate survivors . . . ]

[A fish not normally found in beautiful Lake Darling . . . ]

[From my font of useless information, I was aware this is the world’s largest turtle and 4th largest reptile (behind 3 crocodlians) . . . ]

[All mammals, living and dead . . . ]

[Our large tusked friend again – the center piece of the museum . . . ]

[I bet you didn’t know whales could fly . . . ]

[I’m with the Super and Gretch, so how could we not?  While in here, the place was swarmed over by a bunch of munchkins.  A young woman appeared to be calmly keeping an eye on them.  I asked if she was their teacher.  She said yes.  I told her you people are saints!  She laughed . . . ]

[And here it is . . . ]

[Aquamarine is Jami’s birthstone . . . ]

[Sapphire is mine (though to my knowledge, I have not now nor ever possessed one).  I could I not have gotten the Super’s garnet?]

[The airfare alone to bring this guy here must have cost a bundle . . . ]

[The airfare alone to bring the guy on the right here likely also cost bundle.  We’ll finish our “tour” of D.C. in the next posting . . . ]

You know nothing for sure…except the fact that you know nothing for sure.  ~  John Kennedy

Up Next:  Ending D.C.