Downtown Memorials

Dominic visited us on Monday. After a yummy dinner at J. Gilbert's we headed down town to walk around the FDR and Jefferson memorials. I can’t claim all the credit for the pics, since he took some of them as well. The Cherry Blossom festival had just ended the day before, but there were still crowds out and about. All the blossoms had quickly faded though with the heat (90 degrees and 80% humidity) and rain of the previous week.

National Cathedral

On Saturday, in between setting up for the Crosslink International Annual Band-Aid Ball and attending it, we had several hours with nothing to do. It was a beautiful spring day, so we headed to the National Cathedral. Ryan had never been before, and I'd only seen on a 4th of July weekend when it was packed, so we both enjoyed it.
View as we came out of the parking garage was stunning!

Gothic architecture is always fun. In the summer, they do gargoyle tours. The stone carvers had fun with lots of contemporary gargoyles.

Some of the gardens on the grounds.

Exterior of the rose window.

Tulips and peonies were amazing! This coming week is Virginia's Annual Garden Week, looks like there will be lots blooming.

The light turned into colors bouncing off all the stone. Perfect day to visit because all the stain glass windows were brilliant.

One of the many chapels inside.

Another chapel. Each one was in a different style.

More stained glass. With so many, it was hard to pick what to take pictures of.

Statue of Abraham Lincoln with a place to leave donations of items and food for the poor. The Episcopalian church has the art of donation down pat. The credit card kiosk to make donations was particularly impressive. We wandered through the exhibit of the making of the Cathedral and learned all sorts of interesting facts. Definitely worth a visit if you haven't seen it before.

Easter

I had hoped that if we waited until close to dusk on Easter Sunday that the crowds for the Cherry Blossom Festival would have died down. Wasn't really true. We inched our way in the line of cars, and I took pictures out the window when we stopped.

In this picture, you can see the steps of the Jefferson Memorial are completely covered with people.

The Tidal Basin pink trees looked nice. I don't see what the huge obsession with them is. You can see the swarms of people lining the walkways. So, we can now say that we've seen the Cherry Blossoms. Once was definitely enough.

Rain

After several days of almost 90 degrees and 80% humidity, the weather changed last night. After a fast moving thunderstorm, the rain started in the evening. Rained most of the night. The pool in the apartment complex had recently been cleaned and was completely empty before the rain. Had to share this picture because it shows just how much it rained! Look at the waterline in the pool.

Fredericksburg, VA

Fredericksburg, VA has ties to both Colonial times and Civil War. Last Saturday, with beautiful springtime weather, we decided to go explore. George Washington's childhood home (stories of chopping down the cherry tree) is fairly close to the town. His mother, Mary, spent the last 17 years of her life here. His sister Betty lived on a plantation just outside of town (now part of the town). There are also four Civil War battlefields that are close by. With way too much to do in one day, we had to pick.
First stop was a museum dedicated to President Monroe. It was built on the site of where his law office once stood. Started by his descendents, it had a unique collection of clothing, furniture, and artifacts owned by the Monroes. Learned all sorts of trivia here (How many presidents died on the 4th of July?)

It's cherry blossom time in DC which was a main contributor to heading the other direction.

The downtown has lots of fun shopping.

After lunch, we walked to the other side of town to visit Kenmore, the home of George Washington's sister. One of the few places we were allowed to take pictures indoors. The home has been beautifully restored.

We started in the office space of Fielding Lewis. It was the least ornate and had the original flooring.

The woodwork throughout the house was amazing. Here tulips adorn the stairs in the main entryway.

The swan fireplace in the master bedroom. What was interesting in this room, was the doors had been left open to the servants passageways, so we could see how they all linked together.

The Lewis family had a master plaster who decorated the ceilings in all the main floor rooms. He was loaned to George Washington at Mount Vernon for one room (the painter came to Kenmore in exchange). Each room had a different motif.

A garden society had adopted Kenmore years ago and restored the grounds to what they would have looked like originally. We could see lots of greenery, but the flowers were a few weeks away from blooming. Normally Virginia celebrates garden week the first week of April, but this year it was postponed several weeks since spring came late due to all the snow.

This plaster motif is an Aesop's fable with the fox and crow.

Another amazing ceiling.

The green in this reproduction flocked wallpaper was rather intense. The home had been restored to the original colors.

We ended with a tour of the kitchen. This had been completely rebuilt as only the foundation had been retained when the house became a historic landmark. This is a small kitchen garden.

There was quite an assortment of kitchen gadgets that the tour guide talked about. On the table are a mousetrap and scrapers to retrieve boar bristles and make brushes.

Annapolis, MD

Last Saturday was incredibly warm. 75 and sunny. First weekend this year where it hasn't been snowing or raining. So, we joined the rest of the crowds in an activity more suited for nice weather outdoors. Annapolis is only about an hour drive, and we had not yet visited. Along with the usual visitor draws like shopping, restaurants and the Naval Academy, it was Maryland days. So everyone was highlighting the history and uniqueness of Maryland.
Here's the view of the downtown waterfront shopping area.

One of the historical actors from a near-by museum.

The waterfront. There were several ice cream shops nearby with steady business as everyone got ice cream and wandered in the sunshine.

Daffodils are finally blooming! Spring came late, but now that it is here, everything is blooming at once.

The waterfront within the Naval Academy. It's a huge campus, so we only saw part of it. Probably the most important part was the gift shop :)

The sign may be a little hard to read, but it was the story of the goat mascot.

Mascot at the entrance to the Naval Academy.

Woodlawn and the Pope-Leighey Frank Lloyd Wright house

Many things around DC were closed or very reduced hours during the winter, and then with the even worse than usual weather, most historical locations were closed more often. Woodlawn had their spring reopening this month, so last weekend we went. There were several things that attracted me, and Ryan just went along as my driver. Woodlawn is near Mount Vernon that we have visited several times, they were having their annual Needlework exhibition which is a show that anyone can enter and the Frank Lloyd Wright Pope-Leighey house is on the Woodlawn grounds.
From: http://woodlawn1805.org/ Woodlawn is a gracious 126-acre estate that was originally part of George Washington’s Mount Vernon. The main Federal-style house was designed by the architect of the U.S. Capitol, Dr. William Thornton, and constructed between 1800 and 1805 for Washington’s nephew Major Lawrence Lewis and his bride, Eleanor “Nelly” Custis Lewis. During the Lewis’ years in residence, Woodlawn comprised over 2,000 acres and was worked by over 100 workers, at least 90 of whom were enslaved people of African descent.
The most interesting part of the plantation's owners: In 1901, the playwright Paul Kester moved in — with his mother, brother and 60 cats — and began “restoring” the house to livable conditions.
Fortunately, there were other owners who were able to finish the restoration.
Another rainy weekend day, but we ventured out anyways. Woodlawn is very similar inside to Mount Vernon, but appears to be more planned with fewer additions. A beautiful view as we walked up. Spring has been so late here that the daffodils were not even close to blooming, and I saw one crocus bloom. There were no guided tours, so we were able to wander the house and enjoy the views (and the Needlework exhibits). I hadn't really considered the typical audience - large groups of old ladies, so Ryan didn't blend too well. They took advantage of this when one of the ladies got her car stuck in the mud in the parking lot. He helped push it out.

The Frank Lloyd Wright house was originally in Falls Church (where we live), but had to be moved for the expansion of route 66. You can see the scale from the people who were out front waiting for the tour.

The house of moderate cost is not only America’s major architectural problem but the problem most difficult for her major architects. -Frank Lloyd Wright, 1936

From: http://popeleighey1940.org/

Commissioned in 1939 by journalist Loren Pope, the Usonian home was a manifesto of Wright’s belief in American design for the people, unburdened by past architectural traditions. Wright’s innovative use of four natural materials (wood, brick, glass and concrete) created a sense of a large, more spacious abode – in only 1,200 square feet.

Looks a little dark in these pictures, but we heard it was beautiful in the sun. And once we were inside, we were able to appreciate the design. It felt very spacious, much larger than 1200 sq feet. The window designs were very innovative, since this house was built pre-air conditioning days, there was a large focus on air circulation. The floors had radiant heating.

We learned that the little windows have a unique in each of his houses. The house was actually moved twice, the last time because it was falling apart and sliding down a hill. At that time, the brick was replaced and the cyprus wood all sanded down, which is why there are color gradiations as it returns to a weathered silver.

A picture of the two of us is rare, so I decided to share.

After the tour, Ryan said he would like to live in a Frank Lloyd Wright house. But after a discussion of restoring old houses, cost of an actual Frank Lloyd Wright house and the inconvenience of where they are located, he amended this to a Frank Lloyd Wright inspired house. I agreed!