Wild Kindness Family

Sunday, April 30, 2023

Washington, DC: Day 4 (Archives and National Gallery of Art)

We started out our last day in DC riding the train as usual, and stopping for second breakfast at McDonald’s (as usual). It’s safe to say that we won’t be visiting another McDonald’s for awhile, though we thoroughly enjoyed our breakfast sandwiches and cinnamon rolls.

McDonald’s Twins!

We waited in line in the cold (didn’t bring the coats this time) to enter the National Archives Museum. We weren’t able to take any photos inside but we saw some pretty amazing things, like the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. There were some other impressive documents there too like the original 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote. The entire exhibit about Records of Rights, covering all kinds of human and civil rights, was fantastic.

Then we finally got to see the National Gallery of Art. I had been looking forward to it all week. It is unbelievable how much incredible art they have in there. We had to cut it a little short because Juniper had an awful ear ache (and was such a trooper), and a few of the things I had hoped to see were off exhibit, but I am still really happy with what we were able to see.

Ginevra de Benci by Leonardo da Vinci. I might like her even more than Mona. It is the only painting by da Vinci on public display in the US.

We have the same shape 😂

The creepiest twins with the cutest twins.

This giant rooster was pretty fantastic.

And 1, 2, 3 - triplets. If I had a dollar for every photo Else walked out of I would be rich. Haha.

There was an entire room of art by Mark Rothko!

We had planned on renting paddle boats and enjoying the cherry blossoms that way but the weather continued to get colder and windier and Juniper was pretty miserable so we just walked around a bit, enjoying the cherry blossom “snow” that was blowing around. It was so beautiful.

While taking these photos there was an adorable older Asian man who watched us the entire time, chuckling and taking multiple photos of our kids.

But they’re pretty cute so I can understand why.

A ranger that was there said the trees were a gift from Japan over 100 years ago.

The flower gardens were in bloom, too.

Back on the train to go home!

Alexandria, VA

The kids and I drove out to Old Town Alexandria, VA one afternoon. We walked around and saw some cool historic buildings but our favorite thing we saw was the Torpedo Factory Art Center.

The Spite House, considered to be the narrowest house in the US (and supposedly built by an angry homeowner to keep people from driving their carriages down the alley). It is about 7 feet wide and is still used as a private residence today.

https://alexandrialivingmagazine.com/home-and-garden/queen-street-spite-house-alexandria-va-historic-alley-homes/

The Torpedo Factory Art Center is an old torpedo factory that has been converted into 3 floors of art studios and you can just walk around and watch the artists at work, buy their pieces, and visit the Alexandria Archaeology Museum. It was fun to see so many different types of art in one place. Some artists were really friendly and happy to see children but I’d say quite a few weren’t very excited to see us coming. Ha.