After visiting the American History Smithsonian, Mary Morgan and I asked a random guy to take a picture of us in front of the National Monument. Little did we know it would turn out this well…
Shameless Family Photos, Pt 2: White House and protest
When we went to take pictures in front of the White House, we stumbled across a protest about our lack of involvement in Syria.
Shameless Family Photos, pt 1: Newseum
Toward the tail end of my parents’ visit, Mary Morgan came to visit! This post is going to be pretty much all pictures.
My family at the Newseum
Monuments by Moonlight
Sorry for the lack of updates lately! I’ve been busy with all the people visiting me over various spring breaks this month. When my parents and Jack were here a few weeks ago, we took a trolley tour at night to see the monuments by moonlight. Nighttime photography sans flash is hard without a tripod, so the pictures I tried to take through the window of the trolley leave a lot to be desired, but here are some of the passable photos from my tour.
Jack’s favorite pose at the FDR Memorial
As you’ll notice in these pictures, Jack either does double thumbs up or double hook ‘em horns in every picture.
Family shot
The happiest guy in line at the soup kitchen
FDR & Fala
Arlington Cemetery
My pictures of Arlington Cemetery obviously don’t do it justice, since you can see the flash in the reflection of the base of the statue. However, I would highly recommend visiting this statue at night — the juxtaposition of the dark night and the well-placed lights rear it into majesty.
Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial looks over the reflecting pool, which culminates in the National Monument. At night, the National Monument’s reflection shines in the pool, making for a beautiful view. Unfortunately, I couldn’t even snap an okay picture of this view….so I guess you’ll have to just see it for yourself.
And I’ll end this post with the traditional hook ‘em horns in front of Abe
Meet the Press
Last Sunday, I went to a taping of Meet the Press with my program. The NBC building is out in the residential areas of DC that look more suburban than urban, and looks very inconspicuous, even though the Washington-based NBC and MSNBC TV programs are filmed here.
Very plain NBC building
David Gregory pre-recorded his interview with John Boehner, so we didn’t get to see him in all his orange glory, but he did interview Gene Sperling, and his round table discussion included Tom Brokaw and Chuck Todd. I made sure to snap a picture of the set before the executive producer told us not to use flash.
My illicit picture of the set
Tom Brokaw is a personal friend of our program coordinator, so we got to take a picture with him. It’s a little blurry because it’s post-being told I couldn’t use flash.
Us with Tom Brokaw
We also got to take a picture with David Gregory on the set! He’s a giant.
Us with David Gregory
National Archives
In keeping with my one musuem/week goal, I visited the National Archives on Saturday. (Sidenote: I went to the Holocaust museum the weekend before, and didn’t take any pictures because there is no photography allowed inside the museum. It is an extremely well-done exhibit, and I advise everyone to visit at least once in their lifetime.)
The National Archives is best known for housing the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights. Obviously, in order to preserve the documents, no photography is allowed inside, but I shot some pictures of around the building. Down the street is the Capitol, and across is the Navy Memorial.
Back of the National Archives
View from the middle of the street. Archives on the right, Navy Memorial on the left, and Capitol in the center.
Front of the National Archives. We’re planning on going back when this exhibit opens.
National Press Foundation Awards Dinner
Last Wednesday, my program coordinator invited us to attend the National Press Foundation Awards Dinner, where the award winners included CNN’s Dana Bash, the Denver Post, and Frank DeFord. It was so much fun to get dressed up to schmooze with the Washington Press Corps and attempt to eat the undercooked Cornish hen!
At Table 83, we were in the journalistic equivalent of the nosebleeds.
Me with my roommates, Kaia and Stacey, at the dinner
We got swag bags, which included this sweet First Ladies C-SPAN ruler! Kaia works at C-SPAN with education relations, so she was overwhelmed with joy when she saw the rulers.
My program at the awards dinner
Word to wise…
…if you want to look at the bigger, less ant-like pictures, click on the picture, and it will open to its regular scale!
Tourist-ing on the Mall
It was a beautiful day, I had my Nikon, and I was wearing my cheery green pants, so I decided to take touristy pictures on the Mall!
The National Monument
Smithsonian Castle
National Monument through some trees
Smithsonian Castle
Gate leading into the Enid A. Haupt Garden
Enid A. Haupt Garden & the Smithsonian Castle
National Museum of African Art
Since I didn’t have work today, I decided to go to the National Museum of African Art, which is part of the Smithsonian system. I couldn’t take pictures of the objects on display, so I don’t have any pictures to share of the content, but I did take some pictures of the interior of the building because it’s beautiful. However, I would recommend looking up two artists: Lalla Essaydi and Ousmane Sow.
National Museum of African Art
Ceiling at the National Museum of African Art
