Happy MLK Jr. Day!

Today was a great day! We left our apartment around 9:00 a.m. and got Jason's hair cut at a nearby barber shop. We walked down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, where we were ordered by the Secret Service to not walk on the road; we still aren't sure what was going on.

We spent some time in Freedom Plaza, a nifty little park right next to the Treasury building. There are a bunch of Washington, DC-related quotes inscribed in the cement, including one I really wanted to remember, but I now (of course) can't recall who the author was or exactly what it said.

Here is Jason at Freedom Plaza.

Note his excellent haircut.

Interestingly, the Freedom Plaza contains a time capsule of some of Martin Luther King Jr.'s personal belongings, placed in the 1980s when they renamed the park.

I wanted to get my picture in front of the Treasury and the Willard hotel. I look a little unhappy in this one, but my expression is much less bizarre than the next picture Jason took. I'm choosing not to include said picture here for public consumption.

The weather was a balmy fifty degrees today! We walked through some really pretty parts of the city, so I took a picture. It didn't turn out as well as I would've liked. DC is a striking city because of all its open space. Even major roadways often have pretty wide sidewalks. We like it so far!

We ate lunch in the National Gallery of Art's sculpture garden. This is me with an Alexander Calder sculpture.

In case you are wondering, it's called Cheval Rouge (Red Horse).

This is Jason's favorite sculpture. I don't remember what it is called.

After lunch, we hit the National Gallery. We spent a while in the early Italian art, viewing enough religious triptychs to last a lifetime. Then, we moved into Dutch art, later Spanish art, and early American stuff. Highlight of this portion:

Jason really liked the Rembrandt paintings, particularly one of a cathedral, but I couldn't find it online.

My favorite was Girl with the Red Hat by Vermeer.
After a while, we moved over to the East Wing to view the modern stuff. The museum has a pretty substantial collection of interesting works. We also saw some amazing art by Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Degas on the fourth floor.

Just when we were about to return to the West Wing (not the executive one, sadly), we realized that there was an additional contemporary exhibit in the basement. I'm so glad we did not miss it! The collection included some awesome/small Calder mobiles, interesting Rothko paintings, a giant Chuck Close portrait, and probably my favorite piece of all:

Cakes, by Wayne Thiebaud. The digital version does not do the bright colors justice.

The picture at the top of this post is also from the East Wing. I don't remember what it is called, but it looked pretty cool and Jason took a picture of it.

We returned to the West Wing and found the Impressionist collection, which included some more fantastic paintings. By the time we finished with that section (and the sculpture hall AND the Italian coin section AND the additional medieval religious iconography), it was almost four o'clock, so we set out for home. We walked home via the mall, and stopped by the Vietnam War Memorial, which we hadn't see yet. I think it is one of the country's most effective monuments. We walked home up 23rd Street and crashed at our apartment (before dining on delicious leftover baked macaroni and cheese). According to Google Maps, we walked 4.9 miles today, not including walking through the galleries! We're going to be a little sore tomorrow...

Jason gets to go to a staff meeting tomorrow morning and I get to see what the office is like when the senate is actually in session! We are looking forward to our White House tour next Saturday and seeing the Frosts on President's Day weekend! So long for now.