Serendipity: A Summer in Washington, D.C.: Museum Madhouse

This weekend I got to start checking off some museums from my list! On Friday after work, a bunch of us went to a great Mexican restaurant and pounded the queso. It was a great way to start the weekend! Then I went to the harbor by Georgetown and we got gelato and went to see X-Men: Days of Future Past. I didn't think I was going to get to see it but it was epic. I highly recommend it.

On Saturday, we went to the Smithsonian American History Museum and spent way more time there then I thought we would. They had so many cool exhibits. There was a lot of information on transportation and how it changed in America over the years. I also looked through the exhibits on America at war, the Presidency, and the American flag that Francis Scott Key wrote the National Anthem for. It had 15 stars (one missing because people cut patriotic keepsakes off of it) and 15 stripes, which was the traditional flag from about 1794 - 1818. It was a lot bigger than I imagined and it was more square than today's flag. But it was amazing to see. That afternoon I took the metro further outside the city to a friend's barbecue and the metro actually comes out from under the ground. And when we got outside it was so open, I felt like I could breathe again. I didn't realize how loud it is in the city either. It was so quiet out in the suburbs.

Then on Sunday, I finally got a great amount of sleep. We started a little late, but my boyfriend and I went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and spent 4 hours there! It was so awesome. There were so many planes (including the first jet), ships, ship pieces, drones, life size missiles, and uniforms from over the years. My favorite exhibit was definitely the Mars Exploration Rover. They had so many interesting pictures from Mars. As a photographer, I was in heaven. I learned so much about flight and technology; it was great. After we tackled the Air and Space there wasn't much more we could see since all the museums close around 5:30-6. So we enjoyed the nice weather and the frisbee throwers out on the lawns of the National Mall. We also found a nice sculpture garden that had art and a giant fountain that you could put your feet in. The water spraying into the fountain also grew in arc size every few minutes until they all met in the middle. It was really cool and refreshing since the wind sprayed water on viewers.

I had a lovely weekend with everyone and it still feels surreal being here in DC with such great people. I've finally settled in and gotten into a routine and I'm really enjoying myself. I still don't think I could be a permanent city girl but I've adapted pretty well. I only have two more weekends to spend in D.C. and I'm going to have to maximize my time. I'm determined to see the Spy Museum, the Newseum, the National Gallery of Art, the Holocaust Museum, the National Archives, and the Library of Congress... "Failure is not an option." :)

Time to get back to work serving Arkansas!

Superhero 7 eleven cups

This horse is angry at that guy tightening the straps on his belly haha

Coat of Andrew Jackson

Space toilet! Probably the one Howard made (Big Bang Theory)

This sculpture is a piece of art in a garden near the Mall. I like it a lot because it's like the "Love" statue in NYC but in French.

Amelia Earhart's plane she flew as the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.

The Spirit of St. Louis - the first to fly across the Atlantic.

Crazy hanglider

A picture of Ultra Deep Field taken by Hubble. It was an exposure taken from September 2003 to January 2004 to capture 10,000 galaxies deep in space (looks back in time 13 billion years).