My Beautiful Hood

This past spring, I rediscovered a gem. When I was younger, I happened to be walking when stumbled on this park that I had no idea existed. I decided to take a look, but I didn't like it very much because it just seemed like a bunch of flowers to me. Being a young lad at the time, that didn't interest me at all.

Fast forward to the present, I happened to be on my morning walk near my house, when I remembered that park. Wondering if the park was still there, I decided to go and see, especially since it's location is only a few blocks from me.

Well, Green Spring Garden Park was still there. Although, it was nothing like I remembered. . . probably because I'm a lot more mature now. Anyway, it's this great park that's dedicated to gardening education. You can even go to the parks website and see information and care instructions on every breed of plant life they have at the park.

Of course, since I got a new camera, I had to take pictures. That first one is the entrance. This is the pedestrian path leading into the park, and a random plant that I love because it's so huge.


There are two main areas to the park. These pics are of the lake area. There are two lakes that are separated by a bridged path and a gazebo.

To get to the other main area of the park, there is a trail that winds through the woods.

The other main section is an open area with a bricked path that circles the park.

The park has a horticultural center where you can learn about gardening. All of the plant life is labeled for reference.

They also have various fruit trees, and vegetable and herb gardens.

Here are a couple of shots of the beautiful landscaping.

And finally, the back entrance to the park.

Gimme A Ticket For An Airplane

I went on a field trip with Joey, Krissy, and Kevin this past Saturday to the National Air and Space Museum at Dulles for their "Become a Pilot Family Day and Aviation Display". In addition to the museum's normal display of planes indoors, they had an outdoor aviation display with visiting vintage, recreational, and home built aircraft flown in by their owners. You could actually ask the pilots and owners question about their planes and about flying. Some of the pilots also let visitors get in the planes.

This is a shot of the "Wall Of Honor" leading up to the entrance of the museum. There are names of pioneers and enthusiasts etched on those panels on the sides.

These are a few shots I took inside the museum. I didn't take many interior pictures because it's a little dark in the certain areas. I assume that's to preserve the items on display.

Next, it was on to the planes outside. This is an interesting shot because. . . well. . . I used to be a white man until I stuck my face in the back of that jet engine. I had wondered what that "beware of blast" meant.

The plane below actually belonged to The Flintstones. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you will notice feet under the plane which is how they get the plane going down the runway. . . I is highlarious!
Also, WRC's traffic copter was on display. I need to get me one of those to get to and from work.
They also had a few military aircraft including this huge cargo plane which, we found out from one of the crewmen, was used to transport Shamu.
This is a shot of the cargo plane taken from the wing of a midair refueling plane. You could actually go into both planes and sit in the cockpit. The cargo plane was so huge that you actually had to climb up a steep staircase to get to the cockpit.
I must say, the whole thing was pretty cool. . . Actually, it wasn't very cool. It was fairly hot out. The heat inside the cargo plane and the refueler was like a sauna. But, I have to tell you, it was worth it. How often do you get to go into the cockpit of a military plane. I'll definitely go back next year. Thanks for the great idea Joey!

Alllllllll Abooooooard!

You know how I've been saying that I want to take advantage of the sites and culture of our nation's capitol? Well, this past Saturday I went on a field trip to Union Station to enjoy the first annual "National Train Day". Basically, this was a festival created by AMTRAK to promote the benefits of train travel. Of course, this event was right up my alley since I've always been a huge train buff. As a kid, I knew when I grew up, I was going to be a train engineer.

The event included model trains, musicians, local sports teams' mascots, and kid oriented attractions, as well as vendor booths for companies like VRE, MARC, CSX, the National Park Service, and the National Association Of Railroad Passengers. But, the highlight of the event was the opportunity to tour actual trains. The train tour was obviously what most people came to do, because the line to get on the train tour was about an hour and fifteen minutes long. I'm such a huge train fan that it didn't bother me one bit.

Well, of course I took my camera along so that I could share the experience with my dwellers, so here goes:

While waiting in line for the train tour, they passed out stickers. Here are the two I got!

You know, when I told them I had experience driving trains because I have Microsoft Train Simulator at home, they let me hop into the engine and sit at the controls.
OK, that's not me, and that's not a real engine. It's one of the many model trains they had set up.

Now here was the fun part, the train tour!

This is the first of two historic rail cars that you could walk through. Here is an exterior and interior shot of the 20th Century Limited rail car.

This is a shot of the MARC train that the 20th Century was attached to at the other end. I just thought it was funny looking out the back of a classic rail car and seeing a modern engine attached. So, I took a picture of it.

The second historic car they had was the Dover Harbor. Just like the 20th Century, it is a restored Pullman Car, which you can rent for a cool $6000. They attach it to the back of an AMTRAK train, and you're on your way. Gosh, wouldn't it be great if a few of my good friends pooled their money together and treated me to that on my birthday. . . *sigh* . . . OH! Sorry. Back to the tour!

Here's a shot of their dinner setup and a shot of one of the bedrooms.

Attached to the Dover Harbor was an AMTRAK regional car. Here's a shot of the car's interior and a shot I took of the outside from the regional. That's an Acela over on that other track.

Now, the highlight of the experience was the chance to see the pride of the AMTRAK fleet, the high speed Acela!
I have to say, this is one fine looking train. I hope it rides as good as it looks. Actually, I shouldn't have to wonder, because I had the pleasure of listening to a man on the tour who told me over and over again about how he had ridden the Acela before and how he didn't see the big deal and how he thought it was too bouncy and how he thought it took the curves too fast and on and on. You know how I love to talk to a know-it-all stranger. Anyway, here's an interior shot and a shot looking out the window at the engine on the next track over.

Overall, I had a good time. I would say the only drawback was that the display areas seemed a little chaotic. Hopefully, they'll do a better job next year of creating a traffic flow instead of having people walking in all directions. Oh, and of course, I will be there next year!

Shhhhhh! This Is A Library

It annoys me that I live in the DC metro area and haven't visited many of the sights in the city. All of those monuments and museums to enjoy, many of which are free. Well, I'm trying to turn over a new leaf and take advantage of the sights, which leads me to my outing this past Friday.

Andi and I visited the Library Of Congress and took the tour of the Thomas Jefferson Building, which is the building that houses the Main Reading Room. Haven Dwella's, this building is gorgeous. Every inch of the place is filled with artwork. And every piece has a meaning.
Here's an example. This pic includes a statue, carvings, seals, literary quotes, and paintings, and each one means something different. Those cherubs on the stairwell each represent something different all their own.

Here is a pic I took of the magnificent ceiling.

I took this shot of Elihu Vedder's Minerva of Peace for Mary Sog. It's a beautiful marble mosaic that's done in way that, no matter which way you look at it, the feet always face you. Hopefully, you can see the mosaic OK. It was hard to get good light because the room is so vast. And the closer you got to it, the less light there was.

You know, when we entered the building, a security guard told us that we wouldn't actually see any books on the tour. I thought he was kidding. Well, he was right. You get to see the reading room from an observation deck way above the floor, but without a reading pass, the only books you get to see are the ones for sale in the gift shop. Oh well. . .

This Place Is A Zoo

I spent an evening out with my good friend Chris last night. We decided to go to the National Zoo for their Zoo Lights event. Basically, it's like those drive through light displays that they have at Bull Run and Merriweather, but you walk through instead. It was quite fun. . . but also, quite miserable.

Unfortunately, it was cold and rainy the whole time. And it seemed that the closer we got to the zoo, the harder it came down. We took the Metro to the zoo and saw this lovely display at the Connecticut Avenue entrance.

Now, I don't know how many of you readers have visited the zoo using the Metro, but the subway stop is about a quarter of a mile down hill from the zoo. Not a big deal. . . unless it's raining. . . and your clothes are soaked.

Once at the zoo, they did keep some of the animal houses open ,so you did have an opportunity to warm up a little. Most of the animals were asleep. Here's a shot I tried to take of a meerkat. The pic is blurry because I tried to take it on my digital camera without the flash, so as not to scare the animal.


Back outside for another light display.

I think they may have had some event earlier in the evening, because we came across this ice sculpture under a tent full of tables and chairs. BTW, the cow is not part of the sculpture.

Now here's the really fun part. Evidently, we got there pretty close to closing. Each time we went into a different animal house, an attendant would let us know that the house would be closing soon. Not a problem, we could still look at the lights outside. Well, we left the last house, walked to the end of the zoo, and then turned back to leave. We were the last ones to leave the park. How do I know this? Well, halfway through our uphill walk back to the exit, they turned out the lights on us. Not just the light displays, but the park lights in the section that we were walking through. Can I tell you that it's a little creepy walking through the zoo at night with no lights on and no one else around.

Well, after we finally made it uphill (the zoo is all hill) to the exit, we were soaked and out of breath. . . OK I was out of breath, Chris is a dancer and much more fit than me.

Despite the weather, a good time was had by all. Oh, and I'll have to let Chris tell you about the reaction he got when he asked if they were selling umbrellas.