A group of us took a photo trip to Washington D.C. on Monday. Melissa, her sister Torie, Miles, Sammie, and me. After a grueling lunch at the pub in Denton (which is usually great, but our waiter was having a WAY off day) we made the trek to the Metro station. Our goals for the day were simple: take some good pictures, visit the Lincoln Memorial, and walk off our burgers.
Our first stop off the Metro was the Air and Space Museum. We really only went in to use the facilities, but the siren call of NASA ice cream and WWII relics kept us wandering for a while. We meandered our way through that museum and on to the Native American Museum, which we only got to see a smidge of since they were closing.
After another ice cream break, we split up for a while. Miles went to the National Museum, while the girls went to the botanical gardens and the capitol building. For future reference, the capitol is phenomenal for two things...great pictures of architecture and prize-winning people-watching. Once we'd exhausted the photographic possibilities of the fountain (much discussion of f-stops and shutter speeds...geekiness at its finest), we meandered our way towards the Natural History Museum with another stop at a big outdoor fountain/hangout place tucked into the sculpture garden.
A quick walk through Natural History. Hope Diamond, soil samples from all 50 states (Louisiana had a worm!), petrified coelocanths, and the elephant in the lobby. Sammie and I caught up with Melissa and Torie, who had gone bug-hunting in the insect zoo. Met up with Miles outside and began the trek to the Washington Monument, Reflecting Pool, and Lincoln Monument.
Pictures of these three monuments, no matter how well-composed, beautifully lit, or perfectly exposed, do no justice to them. The sheer mass of the structures is overwhelming. People were scattered everywhere for the half-mile stretch, playing frisbee and kickball, reading, walking their dogs, taking all the standard tourist snapshots, and feeding the incredibly tame squirrels. Lincoln himself is breathtaking. I can't fathom the work that went into its creation and maintenance since then. The detail of the statue and the walls around him are as sharp as I imagine they were on the day they were carved. Miles and I watched the sun set over DC from the back of the monument where a few others discovered the gorgeous view and lack of crowds.
Finally, we all decided that the photographic festivities were at an end. We were starving. Dinner in Chinatown was calling. Many, many blocks later, we stumbled down into a Metro station and found our way to food. Sadly, Fudruckers won. I would have preferred some hole-in-the-wall nook owned by a tiny Chinese grandma, but no such luck. It was pretty late. Hunger satiated, back to the Metro and then home.
Next time...Coney Island!
