Home to the Commonwealth: Day 1 (my trip to VA recap))

(sidenote #1: yes, Virginia is a Commonwealth - the lovely state in which I was born and raised. Most of you know that already. If you didn't, you do now.)

(sidenote #2: oh and you already know these will be long posts with lots of pictures. Don't be surprised. What may be surprising, however, is the unusual number of photos of me. Take it while you can, folks. I'm now back to my usual comfortable post behind the camera lense, thankyouverymuch.)

So, on May 28, I flew out to the Commonwealth with my mom, sister Heather, and niece Chelsea. On the way we folded tissue paper to make flowers for my sister Melissa's wedding getaway car. It was pretty awesome when all 4 of us were happily accordion-folding for no good apparent reason on the flight.

Melissa's wedding was June 5 - a week away. So we had lots of plans for lots of homeland fun beforehand.

First up, a trip to the Nation's Capitol for reminiscing and touristy exploits.

We took the metro and were greeted by this lovely sight in the metro station. I felt so welcomed. :)

Then we walked along this trail by the Potomac River and hiked on over to take a peek at the Theodore Roosevelt Monument, which none of us had ever actually seen.

me and my first pic with the gorgeous lush Virginia-ness:

And me and Teddy. Turns out, in case you didn't know (as we didn't), there are 2 Roosevelt monuments in DC. One for Teddy and one for Franklin D. Still have never seen Franklin. But Teddy is marked off the list. :)

Then we took the metro to the National Mall and spent some time in the Museum of American History. Here's a pic of Julia Child's kitchen, of course (Julie and Julia, anyone? hehehe)

I may as well insert here that this day included some exciting mishaps. Beginning first with realizing we had forgotten to bring any water bottles. And it was dang hot. And we were awfully thirsty (I ended up paying $4 for a vitamin water just to have a bottle to refill). And then we realized we had forgotten the map we already had of the National Mall and Smithsonian Museums. We ended up paying $7 for a new one. Because there is so much to see, you can't see what you want to see without knowing exactly where everything is. You might get sidetracked by something that looks interesting, but not your top priority, and get to the end of your day without seeing what you actually really wanted to see. A map is essential. And then, Chelsea realized she had lost her metro day pass. Luckily, the metro guy seemed to pity us (and actually believed us) and he gave her a replacement pass for free so we didn't have to buy a new one. Phew!!

After the Museum of American History, Chelsea and mom were left to explore the Museum of Natural History, while Heather went off to find the Portrait Gallery, and I went to spend some wonderfully cool and quiet alone time in the National Gallery of Art. It was absolutely lovely.

(the Mall)

(the Capitol)(the Washington Monument)

And then we metroed back on over to Melissa's house for a bit, too. :)

The fun has just begun! Stay tuned!