Much has been made about Google Buzz and it's privacy issues. However, for me, it's totally paid off for me. Last week an old friend posted some pictures of the cherry blossoms in DC; I commented and he invited us down for the weekend. How could we say no (especially since Wen had never been).
Here are some photos; you can easily guess what we did. We started off on the Mall:
Here are some shots of those cherry trees; in fact, it turned out that it was the National Cherry Blossom Festival.
Here are some shots of the different memorials that dot the Mall. Jefferson:
Lincoln. Very popular photo spot:
The Vietnam War Memorial:
After that it was off to the White House:
Check out the beautiful walkway between Treasury and the White House. Alas, government staffers only:
Day two was spent in Georgetown (after a night that saw a delicious dinner at Oyamel and drinks at Bourbon). I didn't realize that The Exorcist was shot there (and written by a Georgetown grad); here are the classic stairs:
Here are some shots of buildings in the neighbourhood:
This is where Kennedy lived when he was a senator:
And finally, a last short of Healy Hall at Georgetown. Apparently there's a periodic tradition where the students try to steal the hands of the clock (they're each about six feet tall) and then mail them to the Pope. Happens every few years-but not while we were there.
We also made it to The Phillips Collection, which is reputed to be one the best small museums and lived up to it. They had a brilliant Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit which included these ones:
Red, Yellow and Black Streak, 1924:
Music-Pink and Blue No. 1:
Grey Lines with Black, Blue and Yellow - 1923/25:
and White Sweet Peas - 1926:
Also, they've got a few beauties in their permanent collection. Here's one that caught my eye. It's Stefan Hirsch's New York Lower Manhattan (1921):
Also, Rockwell Kent's The Road Rollers (1909). A very different way of plowing the snow:
