Leaving DC, Old Alexandia

Old Alexandia, Va. What do motorcycle riders do on Saturday nights? They cruise Old Alexandia and hang out at the Irish pub.

In the daylight Old Alexandria is a pretty little town full of great shops and lots of history.


Inside of the antique shops are full of wonderful treasures.





It was so hard to not spend money.

D.C pt. 3

You have to have a photo of yourself on the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial. So here I am.




And here's Shelagh.



Part of the police force patrols via horseback. The horses are very tolerant of people wanting to pet them.


One of the newest monuments is dedicated to the Korean War. It's an incredible powerful monument and deserves a moment of dedicated reflection. How many people know anything about what we did and why? Does anyone realize that technically still at war?

DC, part 2

Looking toward the Washington Monument from the WWII memorial. With all the fountains and pools it's a very cool spot on a hot day.



I do get in front of a camera every now and then.

Shelagh and her favorite hat.

The Reflecting Pool looking toward the Lincoln Memorial.


Wow, I'm in front of the camera again.

The Lincoln Memorial. I admit it, I took the elevator instead of the stairs. Do you know how many stairs lead to the inside?

Inside the Memorial. Probably the most famous statute in the US.


Looking toward the Washington Monument from the top of the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial.

Wash. DC monuments. March 2010

After doing the National Geographic Museum Shelagh and I spent the next day on the DC Mall. Like always I chose the wrong weekend to visit such a destination. Early Spring equals spring break. Lots of people, young people. On top of that this particular weekend was the last chance to protest the health bill. And protests were happening. More people all over the place. But I'm told that this amount of people we encountered was nothing, compared to summer weekends. I'll take their word.


The crowd protesting health care reform on the steps of the Capital. While we didn't hear the shouting, the posters and pictures were disturbing. There was an awful lot of hate in that crowd.

The Washington Monument. One of these days I will get to the top of it.


One of the protests that surrounded the Washington Monument was ingenious. And thought provoking.

On one side of the monument a Arlington cemetery was set up, called Arlington MidWest. Each marker carried the name of an American killed in Iraqi and Afghanistan. There were hundreds and hundreds of them.

On the other side of the monument were plaques containing the names of civilians killed in Iraqi and Afghanistan. Maybe not as many but very disturbing. Most of the names were of children and women. War doesn't play favorites.





Between the Washington Monument and the reflecting pool is a new WWII monument. It is very impressive, both in detail and size. Commissioned by President Bush in 2004, it contains a dedication to every country involved in the conflict.Fountains, bronze plaques, marble and granite monoliths. All and all it's an incredible work of art.

Wash. DC on the fly. March 2010

I took off to Washington DC mid March for a few days. Why in the world would anyone fly across a continent for a 4 day weekend? That's what my friends demanded to know. Was I nuts? Probably. The National Geographic Museum was hosting the Terra Cotta Warrior exhibit from China and it leaves at the end of March. There was no way I was going to miss it. So 10 hours later I'm in Pittsburgh where I meet up with a girlfriend, grab a rental car and drive to DC.



The outside of the museum was draped with a mural of the excavation of the Pits. Qin Shi Huang the First Emperor of China from approximately 210 BC ordered a memorial built to himself to take into the afterlife. So far 4 pits have been excavated and over 8000 full size terracotta soldiers, horses and everything an Emperor needs to rule in the afterlife have been found. One of these days I'll make it to China to see the museum built over the site.

Photos from Wikipedia. Cameras weren't allowed.

Photos from Wikipedia


The Museum had full size replicas on the outside for photos.


Shelagh and I in front of one of the replicas. The exhibit included soldiers, horses, photos of the excavation sites, artifacts excavated from the site and lots of artwork from the period. There was a wonderful movie about the Emperor, his reign and his murder. We spent a couple hours wondering through the exhibit. I had purchased tickets on-line weeks ago which was a good thing. Every showing for the rest of the month is sold out.

The grounds around the museum are really neat, with lots of sculptures. Like a big bug.


And Army ants.

A Praying Mantis to pray to.

The center courtyard contained fountains and pools with big rocks. The kids were enjoying them.


I thought the buildings around the museum was really neat. From a photographer's point of view all the angles and corners were cool.

After spending several hours in the museum it was time to find some food. Neither Shelagh or I were familiar with the area so we started reading menus from restaurants as we wandered the street. We ended up going down several levels of stairs to an Indian restaurant under the street. It was a very pleasant surprise.


Indian curry, lamb, white wine, vegetarian curry and wonderful flatbread. What a great way to spend the rest of the afternoon.

Seattle, Feb. 2010

This past weekend I decided I had enough of 36 degrees, slush, ice at night and mud everywhere so I hopped on Alaska Airlines and flew away to Seattle for a weekend. Spring has arrived in Seattle and a windbreaker was all you needed as you roamed the city.

I had never been in the Space Needle. That was my first stop on a clear night. The moon was shining brightly and the temps were in the 50s.


From the top of the Space Needle the city spread out below in city lights. Didn't do to bad without a tripod.
The park around the Space Needle is a wonderful place to walk. Decked out in white lights it felt like Christmas. It was Friday night and I expected it to be crowded but it wasn't. Bon Jovi was in town and everyone was gathering at the Arena for the concert, leaving the park to people like me.



The Space Needle through the trees. Almost like a UFO.


There is a big metal ball in the middle of the park that is a huge fountain. I understand this is the place to be in 100 degrees. It was a little cool to get wet.


The next morning I hopped on the train and spent the day exploring the area. The train runs from SeaTac to Westside, which is downtown. If you spend the day getting on and off, you'll take all day to get there. First stop, a little community called Columbia City. I have no idea why. But the local bar lays out the rules pretty well.

There are statues everywhere. Most of them have an oriental bend, like this dragon.

The bridges the train runs on. Just about the whole thing is elevated over city traffic. Which I thought was really cool.

All of the larger train stations have lots of artwork decorating the walls. And everything is absolutely clean. No graffiti. No trash. I was surprised. I was expecting what I'd seen in New York.

What cats do

Since I spend a lot of hours away, either at the office or at various locations around the state it's important that my furry companions have lots of toys. But today I'm working from home. So I'm happily typing away in my office when I heard this awful noise from my bedroom. It sounded like lots of crashing and glass breaking. When I hot footed it down the hall, this is what I found.


Oscar, my 20lb + male cat has gotten between the window blinds and the window, balanced on a small window shelf, with his butt hanging through the blinds. His trip to get there included my dresser, the jewelry box, and the window curtains.


He thought he was quite beautiful and smart. While I was pondering how he got there and how I was supposed to get him out, I discovered the reason he was perched so uncomfortably and destructively in my bedroom window: the power line outside the window was lined with ravens, balancing on the wire and teasing the cat.


Felix couldn't be bothered with the activity outside of the window. His morning consisted of occupying my bed and shedding everywhere.

Yes, he knows he's gorgeous. He'll tell you that too while he's being brushed. So much for me accomplishing anything in my office.