2013 wrap-up: January (Inauguration and Seattle)

Given it took me almost an entire year to finish writing about my London travels with my daughters, I am now way behind in posting about any other 2013 events.  Simple neglect does account for some of my tardiness, but also, because of a medical condition, I have had to limit my computer time.  Given that I must spend most of my job time staring at a monitor, this means I often go days without even turning on the one at home.  Makes it kinda difficult to "keep up" with my recreational use (so to speak).

Decided I'd devote a few posts to the rest of 2013, add another photo-heavy W.I.B.W.O. piece, then try to get back on track with more frequent (if less lengthy) entries.

January 2013, Washington, DC
President Barak Obama was inaugurated for his second term.  (Was it really just ONE year ago?  It seems so much longer ago than a mere 12 months!)   D#1 got tickets for us to attend the inauguration so off I went to Washington DC to spend time with her and see this historic event.

The day before the ceremony, we visited the Old Post Office, a lovely Romanesque building, which had been converted to business and commercial space. 

The inside reminded me of The Bourse in Philadelphia, with its balcony of retail and food service circling the floor space and a dozen or so floors of offices surrounding the open central court before being topped off by a ceiling many, many feet above!

The tower on the building gives an amazing view of the city -- second only to the Washington Monument.

Note the almost empty street leading to the Capitol building.  That's Pennsylvania Avenue -- already cleared of most traffic and blocked off for the next day's parade.  We walked down this now-pedestrian walkway, passing the stand where the presidential party would watch.

On the cold and gray morning of the inauguration, we joined the crowds as we searched for the section where our tickets said we should be.

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We had a decent view of the Capitol dome, but, alas,  couldn't see anything, not even the few "jumbotron" screens that were set up around the area.

Even so, it was exciting to hear the speakers, and know that we were experiencing a small part of history.

When the ceremony was over, our feet were frozen from standing on the cold ground and we knew that the Metro would be jammed for hours.  Hunger led us to walk a fair distance to find a restaurant that was open but didn't have miles of waiting customers.   A warm lunch fortified us to return to D#1's apartment and get ready to attend the HRC inaugural ball as she'd been given tickets through her job!   This ball was THE place for LGBT Washingtonians (and others) to be that night. 

Many thanks to my generous daughter who invited me to share these times with her!

January 2013: Seattle, Washington
The Mid-winter conference of the American Library Association took me to Seattle, a place I'd visited once before (for the same conference) in January 2007.  That trip was the last one before my life took a couple of turns for the worse because of family "stuff."  Six years later, with all the "stuff" in my rear-view mirror, I looked forward to exploring this city on my own.  D#1's BoyFriend spent much of his life in Seattle, and provided valuable tips on where to go and how to get there.  As is typical for a conference visit, I had few opportunities to see much other than the conference and, perhaps, a restaurant or two.  But, thanks to her BF, getting around was a snap!
  

My hotel was near Pioneer Square -- a place I remember visiting previously -- but off the beaten track for conference-goers.  This historic area has many older buildings, as well as a wonderful   mystery bookstore, which was closed during the hours I wasn't working (un)fortunately.

A short block away was a tunnel limited to bus and light rail which took me within a block of the convention center! 








The walls of the stops visually expressed where you were: brick and limestone at Pioneer Square, Asian origami-type art at the International District stop, and colorful entertainment-oriented murals at the center of town, with its theatres and music venues.

I did have the opportunity to have dinner in the International District, home of Seattle's Chinatown, though there were all types of Asian restaurants there.

Looking down the street from the Convention
Center,  you'll spot the iconic Pike's Place Market:

I had two clear memories of the market from my first visit: a quilt/fabric store and a chowder place.  On Monday morning, as the conference drew to a close, I volunteered to bring back lunch to my colleague (following the critical foray to look for the quilt shop).  Almost instinctively, I found them both again: Undercover Quilts and Pike's Place Chowder.

Undercover Quilts stocks fabrics with Seattle themes, perhaps especially commissioned for them.  I purchased a wonderful print which I used in the quilt I made D's BF as a gift for his college graduation! 

Someday I hope to return to Seattle when it's not January and not so cold.  Maybe I'll even see the sun! 

Flowering trees and pho

 

Early last week, I read a report that the cherry blossoms in Washington would be at peak bloom much earlier than originally predicted.   D#1's roommates have mostly been gone for spring break, so I sent her a quick text and asked if it would be convenient for me to buzz down Friday evening and stay overnight, so we could do some cherry blossom viewing on Saturday, the 17th.  I bought a ticket on the Megabus that she usually rides to come home: $32.50 round-trip.  Great price, though I could have saved about 10% of that, had I booked the day before!

The ride down was pretty crowded as it was a Friday night. (Had I discovered earlier in the ride that there was a little luggage shelf directly behind me, I wouldn't have needed to have been cramped by the small backpack I brought.)   The average age of the passengers was easily half mine, but everyone read, slept, listened to music, or worked on their computers, so the ride was uneventful.  Many passengers got off at Baltimore (the only stop), so I had two seats to spread out for the last hour.

Saturday we set out on our travels, via bus, Metro, and foot.  We stopped to see the Eisenhower Executive Office Building  where D# is currently working.  The huge, impressive building, designed in the French Second Empire style, originally housed several Cabinet departments.  

Our ultimate destination was the Tidal Basin with its most concentrated collection of cherry trees.  I had never seen the Jefferson Memorial, either, so that was on the itinerary.  The day was beautiful -- mostly blue skies, sunny, and warm, with a high in the upper 70's!  

When we left the Jefferson Memorial, my personal "tour guide" -- D#1 has become quite familiar with DC in her almost 5 years there for college and after -- informed me that if we kept walking around the Tidal Basin, we would visit both the FDR and the MLK memorials.   Dedicated in 1997 and 2011, respectively., I'd not had the opportunity to see them before.  

The FDR memorial is arranged by his four terms, but we entered at the end.  We didn't have a lot of time, so we promised ourselves a return visit in the future.   There were relatively few statues, but all were quite effective.  Someone gave Eleanor a bouquet of cherry blossoms and a daffodil.

Fala put in his appearance, sitting by Franklin.

One of my favorite quotes. Ever. 

At the beginning ("Prologue"), FDR sits in his wheelchair, looking at the gift shop.

Our last historical walking place was the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial which was dedicated just last summer.   Again, we were pressed for time, so we didn't spend as much time as we might have liked. 

 We had plans for a late lunch before I got the 6:45 bus back to Philly.  Metro'd to Rosslyn Virginia so we could go to an "authentic" vietnamese pho (pronounced "fa" as in "fun", according to D#2).  Pho restaurants in DC tend to be more upscale, she reported, and therefore more expensive, though the whole idea of pho is a cheap meal.   After walking uphill about 8 blocks (!), we arrived.  The menu shows other locations of "Pho 75" -- three of which are in Philadelphia, with one in Chinatown! 

For my first experience with pho, I chose a "regular" size bowl of chicken noodle had slices of chicken, which you can see above.  The plate contained fresh mint, lime and bean sprouts.  A delicious and filling meal.   The walk back to the Metro was, mercifully, downhill.  A bus connection brought us right to Union Station in plenty of time for my bus home which was quite empty, so I had two seats to myself the whole time.

A splendid time was had by all.  Sometimes you just gotta leave the "shoulds" behind and follow your heart.

Visit to DC

Starting the past September, my D#1 had a fellowship in Washington DC.  An internship with a congresswoman was a key part of this opportunity.  She received a stipend and housing quite close to the Capitol.  The young man who she is seeing was serving as a White House intern during the same time period -- one of relatively few who worked in the actual White House.  Two weeks ago, because her fellowship was ending, I drove to Washington DC to help her move out of the house she shared with other interns from a variety of programs. We took that chance to visit the Capitol building and to see the holiday-bedecked White House (thanks to said young man who fast-tracked security checks for us... well, for me anyway!).

Our visit to the Capitol building was fairly fast-paced so I didn't have time to take many photos.  Left is the Capitol rotunda and below is the statue in the Hall of Statuary of Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg, the pastor-soldier of the Revolutionary War, one of two statues placed by Pennsylvania.

(Yeah, I know that Henry is sideways -- need to figure out how to get him to rotate 90 degrees counterclockwise.)  

There were a number of Christmas trees (duh) in various rooms, but my camera didn't like the lighted ones, which all came out blurry.  The main one in the Blue Room was more cooperative.

I was told the White House florist likes putting "Bo" in different arrangements 

around the building.  Here's one near the entrance -- easily two feet tall if I remember correctly.

The library had another "Bo", lying by the fireplace.  The White House Christmas card portrayed a similar scene.   (Ask me how I know...[wink])

This beautiful Nativity scene was in the State Dining Room.  Wish I could have viewed it more closely!

At the end of the Dining Room was the replica of the White House, in white 

chocolate!  (Another Bo -- not to scale.)

The sunset view from the Blue Room (I think), with the Washington Monument 

at left, was stunning.  Straight ahead is the Jefferson Memorial, though it's lost in the shadows of the photo.

 

Here's the tree in the Blue Room, as seen from the foyer of the South (?) exit.  

Note the Presidential Seal above the door.

And, finally, my daughter and me!  

 

D#1 is home until mid-January when she returns to the Capital.  Anyone who wants to keep me company on a trip to deliver her belongings, just let me know!