Fall Color in DC

Photo sites: Korean War Memorial, Vietnam Wall and Washington Monument from the park behind the Wall.

National Book Festival

Judy Blume being interviewed by middle school students.

Curious George and The Very Hungry Catepillar


Arthur and a Princess.

National Book Festivalwww.loc.gov/bookfest

Obama Speech

I went to a meeting at University of Maryland. President Obama addressed the audience. My seat was behind the podium though. They wanted to fill-in behind him for the TV shots. All of the stadium (except one section) was full which met it took forever to get in- followed by a long wait. Everybody was excited- see the video.

Kennedy Funeral

Last Saturday, as I stood on Memorial Bridge, I realized I am never going to be a photo-journalist. The funeral motorcade rounded the corner by the Lincoln Memorial and I took one photo. I saw the hearse, recognized Congressman K in the front seat, then saw the flag-draped coffin. I didn't realize I had put my camera down. I saw Vicki (senator's wife) in the next car. The windows were down and she was waving and thanking people for waiting (the motorcade was about an hour and half behind schedule due to weather). That is when I realized I was crying. I didn't expect to be that emotional.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy

Photo taken at a book reading event at the Kennedy Center December 2007. We were all standing in a group to the left of him and I whispered to some one that I wanted to have my picture taken with the senator. [Everybody who knows me knows I can't whisper] The senator turned around and said, "Of course you can have your picture taken with me- come on up here".

Ted Kennedy.org

Senator Kennedy

The 4th of July in DC: Aretha, Fireworks, Barry Manilow & Big Bird!

White House Garden Spring Open House

The White House gardens are open to the public twice a year (spring and fall). It is a ticketed event but tickets are free.

The White House portico contrary to popular belief this is not the oval office.

The East Wing


Lady Bird Johnson Garden

Putting Green installed by President Ford

Jackie Kennedy Rose Garden

West Wing Oval Office

West Wing Oval Office

View of the new swing set from the Oval Office

Swing Set

Basketball Court

Coast Guard at WWII Memorial

Cherry Blossom Festival

It was really cold and windy but I ventured out to see the trees during "Peak Bloom". The water around the tidal basin was so choppy that it was splashing up on the walk-way. The white and light pink blooms are cherry trees. The large dark pink blooms are magnolia trees.

Let's Go Change America!

Final words of the evening.

Today I Witnessed History

Joe Biden: Today I Witnessed History

Obama's Dancing at the Ball

Obama Dances at the Ball

I can't explain the excitement in the room when they arrived. It was electric!

Midwest Ball- Biden

Jill Biden looked great. Joe read Irish poetry!

The MidWest Ball

We all went to the MidWest Inaugural Ball (which included Ohio). It was one of the official balls and was held at the convention center (5 other balls were also held at the DC Conv Cntr). The proverbial "they" told us to ride metro and not drive, so we did & unfortunately the Convention Center metro stop was closed for security reasons. We had to walk from Shaw which is about 7 blocks. It was freezing and we had heels on:( We tried 3 taxis before we found one that would try to venture near the conv cntr and we still had to walk about 3 1/2 blocks to get to the gate. Of course we were stopped to let the motorcade pass (by this time we were over seeing the motorcade! Once we arrived at the security gate, we had to get in another line which snacked back down to Gallery Place (this is about 4 blocks in the opposite direction). Eventualy we got inside and thot that since we had seen the motorcade that we probably missed Obama at the ball, but we had not... Sheryl Crow was the entertainment. We had some behind the scenes fun at this ball too, which we may or may not blog about. Stay tuned!

2 Million People Twist & Shout on the National Mall

Garth Brooks sang Twist & Shout. Twisting was a bit difficult, but we all had the shouting down!

Inauguration Day 1-20-2009

We all got up at 3:00 AM, were on Metro at 4:00 AM & were attempting to exit Metro at L'Enfant Plaza about 4:20 AM. It was crazy. Once we were outside of Metro we were held at 4th St & Independence Ave. It was freezing and no one knew what was going on. The police said they were waiting on the volunteers to arrive. The crowd was tightly packed (still held on 4th) when a bunch of people started pushing. It was bad. This is the only time that I was actually scared of being in the crowd. They broke-thru the barriers (steel fencing) and everybody just started running. We ran up on the concrete steps around the Native American Museum to get out of the crush of people. Eventually we worked our way across Independence Ave to the Mall and were about 12 people/rows back. You can see our location spot on the map. We were able to see the stage and podium but needed the jumbotron to be able to tell who was who. About 8:00 am they played the Sunday Welcome Concert on the jumbotron which gave us something to do while we waited. About 8:30 am they announced that the parade route was full and closed. We did not know at the time- but they closed entry to the Mall about 9:30 am. The program actually started around 10:00 am (musics, choirs, and seating of dignitaries).
Map of the Mall and Parade Route (We're on 4th & Independence)


Trying to exit L'Enfant Metro Station.


Our Spot on the Mall


Our Spot from another angle


Our spot thru the zoom lense


Video of Our Spot on the Mall.