Photos on Friday: Views of the Old Post Office

The Old Post Office is one of my favorite structures in Washington D.C. Designed by Willoughby J. Edbrooke and built in 1899, it is located in the "Federal Triangle" and served as the U.S.'s central Post Office until 1914. Over the years it sadly was not used and was even almost razed twice - once in the 1930s and then again in the 1970s. Saved in the early 1970s, the building is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Currently, The Trump Organization has made a deal with GSA for a 60-year lease. The building is currently being renovated to serve as a luxury hotel. For years it has been underused it seems. When I took the elevator up the clock tower a couple of years back, it looked like many of the rooms were just filled with boxes.

This is what the Old Post Office looked like last week - you can see evidence of construction going on (but not in these photos) and all of the windows are covered.

To learn more about the building's history and see photos of other sides of the building (and from the clock tower), I invite you to visit an earlier more detailed post I'd written.

I tried to capture the entire side of the building in this shot (before heading into the Federal Triangle Metro Station). My other post mentioned in the intro of this blog has views of the building's front.

Standing looking up

View of the Clock Tower from the center of the National Mall (in front of the Smithsonian Museums)

Memorial in Washington DC honoring George Mason

There is a little-known memorial honoring a man that made some significant contributions to the founding of America. While one of the country's founding fathers, in history, for some reason he is less well-known. His name is George Mason.

Maybe you have heard of him and know about how he helped shape the newly-established United States. Haven't heard of him? You are not alone, many people I've spoken to were not familiar with him either (myself included, at least not until I moved to Virginia, where he was from). Up north we were never taught of him in public schools far as I can recollect and I'd never come across any movies or TV shows about him either.

A fourth generation Virginian, Mason wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights. His writings and ideas were also integrated into the Declaration of Independence, and also served as a model for the U.S. Bill of Rights, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, and the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

According to the National Park Service, a memorial was established for Mason in 2002, stating it "honors the little known but widely felt contributions of an important founding father."

Likeness of George Mason

Mason is said to have had a falling out with several of the founding fathers because he would not sign the original Constitution. The reason? Because it was originally missing what would later become known as the Bill of Rights.

The George Mason Memorial is located near the intersection of Ohio Drive and East Basin Drive, SW. This is close to the Jefferson Memorial (kind of behind it). The memorial is open 24 hours a day and a park ranger is at the site from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. daily. A plaque stands at the entrance to the memorial.

The site is surrounded by pretty bushes, trees and flowers. There is a fountain in the center also. These pics were taken in April, but it also looks pretty in the summer with more plants in bloom.

The George Mason Memorial is surrounded by many florals - here are April's magnolias and forsythias (and another tree I cannot identify)

Standing in front of Mason's statue looking out towards the fountain/pool

To learn more about George Mason, his home, Gunston Hall, has been preserved and is open to the public. It is located in nearby Mason Neck, Virginia. It is one of my favorite historic grand homes in the region. 

Related reading: A Visit to George Mason's Gunston Hall

Cherry Blossoms 2015 in Washington DC have finally arrived!

With the bitter cold February and March the Washington D.C. Metro area saw this year, it felt like spring never would arrive. However, in this second week of April, it is well on its way.

In the downtown area near the Tidal Basin, the cherry blossoms for 2015 have reached their peak views, right on schedule as predicted by the National Park Service (NPS). "Peak" is designated when at least 70 percent of the (primarily) Yoshino cherry trees around the Tidal Basin are in bloom with white and pink flowers.

The cherry blossoms look so beautiful reflecting in the water

We took the Metro and got downtown around 9 a.m. and while the Metro wasn't so bad in terms of crowds, lots of people were already downtown (I already knew from previous experience standing room only would be lucky if we left any later, one year we went there was not enough room for people to get on). The 10K and other races were going on, so we found getting to the Tidal Basin was tricky. The race was fun to watch for a while.

We didn't want to cut through the runners (people were doing this...disrupting the runners' pace) so we backtracked to the Washington Monument and circled around that way. This was the first time I'd been downtown during the race so wasn't sure of the race route. If you ever do go down during the race day, don't try taking the usual routes to get to the Tidal Basin from the center of the Mall - there is no place to cross. Instead cut through near the Washington Monument where the race ends.

The blossoms were beautiful. Yesterday was the last day of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, but we didn't spend any time there other than walking through as it was way too crowded. Weekdays are better for poking around the tent area, so we focused on walking around the Tidal Basin and taking photos.

[Related reading: Guide to the National Cherry Blossom Festival ]

Washington Monument reflection

There are a few "sweet spots" to take photos of the Jefferson Memorial during cherry blossoms. This is one of them in my opinion.

Only one or two of the trees this year appeared to be a darker pink on April 12, 2015

Close up of blossoms and buds

After we walked the Tidal Basin and then checked out the National Tulip Library before visiting the American History Museum. Beautiful weather, beautiful day! If you haven't seen the blossoms yet and are in the vicinity to do so, there's still a day or two left of peak and, depending on weather, possibly several more days of blossoms.

Photos on Friday: Springtime means babies at Kidwell Farm

Every spring we love to hop in the car and take a ride over to Frying Pan Farm Park to see the babies at Kidwell Farm. Last week we visited and got our annual "baby fix" (although, in all honesty, sometimes we go back numerous times throughout the season to see the babies...). For this week's Photos on Friday, I decided to post some photos of the babies.

Without further ado, here are the ones we saw last week at Kidwell Farm.

These two lambs kept climbing and then falling off mama. Yet they didn't give up, trying over and over again.

I find cows to be such beautiful animals - here is mama and baby taking a drink on a beautiful spring day

When we arrived the goats were in a deep sleep. Here they are still looking a bit groggy just waking up.

The piglets also were not too active. sleeping most of the time during our visit. As we were leaving, some of them had woken up.

Fun facts about the U.S. Capitol building

The United States Capitol building is a striking design and probably the most recognized building in the District. With its beautiful dome centered on top of the building and its ornate design, it's no surprise the building attracts so many visitors each year.

While the U.S. Capitol is surely recognizable, there are some other things about the building you may not have heard before. 

10 fun facts about the U.S. Capitol building

1. Congress met for the first time in the newly-created Capitol building in November 1800. This took place approximately 11 months after the death of George Washington. Construction had begun under Washington's leadership in 1793.

2. The building stretches from north to south, a total of 751 feet, 4 inches.

3. The statue atop the U.S. Capitol building is named the Statue of Freedom, it faces to the east.

4. Did you know there is a crypt placed in the center of the Capitol? The crypt was designed to house the remains of George and Martha Washington. However, Washington designated in his will he wanted to be buried at his beloved Mount Vernon and his family did not wish to move him and Martha. That wish was honored. The tomb in the Capitol remains empty to this day. 

5. There are 100 statues located in the National Statuary Hall Collection. Each state is allotted two statues and is chosen by each individual state. 

6. At the time of this writing, there are currently nine women represented in the National Statuary Hall Collection. One of them is Helen Keller, donated by the State of Alabama.

7. There are marble bathtubs in the basement of the Capitol where members of Congress would take baths back in the 19th century.

8. There are underground subways located underneath the building that is not open to the public.

9. The British burned the Capitol in 1814. It took many years to rebuild and, over the years, has had additions as the United States grew in size in order to accommodate the additional Congressional members. Anytime an addition is added to one side, an equal change is made to the other. This is intentional - it keeps balance, just like the U.S. government's 
structure is designed to do.

10. The Capitol has 540 rooms.

11. Bonus fact: During a tour I took in March 2016, I and learned the dome itself is not made of marble or other stone-based material. It is made of cast iron and painted its brilliant white. The dome had undergone major restoration inside and out but was finished in time for the 2017 inauguration. 

A shiny new restored dome. You can still see some scaffold - that should be coming down later in 2016

Visitors today can visit the Capitol for a tour. It's a good idea to plan ahead for this visit. For more information on how to book a visit, I've got a detailed post about planning your tour.

The Capitol is a lovely structure. Here is a view from the Old Post Office tower.

Touring Washington DC by moonlight

I've been downtown after dark and find it to be much quieter and a fantastic time to visit. This past weekend we decided to take a bus tour by moonlight (more details on that in a later post) and it was a first for my family. Usually, we're down during the day and/or walking around on foot, so seeing DC on a guided tour was a new experience and a treat.

Driving by the Washington Monument about 7:30 - 8:00 p.m.

Currently, the Capitol is undergoing some restoration, this is one of the first stops you see when taking a bus tour at night

Seeing Washington DC at night gives an entirely different perspective of the city (especially if you go during the very late hours - it's amazing to sit at the Lincoln Memorial and just gaze at the entire Mall in its serenity - I did this in 2012 during a spontaneous visit around midnight).

Most of my photos were taken approximately between 9 and 10 p.m., so there were still a lot of people visiting the monuments. All in all, a great tour! Would love to do it again sometime.

The Washington Monument looks so beautiful reflecting in the Tidal Basin day or night. (The cherry blossoms age getting close to reaching peak for 2015 - you can see a bit of it here)

I tried to get a good shot of the Jefferson Memorial but was not sitting on the side of the bus where I had a good angle so didn't have time to focus. This was taken a little earlier than the other photos - maybe 8:15-8:30 pm

Lincoln Memorial at night

Photos on Friday: Cherry Blossoms on the National Mall

I haven't been downtown yet, but am eagerly anticipating the full blooms of the lovely cherry blossoms. According to the National Park Service (NPS), peaks are still predicted to be from April 11 to April 14, 2015. NBC News reported the blossoms have reached phase 2 (out of 6) before peak.

Out here in Fairfax, we are seeing signs of spring, however, I have yet to see any cherry blossoms here. I do plan to head downtown to the Tidal Basin as I have for the past few years. It won't be long now! Here are some photos taken in years' past that are different than the other photos of cherry blossoms I've posted in various places on the web.

(other than cropping, these have no edits. All taken with my Sony Cybershot)