Archives

The Jefferson Monument {Summer Travels}

Aug4
We took a day to walk around and see the monuments, starting with the Jefferson Monument in Washington DC. The Jefferson Monument is in direct line with the Washington Monument at the National Mall and the White House.  

The view across the tidal basin of the Potomoc River

Under construction

Inside at the Jefferson Memorial.  Lots of interesting stuff!

Beautiful view

Washington Monument across the river

I had never visited this monument before, and I’m glad I took the time to do it.  It’s great to see the spirit and ideals that our country was built upon, and to get to share the experience with my little guys!

Best,
Krysten
Clickable Party

Old Post Office Pavilion {Accidental Tourist Moment}

Aug3

After the Air and Space museum, the kids wanted to go get some Ice Cream, so I Yelped a place that looked fun.  We set out to Maggie Moos Ice Cream and Treatery.  Unfortunately, Maggie was no longer there, but Ben & Jerry’s was, and we had our treat and I sat down and let the kids have a dollar to play video games at the arcade.

At which point, I notice these signs:

“Take time to tour the tower”

And I start to realize that I’m somewhere *special*.  The Old Post Office Pavillion is the largest commercial building and third tallest structure in Washington DC, behind the Washington Monument, and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Tours were free, so I gathered the kids and we made our way up to the clock tower!

The view from the glass elevator
Once on the thirteenth floor, you have a pretty spectacular view of the city on all four sides.  Unfortunately, our day was pretty hazy, but I got some decent pictures anyway.
The Capitol Building

Washington Monument

National Archives

The Capitol Building

The kids thought this was pretty cool, and you could spend as long as you wanted looking around.  They had diagrams on all the walls pointing out certain areas of interest.  Down below was where the bells were kept, and this machine on the top floor also controlled the tower clocks.

On the 10th floor:

Who knew the Congress had official bells?

And a bell-ringing society!

These are the ropes that control the National Bells
There is a nice little museum room telling the history of the building (very interesting).
We went back down in the elevator with a little more knowledge about the history of the area than when we sat down for ice cream.  What a serendipitous *free* find!

Best,
Krysten
Clickable Party

A Guide to the architecture of Washington DC

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum {Summer Travels}

Jul28
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC is close to the US Capitol building and the National Gallery of Art.  It’s walking distance to all the other Smithsonians and the National Mall.  This is one of my kids’ favorite museums, and they look forward to visiting, probably because of the total geek factor of the exhibits, and lot’s on walk-through exhibits and hands-on stations.

 Hands on exhibit “How things fly”

Mars Rover 

 WWII Airplanes
First private space flight vehicle. 
 Sputnik!

Mars Viking Lander
 Stardust collector
 First round-the-world air balloon flight
 First private space flight vehicle
Apollo Command Module

 Missiles
So much fun, and *free* to visit!  (You know I love that!)  For more on the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, click here.
Best,
Krysten

Chinatown Express, Washington DC {Summer Travels}

Jul26

Typically when we are on road trips, daycations, staycations and museum hops, I pack my kids a backpack with a bottle of water and their lunch.  Lunch at a museum can really break the budget (not so fun for me). But in this case, I made an exception because the price was reasonable, and it doubled for entertainment with my kids.  My younger boy really likes Kung Fu Panda, and on the DVD, there is this great segment called Mr. Ping’s Noodle House where Alton Brown (Geeky Science Cooking Show guy, who we love of course) shows the audience how real Chinese noodles are made.

So when I saw the Yelp! listing with this photo:
and then found out that the plates are around $5, I decided to splurge!  It was totally worth it!  Plus it was only a mile walk to the Air and Space museum, which was our next stop. *Bonus*
Friendship Gate, Chinatown, H Street NW at 7th Street NW
(the largest single span Chinese arch in the world.)

Here we are!  The Chinatown Express sign was covered by a new awning with only Chinese writing on it. 
Well, we didn’t get to see the long noodles being made, but they were making dumplings and my boys were satisfied with that!
Auntie came too!
Me and Seth!
Ready with the chop sticks!
Beef with Udon Noodles 

Orange chicken, shrimp with vegetable, rice noodle with curry and white rice.
Vegetable and Tofu with Udon Noodles

Pork Buns
The star of riches is shining on you.

 Now is the time to try something new.

 The star of riches is shining on you.

 You will have good health, you will be surrounded by luxury.

 I would definitely recommend a trip if you’re in the DC area and are looking for a reasonable lunch within walking distance to lots of attractions!

Best,
Krysten
Clickable Party

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=clickparty07-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B001HN690O&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr
http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=clickparty07-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=1584796960&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=clickparty07-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=1584798572&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=clickparty07-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=1584797959&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr