Washington DC

On our free Sunday in Virginia, we went in to Washington D.C for a look around. Despite living in VA for 2.5 yrs I had never been into DC centre. We started at the Lincoln Memorial at the west end of the Mall.

Lincoln Memorial

The reflecting pool and Washington monument

Heading in

Lincoln

From inside

ON the spot where Martin Luther King did his famous speech.

We headed along the reflecting pool towards the monument past the Vietnam memorial. 

Vietnam memorial

At the WWII memorial

There is usually a fountain here in the summer

At the Washington Monument 

There are a lot of memorials around that area so we went down the other side of the pool to the Martin Luther King monument, which is nearer the bay and very peaceful. We were pretty much the only people there sadly.

Martin Luther King's view

We both decided we did not want to go near the White House while a certain someone is there, so we took a photo from a distance and moved on.

White House from a distance

African American Museum

We wanted to go the the African American History museum but didn't realise it was one of the few you needed to pre-order tickets for. So they turned us away. We went to the Early American History instead.

Bat Mobile

Julie Child's kitchen

They have a room containing some of the dresses of the first ladies. Some were nice, others ... I am glad fashions have changed.

Michelle Obama's dress for the inauguration.

Protests.

I have been wanting to go to the Smithsonian for ages and was so happy to be able to see some of the museums. (The Early American history is one of them. All of the museum we saw that day were part of the Smithsonian group.)

Smithsonian castle.

Heading towards the Capitol building.

We did have a wondered around a sculpture park but neither of us were too keen on art. Still we can say we did it. I can recognise one sculptor, Henry Moore, who I studied for my art GCSE.

A Henry Moore

created in strips.

Bunch of depressing guys.

Men!

I was super excited to go to the Air and Space Museum. It was pretty cool, but there were a load of galleries which were shut which was disappointing.

Apollo landin module

One of the first Wright brothers planes.

Looking down on Apollo

Mock up on Hubble

The Enterprise. (I am such a geek and proud!)

Due to the number of closed galleries, we didn't spend too long in the Air and Space (we went to the larger museum the next day so I wasn't too disappointed) and we took in one last museum, the Native American Museum.

We took a break in the cafe before going round the museum - our feet hurt! I got an iced tea but forgot to ask for an unsweetened. One bottle was 90% of my daily sugars. It made my teeth hurt.  

I think this one was my favourite museum of the day. 

Jacket.

Peace belt.

One of the rooms was devoted to how America has coopted the Native culture and used it for promoting things etc. Some made me wince. Some weren't too bad I guess.

Indian barbie.

Hanker-Chiefs. 

Our last stop (we sort of stumbled there on aching feet) was the Capitol building. We only took a photos from the outside before getting an Uber back to the hotel

That night we were both so knackered we ordered take-away and I got to get some time with the USA Netflix. :)

Outer Banks - Roanoke Island

On our second day in the Outer Banks, we went across more bridges to Roanoke Island, where the first British landed and settled in 1585. At least they think so. Like I said, what really happened is a bit of a puzzle. We went to the Victory Park display where they have a tall ship, the Elizabeth II, so my Dad finally got to see his boat! :-)

Ships life ring

Elizabeth II

 The tour guide on the boat annoyed me a little. I was asking reasonable questions and he was very patronizing. Still the ship was good and I got the information I wanted from someone else.

Annoying boat guide

We also had a look around a mock up of an Indian village.

Indian Chief's house 

Dancing circle

Blaming my Dad for this one! 

Canoe, hollowed out with shells

The best part of the Victory Park was the Settlement where there were two guys dressed up and showing people around the way of life of the English settlers. And you got to try some of the things, which I jumped at. So did my Dad! :-)

Using the lathe

Dad with the carpenter's knife

Dressed in Amour 

Dad in the armor.

Losing the battle :(

The smith

They were both really good and very informative. And the black smith presented me with my very own traditionally made nail which he made in front of us. Which made me very happy. :-)

My nail.

The only problem with this place was it was in a marsh-like area and I got bitten loads of times! :-( The bites are huge. In the Med, I have never really had a problem with bites. Apparently I am more allergic to the bugs here. :-( Though I did see some little lizards too which I much preferred.

Little lizard on the path railing

We had a look around the museum (which did include me and Dad trying on some of the dress-up clothes because we could!) and I brought a couple of books from the museum shop on the island and local history which I am reading at the moment and are really interesting.
After the museum, we got back in to the car and went to the top of the island to the Elizabethan gardens. The smell around the gardens was amazing! And there were loads of butterflies, so Dad and I continued our photo war.

Butterfly

And more!

Daisies

Statue of Virginia Deer, first British Child born in the US

I love this bench

Trees in bloom.

Statue of Elizabeth I.

We were hoping for a cafe in the garden to get a drink but there wasn't anything. So we headed back to our hotel for something to eat and drink and then down to the beach again. The water was just as fun and I love my little water proof camera!

Playing in the waves

Caught

:)

Dad not paying attention

And getting dunked.

Mom and Dad's shadow in the sand.

For out last night in the Outer Banks, we went to a nice restaurant called Stripers (though I keep calling it Strippers) which promise an ocean view from every table. And we got a lovely view. And the meal was one of the best I have ever had. I decided to go with just the 1/2 lb of snow crab legs and really wish I had gone for the full lb. They were amazing! 

Snow crab legs.

Dad enjoying this BBQ ribs.

 On the way out (with our half finished wine), we found a little frog who Mom saw climbing up the wall, sitting not top of the sign for the restaurant.

Back at the hotel, we sat in Mom and Dad's room and finished our wine before I went back to my own to pack.