Mr. Behrendt Goes To Washington: Mom's Visit to DC (Part II)

Saturday, 16Feb13
This day by far was our most exciting and exhausting day of the trip. Once again we woke up at 5:30 am to get an early start on the day. This was needed to get to the White House on time for our tour. We wanted to be on time to ensure we were able to get on our tour. The White House has the tightest security out of the any places we went. We were sniffed by dogs and we were not able to bring any bags or cameras. On our self guided tour we went through the East Room, Green Room, Blue Room, Red Room, and State Dining Room. It was really fun! My Mom commented she remembered being able to see more of the White House on her last visit including the Oval Office. This is possible since 9/11 changed how security is administered especially with the government.

Our next stop was the Library of Congress. I had been there before and left unimpressed. This visit ended very differently than the last one. The difference was the docent led tour and video about the Library of Congress. The docent was able to point features of the architecture of the building I did not realize was present. One feature was how the artists tried instill American culture and accomplishments into the building in the ancient style. One example is a picture in the floor of a naked baseball team. The baseball team is from the American sport of baseball. The baseball team being depicted naked is in the style of ancient civilizations such as the Greeks and Romans. Another example is the use of the American crop corn in mosaics. There was also a copy of a complete Gutenberg Bible. The reading room looked the same as it did in National Treasure. Unfortunately, the docent told us that there is no Book of the Presidents located in the stacks at the Library of Congress.

Next we went back to Huntington to rest up for our big night of watching a play at the Kennedy Center and dinner at Ris.

We took the Metro from Huntington to Foggy Bottom by the George Washington campus. There was a shuttle waiting to pick us up to take us to the Kennedy Center. We arrived at the Kennedy Center early like most places on our trip. This gave time to explore the entire building. During our exploration, artists were working on pieces of art a new Nordic theme for artists coming to the Kennedy Center next month. There is a balcony that had a wonderful view of Georgetown and Virginia over the Potomac River and the Washington Monument in DC. Eventually we were seated for our performance We saw an interesting play with audience interaction called "Shear Madness". Afterward we went to Ris to have a really nice dinner. My Mom deserves so much more than a nice dinner, but this is the best I could do at the time. She ordered sweet potato soup, braised short ribs, and chocolate cake. I ordered a New England Clam Chowder, Salmon with red wine sauce, and Salty Turtle Sundae. The food was delicious!

Sunday, 17Feb13
Today was an easy day. We slept in to go to Sunday School and church at Bethany Lutheran Church. Afterwards we went to lunch at Chez Andree with people from church and my small group Bible study. It is a small French restaurant in Alexandria, VA near my townhouse. We both had champagne, French onion soup, and Chesapeake egg Benedict. The food was great and the company was fun to converse with.

Next we went to the George Washington Masonic Temple. We went on the guided tour because we wanted to go to the observation deck to get a great view of the area. From the observation deck, one is able to see the Washington Monument and the US Capitol dome all the way from Alexandria! On one side of the observation deck, the wind was so ferocious it almost knocked you down.

To end the day we went to Target to buy groceries and ate dinner at 5 Guys.