Playing tourist again

This weekend, I went to the Udvar-Hazy National Museum of Air & Space out near Dullest Airport, and I went to see the National Christmas tree. The tree was supplied by Washington State, so I thought that was pretty cool!

NYC

I had a great trip up to NYC last weekend to look at the Christmas window displays :-) It was actually cheaper to fly than take the train, so 1 hour up, 1 hour back -- perfect! I stayed at a hotel south of Grand Central Station. No bedbugs to report (whew, thank goodness!)! I walked 13.3 miles on Saturday alone, fueled by a monster chocolate chip cookie from Levain's Bakery. My aunt had heard about them so I went up to 74th St. to find the bakery. I timed it just right, getting there with only 2 people in front of me. The next time I looked, the line behind me quite long. My favorite windows were the ones at Bergdorf Goodman's and at Tiffany. Saks 5th Ave had cute ones too. They were kind of hard to photograph though. I was able to catch the Broadway show "Cinderella", by Rodgers & Hammerstein. The lead who plays Prince Topher is from Richland, WA! Small world. As fun as it was, I was glad I live in DC and not NYC. I'm happy to be back to my nice clean city :-)

Christmas at Mount Vernon

At my aunt's insistence, I headed down to Mount Vernon yesterday. It is only about a half an hour outside of DC by car, probably less by horse! It was sunny and 50 degrees - hard to believe it's December! His estate is magnificent and the tour was excellent. One thing I love, but sadly can't take pictures of, is how bright their walls were back then. Think kelly green with ornate white wood accents. It reminds me, like in Williamsburg, of Kate Spade green and either Vera Bradley or Kate Spade. Very cool. There were about a dozen Christmas trees, each decorated to honor either one of his rooms or one aspect of his life. There was one for him as a surveyor, one for him as a host, one for him as an entrepreneur, and one for him as president. The surprise highlight was getting to see the two turkeys that were pardoned by President Obama on Thanksgiving day! They get to come here for a while before being sent to a farm in Virginia to live out their turkey life in peace. Enjoy!