My daughter and I were in northern Virginia the first several days in July for my nephew’s wedding. We chose flights based on price and times and we flew into Dulles on July 1st. Our next event was the rehearsal dinner the next day, July 2 so we decided to visit our nation’s capital once again that day. It’s one of my favorite cities! We planned out our day about a week before our trip.
We got an Uber to the nearest metro station which turned out to be one of the newer stations on the Silver line. When we got there the Uber driver said “I never see anyone at this station.” It was rather desolate but there was one other passenger who showed up to ride the train.
Our plan was to first go to the U.S. Botanic Garden as my daughter had never been before, then find lunch somewhere between the garden and the Portrait Gallery. We decided on Zaytinya for lunch and got right in and another lovely lunch was eaten. I love that place!
We had also talked about getting on the Circulator bus after the Portrait Gallery. That bus takes you around the mall and the monuments in and around the Tidal Basin. However, it was yet another hot and sticky day and by the time we were done at the Portrait Gallery neither of us had much energy for anything else. Plus, because of the heat and humidity both of us needed to shower again before the dinner that night.
We had a wonderful day and below are a couple of galleries of our visit. First up, the botanic garden. Every time I visit the garden I see new things. On this visit we spent time both inside the building as well as checking out the outdoor gardens. I’d never ventured into the outdoor gardens, and I had never seen the First Ladies Water Garden. So fun!
Next up, some photos of our lunch and our visit to the Portrait Gallery. There was a small exhibit about Frederick Douglass and along the wall beyond that exhibit was another entitled I Dream a World: Selections from Brian Lanker’s Portraits of Remarkable Black Women (Part II). I took only one photo in that exhibit as we were on our way out. It’s of Cicely Tyson but I saw portraits of Oprah Winfrey, Odetta and Angela Davis amongst others. I did have one disappointment with the portrait of Thurgood Marshall. Like most museums, they move portraits around and I couldn’t find the large portrait of this great man that I had seen on a past visit so I asked. The nice gentleman pointed out a portrait to me and it was very small and of just his head. I asked the nice gentleman where the larger portrait was but he didn’t know. Since I didn’t get to view the portrait that I remember, I went into my archives to display it here. Wouldn’t you agree that this one is much better than the one included in the gallery below?
And now the gallery:
Below are some photos of the happy couple. It was such a nice wedding and I’m so very happy for them! The first photo is from the rehearsal dinner, the other, right after the pastor presented them as husband and wife.
travels with toby 
Beautiful pictures! Two comments on the garden:
* Don’t sit on that tuffet Miss Muffet!
* I won’t say in what other way I’m reminded of an old man with that cactus…
Portraits are also very nice, and I also do prefer the larger one of Marshall, though the smaller seems to be more personal and have a more relaxed expression (but too much empty space above).
Thanks for sharing!
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Ah, excellent observations! And thank you for your perspective on the smaller Thurgood Marshall portrait. I didn’t think of it that way but you’re right. Yea, don’t reveal your thoughts on the old man cactus 🤣
Such a beautiful city with so much to do and see. Too bad about the heat. Haven’t been to the gardens in decades. Congratulations to the beautiful couple. Glad you had such a good time.
Thanks so much! Yea about the heat. The last three times I went to D.C. there was weather like this. You just have to push on and ignore it I suppose. Thanks for stopping by!
Those gardens look beautiful and your lunch delicious! I confess I’ve never heard of Thurgood Marshall but from your photos I have to say I prefer the head and shoulders to the full length portrait. On the whole I tend to favour that style of portraiture – the face tells you so much about a person and the rest of the body relatively little unless their clothing is of interest, which his isn’t it seems.
Oh, what a great perspective! I’m going to remember this the next time I see just a head in a portrait. Perhaps I’ll spend more time looking at it. Thanks for your comment, much appreciated.
A lovely family trip and wedding, and a learning experience as well. The gardens are beautiful, and the lunch looked delicious.
Yes indeed, all that! Thanks for looking 👍