National Arboretum

The week before last was my last week in Washington D.C. During the week the guys I was working with at the Washington Times invited me to go for a walk with them in the National Arboretum. In the weeks I had been in D.C. previously they kept telling me I should go out to the National Arboretum since there is an entrance to the park from the parking lot at the Times. The guys walked in the Arboretum nearly every day. I was finally able to go with them that last week.
On the first walk they took me up a hill to a meadow and there we came upon the columns. The Capitol Columns were original part of the East Portico of the Capitol building in 1828. It was very cool to see them there.
We also walked down a paved path that took us out of the Arboretum to the shore of the Anacostia River. It was very cool. There was a picnic area and a small dock for boats to land.
One day Bill and I walked around to see the columns (Bill didn't walk with us the first day) we ended up at the Bonsai Gardens. The Bonsai were very cool and we enjoyed wandering through the garden.
The last day Lambert and I walked up a different trail to view the children's garden. It was very sweet and quite fun. The flowers were still in bloom and very colorful.

Maryland Blue Crab

Tonight Bill and I actually got away from the paper at our normal hour so we decided to drive to Annapolis for Maryland Blue Crab. We went to a little restaurant called Jimmy Cantler's Riverside Inn. It was a very fun little crab shack. The food was fabulous! and MESSY!!
We had 6 Large crabs between us, a cup of clam chowder each and a cob of corn.

Another weekend in D.C.

This past week I have been in Washington DC on business. I stayed the weekend because I will be working here again next week. I decided to go into the District to take in some more sites and get a copy of the Declaration of Independence for my grandson. On the metro I saw a whole troop of Boy Scouts in full uniform...it was very refreshing to see.

I headed to the Capitol via Bartholdi Park to aquire a tour ticket. The park was very pretty. The line was about 300 yards long and it was 1030 in the morning. The tickets are usually gone before everyone in the line has been given a ticket. I decided I didn't need to stand in line half the day for tickets that I probably wouldn't get anyway so I headed toward the National Archives to get the DOI for DJ. The line wasn't too long so I decided to go for it.
After the National Archive I decided to go see the Jefferson Memorial. I walked across the National Mall and down to 15th street. I followed 15th to the Tidal Basin then followed the path around and across the bridge to the Memorial.
It was quite awe inspiring! As I was walking along the path I saw a squirrel sitting on a stump. When I took his picture he came right up to me and pranced back and forth in front of me. It was quite funny.
There were a lot of teeanagers at the Memorial all dressed in suits and dresses. I found out they were part of the National Young Leaders Conference.

I headed back around the Tidal Basin to find the World War I memorial and the Korean War Memorial. I was surprised at how small the WWI memorial was.
I was equally surprised by the Korean War Memorial. It was interesting to say the least. There are statues of soldiers walking through the trees and a reflecting pool.
Along the side is a Marble wall similar to the Viet Nam memorial except instead of names etched in the wall there are images. It was very cool how it reflected the visitors amongst the etchings....it was like reflecting the past and the present....I found it very moving.
After I was done with the memorials I decided to take the Metro over to the Pentagon to see the new Pentagon Memorial in daylight. I really enjoyed it. There is a wall around the edge of the area with years in brass embedded in it. The years correspond to the birth years of the victims.
The benches are laid out in order of their age.
I was tired by the time I had finished visiting all the Memorials so I headed back to the hotel. It was a very enjoyable day.

Last week in Colorado Springs!

Last week I was in Colorado Springs. My hotel was right outside the airport. It seems all the hotels are clustered near the airport. The airplane in this picture is a restaurant attached to the Radisson Hotel next door to the hotel I stayed at.
It was quite a tourist attraction.
The airplane was an old Air Guard Cargo plane.
I really enjoyed Colorado Springs. The city has the feel of a small town and in reality is about 300,000 in population.
At the paper I was working at I ran into a person I had originally met in Lexington KY.
We got together and went to a mexican restaurant in Manitou called The Loop. It was just around the bend from the Garden of the Gods. I didn't get a chance to visit the Garden of the Gods which I was disappointed about so I have something to look forward to if I get the chance to get back there.

There was a storm brewing mid week. I went outside the Gazette to take a picture of the mountain. The storm was masking the mountain from view.

Erie, PA

Last week I was in Erie, PA. I was working nights the whole week so I didn't get a chance to do much in the way of site-seeing.
I had been in Erie a few weeks previously and found it to be a very nice place.
I was able to visit Presque Isle State Park which is a penninsula in Lake Erie and we ate a a local Restaurant called Joe Roots. Joe Root was some historical figure from the area.
Gina and I also went to a restaurant called Zebros right on the beach of Lake Erie.
When we went to Presque Isle it was just at Sunset. The sun settting on Lake Erie was very beautiful.


We drove around the penninsula after dusk. As we drove around the lake we notice the city across the bay. It was very cool all lit up.
We also went down to the wharf where there's a paddle boat that they have dinner tours on and there's a lighthouse.
I didn't get to take many pictures but Lake Erie is very beautiful and I really enjoyed my stays in Erie.
This week in Erie I did get one picture...the view from my hotel room.