Boating

Y'all, I've had so much going on I haven't had a chance to update this!

About two weeks ago, our young professionals group from church had the opportunity to go boating on the Potomac. It was a picture perfect day and we had so much fun!

Washington Navy Yard and USS Barry

Nationals Park

Fort McNair

A view of Old Town

The Southwest Waterfront and the Washington Monument in the background

Flat Stanley

My darling niece Grace recently asked me to help with her Flat Stanley project. I took him around, showed him the sights, and took some pictures together.




You can view the rest of the pics here. A special thanks to Connie, Lacey, Laurel, and mom for taking pictures!

Anticipation

I feel like a kid counting down the days till Christmas. Opening Day is this weekend, and I am SO excited! In case you've been living under a rock, there is a brand spankin' new stadium here in DC. Over the past week or two, there has been lots of signage going up along M Street and in the Navy Yard metro station.

Oh, and this is the view of the stadium from the Navy Yard:

That's right. I'll be able to walk to the games after work.

There's an exhibition game tomorrow against the Orioles, which will be the first time the public will get to experience the ballpark (aside from the measly 3,000 that went to a GW baseball game last week). I promise to have a full report. And Sunday is the big day: The Season Opener. Primetime. On ESPN. President Bush will be throwing out the first pitch. Everyone watch it!

Homecoming

Today at the Navy Yard there was a little homecoming celebration for sailors that recently returned from Iraq. Everyone on base was invited to attend; it was neat to be a part of it and show our appreciation. The sailors ceremoniously disembarked from USS Barry and paraded down the Riverwalk while everyone cheered along the way.

Howdy sailors!
P.S.You can see the new baseball stadium under construction in the distance. It's a beauty!

The procession begins.

I know these aren't the best pictures, but it was hard to get a good shot, even though I was standing on a bench.

My coworker joked that she was going to make a sign that said "welcome home, baby daddy." She cracks me up.

Still snowy...

I took this picture yesterday morning while waiting for the bus. (P.S. It was about 15 degrees. I couldn't feel my toes.)

This is the view from our office. That's Leutze Park (where they have official ceremonies and whatnot) and officers' quarters just beyond.

More snow

After days of suffering through sub-freezing temperatures, we got a little bit of snow last night. Sadly, not enough to shut down the government.

This is at the Navy Yard (the building in the background is the U.S. Navy Museum).

Christmas at the Navy Yard

The Navy Yard is quite lovely at Christmastime. They have an official Christmas tree in front of the Officers Quarters:
The Commandant's former residence (now his offices) is all decked out. (Ok, so they just put wreaths up, but it looks nice!)
Even the USS Barry has colorful Christmas lights! And you can't tell in the dark, but there's also a wreath on the ship's bow.

Full Moon at the Navy Yard

The only good thing about leaving work when it's dark is that the Navy Yard is quite lovely at night. I stopped in my tracks when I saw this full moon the other night. I know it's hard to tell, but those are cannons in the foreground.

Recruiting Poster

This World War I recruiting poster is one of my favorite posters in the Navy Art collection. (The original is actually an oil painting by James Montgomery Flagg.) Nowadays the military tends to target its recruiting efforts towards aimless high school students who aren't sure what they want to do with their lives. But during wartime the military needed everyone they could get, hence this poster targeted towards "intellectuals." Seeing the changing styles in poster art and recruiting tactics over time is really fascinating to me.

Happy Birthday, Navy!

On this date in 1775, the Continental Congress established the Continental Navy. The Navy Birthday is celebrated annually by the US Navy all over the world. We had cake at the Navy Museum to celebrate. Good times.

Green

With all this lush greenery, you'd think it were springtime. But it's not. This little woodsy area is actually at the Navy Yard (we have quite a few parks on base). This is where all the squirrels frolic. But they're so speedy it's hard to capture them on camera.

Seabee

Working at the Naval Historical Foundation, occassionally we come across some interesting objects, like this one:
It's a "King Seabee" statue, given to some admiral or something. (It looks like it was originally supposed to hold a pen.) What's a seabee, you might ask? It's short for Naval Construction Batallion. They were formed in WWII to build naval bases overseas, as it wasn't such a good idea to have civilians doing such work during wartime. Now they do all the construction, repair, and maintenance of Naval facilities here in the US and all over the world. For a complete history of the Seabees, go here.