Springtime

This past Saturday was a beautiful spring day, the kind that typically brings thousands of people to the Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms. The view there is incomparable, but the crowds can be insufferable. So I headed to the National Arboretum, which also has cherry trees but with fewer people.

I might have gone to the Arboretum for the cherry trees, but I'm always drawn to the magnolias.

This is the iconic type of magnolia, but there are many different varieties:

And bonus daffodils - my favorite!

Boston

I recently had the very exciting opportunity to travel to Boston and sail on USS Constitution, the oldest commissioned warship afloat. It was a short trip; I was only in town for about 36 hours, and I only had half a day of free time. I'd been to Boston once before and did all the requisite touristy stuff - the Freedom Trail, Fanueil Hall, Cheers. So this time I visited the esteemed Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, one of the top art museums on the East Coast.

It's not your typical art museum. The building has the feel of a cloister that is centered around a courtyard. Each room has a theme that is filled with art and antiquities, and there are no labels on the walls (which sort of drove me crazy).

This is the Spanish Cloister, at the end of which is a magnificent painting by one of my favorite artists, John Singer Sargent.

I was amused by this pillar.

A work by Raphael (in the aptly named Raphael Room).

The Dutch Room. The empty frames signify a high-profile theft that occurred in 1990, in which paintings were cut out of the frames. The crime has never been solved.

There were quite a few religious artifacts from medieval churches, and several rooms had the feel of being in a chapel.

And there were a few rooms that felt like being in a medieval castle. All that was missing was a roaring fire and a tankard of ale.

After my tour of the Gardner Museum, I found myself wandering through Boston Public Garden. It was a glorious 75 degrees and the flowers were in bloom...what a great day to be in Boston!

I even saw a bunny amongst the flowers!

I finished up the evening by grabbing some Italian food in the North End, home to the famous Old North Church and the Paul Revere statue.

The real purpose of my trip was to participate in an event honoring Vietnam veterans. We took about 300 people on the ship, and then had a ceremony on the pier.

The gun deck and crew mess.

Unfurling the GIANT flag.

The sailors wore their 1812 uniforms and actually climbed up into the rigging. That was a sight to see!

If you look closely, you can see a sailor in the rigging against the stars of the flag.

We sailed past Fort Independence and gave a 21-gun salute, and the fort gave us a return salute.

This is the Commanding Officer of the Constitution. 

We gave another gun salute towards downtown Boston.

Trying to stay warm on the deck...it was quite chilly!

Me and my coworkers.

Disclaimer: I participated in this event as an employee of the United States government, but the views of this blog are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect that of the U.S. government.

More springtime fun

Today was a great day in our nation's capital. I watched as the Nationals handily beat the San Diego Padres under a radiant blue sky.

I took Flat Stanley with me. (Hi Alex! He'll be back soon.)

The game finished so quickly that I decided to take advantage of the nice weather, and I headed over to the Capitol to stroll the grounds.

Adventures in California

I wish I could say I haven't had time to post my pictures from Christmas because I've been busy gallivanting around town and attending embassy parties, but the truth is I've just been lazy. So without further ado, here are a few pics from my time in SoCal...

On Christmas Eve we visited my old stomping ground: the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. They recently conducted a renovation of the entire museum, and there was a really neat exhibit on Walt Disney.

Air Force One - probably the coolest thing in the museum

Reagan's presidential limo (not quite as sleek as the modern version)

Marine One

Elise is always such a ham. (That portrait is made of jelly beans, by the way.)

I took these in the Disney exhibit (and they're admittedly not of great quality). The exhibit  featured costumes and props from various movies; these two are from Pirates of the Caribbean. The one below is the filming model of the Black Pearl.

A piece of the Berlin Wall. A lot of people aren't aware that only the western side was covered in graffiti. The eastern side was heavily guarded and people weren't allowed near it, therefore it was blank and austere.

I always love the view from the library.

At first I thought this was fake, but in fact the poinsettias surrounding Reagan's grave were covered with water droplets from that morning's rain.

Lastly, we went to the California Science Center to see the space shuttle Endeavor. I'd already seen a space shuttle at the Smithsonian, so it was no big whoop. :)