Saturday, I talked up the National Girls Collaborative Project at the Society of Women Engineers Outreach Exposition. I always love going outreach events because I get to talk one-on-one with the people we are supporting and I can tell new people about the program. Saturday night I went to a delicious Spanish tapas restaurant in Baltimore Inner Harbor with a coworker. I love the variety at the tapas restaurant, and their sangria was delicious.
Sunday morning I woke to bright, sunny skies in Baltimore, and was happy the work part of my trip was over. I walked the few blocks to the Baltimore National Aquarium. I saw manta rays, sharks, poison dart frogs, dolphins, and other fun marine animals. Below is a view across the Baltimore Inner Harbor toward the aquarium.
After the aquarium, I caught a cab to Fort McHenry, a couple miles from Baltimore Inner Harbor. Fort McHenry is a star-shaped fort, famous for the American defense of Baltimore from British Navy attack during the War of 1812 . While the British bombarded the fort during the 1812 Battle of Baltimore, Francis Scott Key (aboard a truce ship in Baltimore Harbor) wrote a poem that he later renamed "The Star-Spangled Banner." The line "bombs bursting in air" came from the British bombs launched from their ships in Chesapeake Bay that exploded in the air above Fort McHenry, leaving the fort largely undamaged. Below is a view of Chesapeake Bay where the British Navy bombarded Fort McHenry in 1812.
After exploring Fort McHenry, I caught the Amtrak to Washington, D.C. I love how easy it is to get from one interesting, historical city to the next via public transportation on the East Coast. The West Coast has mild winters and beautiful summers, but the East Coast has that transportation thing down. I arrived at Union Station in D.C. and successfully traveled via Metro to my hotel. It was already after dark, so I settled in to my room and then went for a brisk walk, seeing the Reagan Center, Department of Commerce, and EPA as I got some fresh air. The rest of the night I relaxed and continued reading Twilight - a guilty pleasure I reserved for my trip.I woke up fairly early and set out walking to the Capitol Building to pick up a tour pass. After picking up my 3:30 PM pass, I explored the Library of Congress, just behind the Capitol Building. The Library of Congress building is beautiful, with ornate decorations in the main hall.
The Library of Congress holds Thomas Jefferson's library, which was at one time the largest library in the country after a fire destroyed much of Washington, D.C. The Library of Congress also contains original documents from the Revolutionary War, diaries from Christopher Columbus, and a Gutenberg Bible. All in all, it was an English major's fantasy, especially Jefferson's library.
The day was sunny and the air cool with a crisp breeze. After the Library of Congress, I toured the National Gallery of Art, one of my favorite Smithsonian Museums. I traveled to D.C. last October with my mom, and we spent some time in the National Gallery then, but I decided to return to talk my time. I marveled at their collection of paintings from Monet, Rembrandt, and Picasso. I took photos of a few of my favorites (below). 
A photo of the National Mall looking toward the Washington Monument from the Capitol Building.
After the National Gallery, I walked to the Rayburn Building, where all the offices for the House of Representatives reside. You can go to a representative from your state to request a pass to see the Senate and House inside the Capitol Building. I visited Jim McDermott's office, received two signed passes, and ran into a high school classmate who I chatted with for a minute. Small world.
Before I toured the Capitol Building, I walked through the Smithsonian Botanic Gardens, which was neat, and something I'd never done before in D.C. The photo above is looking up from the rotunda at the Capitol Building dome. I was a little creeped out by the painting at the top of the dome - it features George Washington sitting like a Christ-figure on a cloud with other influential Americans sitting on either side of him.As I looked around the Capitol rotunda at eight massive paintings they have displayed prominently, I saw nothing but old white men featured. The few women included in the paintings were in submissive poses - kneeling before a pilgrim, or Pocahontas kneeling before John Rolfe, or other Native American women screaming in terror as Americans pillaged their home. It was all a little disturbing, and though I was standing in our nation's seat of government, I did not feel especially proud to be an American. I was not represented anywhere in the rotunda, except in an unfinished statue of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and one uncarved woman who was supposed to represent all women who gained suffrage in 1920. Yet she was still just an unformed block of marble. Not the glorified George Washington, or the towering marble Lincoln, or even the godly John Rolfe. I looked around the room at all the other women making up more than half the large crowd, wondering if some also noticed this pitiful lack of representation.
Nonetheless, however, I enjoyed the tour of the Capitol Building, even though the House and Senate were closed for Veteran's Day so I did not get to use my viewing passes. 
I like this photo because it is sort of symbolic. There are dark, ominous clouds over Washington now, yet there are blue skies and bright days not far away on the horizon. Yes we can!
A closer-up view of the Capitol Building down and Lady Liberty. Beautiful blue skies in the background.
As I left the Capitol after the tour, the sun was setting. It cast a beautiful orange-pink hue onto the Capitol Building and I had to snap another photo as I made my way toward the National Portrait Gallery on the nippy fall evening.
After my tour of the Capitol, I made my way up Pennsylvania Avenue to visit the National Portrait Gallery, which is open until 7 PM, two hours later than the rest of the Smithsonians. A coworker had recommended the Gallery, and even though I was tired from a long day on my feet, I did thoroughly enjoy the museum.They had portraits, paintings, and photographs of many of our presidents and other influential people in American history - including a number of women. One room was set aside for portraits of Lincoln; I found this especially interesting. They featured a large portrait of him around the time of his first inauguration, clean shaven and youthful looking. Five years later, there is another portrait of him that was taken not long before his assassination. His skin his weathered and wrinkled, his eyes tired and exhausted - so much change in just five years time. Looking at these portraits of Lincoln, I did feel proud to be an American, that he stood strong and relentless amidst one of the most difficult times in American history.
Also in the museum were two other exhibits I really enjoyed. One compared photographs from Ansel Adams with paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe. I love both artists, and it was interesting to see their work, style, and subject compared. There was also another exhibit of photograph portraits of influential women of the twentieth century. Their bios were inspirational and I was very happy I made the trek to the National Portrait Gallery.
After the Portrait Gallery, I picked up dinner and headed back to my hotel, with mighty plans to set out again to view the monuments and White House at night. But as soon as I warmed up (it was about 40 degrees and windy after nightfall in D.C.) and relaxed, I found myself exhausted and curled up instead in the giant king bed in my room. Next time I am in D.C. I will visit the monuments first.
So all in all, it was a great trip, and I felt independent navigating and exploring the city by myself. And it was exciting to be in D.C. so soon after such an exciting election. I hope, as always, to get back to D.C. as soon as possible.
Cheers!
Moonrise over Washington.
Other than maybe a little chilly, it looks like you had great weather. WA DC is fun to explore on your own.
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