Happy Easter Weekend!

DB came for a long weekend visit. On Friday, we got up around 4:30am and left the house around 5:10am to catch a train down to Washington, DC. We ended up at the Smithsonian station around 6:15am and took a hike over to the Tidal Basin to take pictures of the cherry blossoms in the wee early morning hours. We weren't the only ones waiting for the sun to rise.

(Nikon D40 photos)

Washington Monument in the wee hours

As we were all snapping away at the monuments and the cherry blossoms, I happened to look to my right and noticed something extremely white. It was a young lady getting her bridal pictures taken. So, naturally I took this opportunity to capture the moment.

A photog moment with a bride

As more and more folks arrived and the Tidal Basin was getting a bit crowded (joggers, walkers, and photographers), we decided we had enough and started our hike to the other monuments. We visited the WWII Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, and many sites along the way.

Lincoln Memorial

Korean War Memorial

World War II Memorial


We took pictures of the Washington Monument and the Capitol.

Washington Monument

They do exist, the Segway Tours.

Segway riders


Trees blooming around the Capitol





We grabbed some lunch at a local Thai restaurant, just south of the Capitol in a quiet neighborhood. Afterwards, we headed to the US Botanic Gardens and took pictures of their orchid collections.










My DB and I walked over 12,000 steps, covering 8 miles. Thanks to my nifty pedometer, we kept track of the distance traveled. After several hours of walking, I had experienced multiple cramps in both legs. I had to end our photo adventure. As we headed back to the Smithsonian station, we were in for a huge shock. The crowds of people, both coming and going from the train station. We were crammed into the trains like sardines. As it turned out, that Friday was the 2nd highest ridership day (900,000 riders) using the Metrorail. To go along with that astounding number, I took 600+ pictures on that same day!




The next day (Saturday), we headed over to Arlington Cemetery.













A beautiful find at Arlington Cemetery









Early Sunday (Easter) morning, we were the only early birds in downtown Manassas. Back to take more pictures. Here are pictures taken with my new Nikon D5000:

My DB with his cool Nikon (D5000)


A view in the middle of the street in downtown Manassas (D5000)


One of the old buildings that houses Okra and The Foundation Restaurant (D5000)

Local signage (D5000)

Note: the only modifications made to the my pictures: cropped and copyright added.