Kite Festival, Museums, and RunAmuck 5k
With the sun shining brightly and the temperature outside warming up to 75 degrees, Trevor and I have been exploring DC's great festivals and events.
Cherry Blossom Kite Festival
This festival was packed with people flying kites, making kites, and watching a kite competition. We watched the Hot Tricks Showdown and the Rokkaku Battle. The competitors in the Hot Tricks Showdown had their kites going in all directions, doing 360 degree spins horizontally and vertically, and cutting back and forth across the sky. The highlight was the Rokkaku Battle where teams used their kites to cut or knock down other teams' kites. One team landed their kite on another one and knocked the kite to the ground, but the majority of the teams used the string-cutting technique to earn points. The Mona Lisa team won the Battle.
View Kite Festival Slideshow
American History Museum, National Archives, & Post Office Pavilion
Trevor and I wanted to explore some more museums before we move back to San Diego. We wandered through the American History Museum, which was packed with groups of students since it was a week day. We saw the original American Flag, Dorothy's Ruby slippers, Lincoln's top hat, the First Ladies' dresses, and many more American favorites.
Inside the Rotunda in the National Archives, we saw the original Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights documents. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any pictures, but this gave us time to really look over the documents. Although the Declaration of Independence is very faded and the cursive is hard to read, I was able to make out John Hancock's signature at the bottom. We also saw the copper plate used to make copies of the Declaration of Independence and learned about the history of the Great American Seal.
Next we walked to the National Post Office Pavilion. According to the driver of the trolley tour we took in October, the tower of the Post Office Pavilion is one of DC's hidden secrets. He was right! We took a glass elevator to the 9th floor and then another elevator to the very top where we could see all of DC. It wasn't very crowded and the view was spectacular.
View Museums & Post Office Slideshow
RunAmuck 5k
DC has its very own mud run, although technically it's located in Maryland. We rode the metro to the last stop on the Red Line (Shady Grove) and then we took the RunAmuck bus to the starting line for the race. The race was in Rock Creek Park - a huge park with a beautiful river running throughout it and a challenge course with ziplining through the trees. The race was a lot more running and less mud than we expected, but we still got covered in mud. Many people tried to wade through the mud pits and got stuck so Trevor and I took turns helping them get out. Trevor was the race photographer, although I did manage to snap a few photos of him clearing the obstacles. At the very end of the race, we had to jump into a giant mud pit and swim to the finish line. It was quite an adventure.
View RunAmuck Slideshow
Next Up
The Embassies around DC are hosting open houses for the Around the World Embassy Tour during the next two weekends. We are also touring the Pentagon, so look forward to one last DC blog post filled with adventures before we move back to San Diego at the end of May.
This festival was packed with people flying kites, making kites, and watching a kite competition. We watched the Hot Tricks Showdown and the Rokkaku Battle. The competitors in the Hot Tricks Showdown had their kites going in all directions, doing 360 degree spins horizontally and vertically, and cutting back and forth across the sky. The highlight was the Rokkaku Battle where teams used their kites to cut or knock down other teams' kites. One team landed their kite on another one and knocked the kite to the ground, but the majority of the teams used the string-cutting technique to earn points. The Mona Lisa team won the Battle.
View Kite Festival Slideshow
American History Museum, National Archives, & Post Office Pavilion
Trevor and I wanted to explore some more museums before we move back to San Diego. We wandered through the American History Museum, which was packed with groups of students since it was a week day. We saw the original American Flag, Dorothy's Ruby slippers, Lincoln's top hat, the First Ladies' dresses, and many more American favorites. Inside the Rotunda in the National Archives, we saw the original Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights documents. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any pictures, but this gave us time to really look over the documents. Although the Declaration of Independence is very faded and the cursive is hard to read, I was able to make out John Hancock's signature at the bottom. We also saw the copper plate used to make copies of the Declaration of Independence and learned about the history of the Great American Seal.
Next we walked to the National Post Office Pavilion. According to the driver of the trolley tour we took in October, the tower of the Post Office Pavilion is one of DC's hidden secrets. He was right! We took a glass elevator to the 9th floor and then another elevator to the very top where we could see all of DC. It wasn't very crowded and the view was spectacular.
View Museums & Post Office Slideshow
RunAmuck 5k
View RunAmuck Slideshow
Next Up
The Embassies around DC are hosting open houses for the Around the World Embassy Tour during the next two weekends. We are also touring the Pentagon, so look forward to one last DC blog post filled with adventures before we move back to San Diego at the end of May.
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