cool, damp breezes and rain didn’t stop us from celebrating molly’s birthday on friday. after a lazy morning at home, we all hopped in the car after lunch and headed down to washington, d.c.
last year, we spent the day at the national zoo, and though we couldn’t make it a repeat this year, we still wanted to visit the cool capital city.
first, we ventured to the national museum of the american indian. what an awesome place! we only spent about an hour, but we managed to see so much. it is filled with amazing, colorful artifacts and really cool hi-tech interactive exhibits. it’s quite a different place than our next stop — the national air and space museum. though that museum is awesome, too — jackson couldn’t get enough of all the planes hanging overhead (see him gazing into the cockpit at right) — it is way outdated when compared to the indian museum! the former makes the latter look a little hokey!
all the smithsonian museums close at 5:30, so we were quickly out on the streets! we headed to our favorite spot in the area — teaism, a lovely little tea shop that serves delicious tea, snacks and meals. molly loaded up on warm chai tea and ginger scones. dave chose a super-hot earl grey tea and shortbread trio, while jackson downed some lemonade and chocolate-chunk cookie! yum!
after we warmed up, we took a walk by the navy memorial and national archives, then back to the car! molly’s friend bridgette called and invited us to her place. jackson spent some QT rearranging bridgette’s furniture, and jumping on pillows. soon, we headed out with b and her beau, elijah, to a great little burmese place in bethesda. and whaddayaknow — dave had been there before, on a food shoot for the gazette! a photo of his hung on the wall!
the food was delicious — spicy and creamy — but dessert was the most fun. b & e had arranged for a little treat with a candle on top to be brought to the table (above left). not sure how or if they sing “happy birthday” in burma. but bridgette, dave and elijah did a nice rendition at the table!
it was a long day for jackson, but as usual, he was a trooper. he fell asleep in the car on the way home, and stayed asleep until about 9:30 the next morning. an extra gift for mom — a saturday sleep-in!