W.W.G.W.D.?

With only a day and a half left, we had to be smart about our adventures.

So we thought, W.W.G.W.D.?
What would George Washington Do?
We decided to be persistent and knock them out.

Our first stop was the Newseum, one of the museums I have been looking forward to the most.
I was a communications major-- now I'm a P.R. specialist by day and freelance reporter by night.
I love news. Love to read it, love to write it, love to be a part of it. It stems from my desire to be the first to know things, so I was very excited for this museum. (Even though it is the only one that cost, it was worth it to me.)

We checked out a portion of the Berlin Wall, saw the actual unibomber cabin in the G-men and Journalist exhibit, saw historic newspaper clippings (The Titanic! Man walking on the moon!), and learned some wise words from Bart Simpson.

This six floor museum (six floors!) was awesome.

One section of the museum changes everyday. It features a glass case with the front page of every major newspaper from each state and major international newspapers. I am still shocked with how current this museum is.

Next we headed over to the National Gallery of Art- East Building.Yes, the National Gallery of Art has two buildings. The East Building is more modern art (think Jackson Pollock, pop art, one stripe down a canvas, etc.). It is not so much my thing.

The piece of art above really stood out to me. This is the painting close up. All 'strokes were thumbprints. oh. my. word.

The temporary exhibit Venice: Canaletto and his rivals was exquisite. I could have spent all day there.

We booked it up to the 'hood, I mean, Chinatown for lunch at Wok and Roll. The sesame chicken was fabulous but the dumplings were sad. One day, I will find authentic dumplings. I am determined.....

We skipped over to the National Building Museum, hoping to get Jacob his architectural fix before making it to the American Museum of Art and Portrait Gallery.

This gallery is two into one. One side if the American Museum of Art with art by Americans, and the other side was portraits. Some enormous (like the G. Wash above) or head shots like the one of Joseph Smith we saw.

Beyond breathtaking. This enormous painting was a must see. And it has a couch right in front of it so you can take it all in. This museum was so large, the only way to know what to see is to ask for help. We learned this about half way through our trip. Most museums will have a must-see list, which is perfect if you are trying to maximize your time.

Our last stop of the day took us to the National Archives. We walked in there about an hour before it was supposed to close and we strolled on in. (The next morning, lines were wrapped around the corner. Go at night, I tell ya.) The rest of the museum was a bust because we were a bit museume-d out. But it was really neat to see the actual Declaration of Independence (you can barely see the writing anymore!) and the Bill of Rights. I love old things.

We hopped on the Metro to meet Matthew and Kim for one last night at the mall. I know, I know. We shouldn't shop our whole vacation, but their mall has two H & Ms. TWO!