Sunday, February 20, 2005

Abundant sunshine

We woke up yesterday to the weather channel saying that the DC area had "abundant" sunshine, and that we did. We watched the movie "Luther" about Martin Luther, and then dressed in our warm clothes to go to the Washington Mall to see the WWII memorial and to the Freer Gallery of Art. We found a parking place, a miracle in itself. It was a long walk from the WWII Memorial to the Freer and I had left my gloves in the car, so it was a little brisker than I would have liked.

In my experience at the Smithsonian, it is always hard to find refreshments after the long walks outside and the museum tours inside. We found a tiny Starbucks in the Smithsonian castle and had rather dry ham and cheese sandwiches, large oatmeal cookies and cokes and coffee. It was very expensive and hard to find a place to sit, but we finally succeeded and had a fine snack. From there we went to the Freer and saw the Japanese woodcuts of "every day life in 16th Century Japan." It was glorious.

Dinner was at a Thai restaurant called Lemon Grass across the street from Akasaka. We were there early enough that we did not have to fight the dreaded crowds. I had seafood combo which was fresh and delicious--squid, shrimp and scallops. Mike had beef curry and George had shrimp and chicken pad thai which he thought was a little too spicy for his taste. He ordered medium, but there was a little mixup and the first one they graciously took back and brought him some that was less hot, but still too hot for him. We all dove in to his dinner too and had a great time. George and I watched Gangs of New York on Mike's big home theater system and ate vanilla ice cream to cool the tastebuds.

Today is supposed to be the rainy day, but the morning so far is partly cloudy. I think George and I are going to the Pentagon Mall for a little shopping and an indoor walk, and to see the National Cathedral. Later we will go out to dinner with Mike and Michelle. We are going to take it easy and let the day unfold.

Have a great day and I wish you abundant sunshine.