Portrait Gallery and Cosi

With low humidities we dared to venture on another “tourist” visit by foot. This time it would be to the National Portrait Gallery. Past adventures have included Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, the Renwick Gallery, and the Cézanne exhibit at the National Gallery of Art. Now I am compiling a check off list of possible options. The idea is to do something different once a week and get to know the city more after having lived here twelve years. Depending on the weather and the distance the mini visits can include metro rides, which my husband loves and I don’t. And when possible we try to mix in breakfast or lunch based on our mood and location. So we walked up to eighth street and turned down by the Navy Memorial off Pennsylvania Avenue, past our grandson’s old school before they moved to Virginia, and on to the Portrait Gallery - taking care to stay under the shade. The plan was to catch the bus back home so we wouldn’t be completely exhausted. It seemed rather quiet in front of the building and we realized why - the place doesn’t open until 1130! That was a huge disappointment. I didn’t even bother to look before we left because everything on the Mall opens at 1000. So we turned around and started looking for a breakfast stop. Nothing appealed to us until we reached Cosi by the court house. So we stopped in just to have something. So we ended up walking about three miles - more than usual which is about 2.5. It will be difficult to get my husband to head that way again. He wasn’t too keen about it to begin with. We’ve been there before, but he just wasn’t in the mood. Maybe a spin on the merry go round on the Mall will be next? He likes that option even less.