Capitol Hill Walkabout

Monday is typically a good day to drive in to town for a morning walk. The other reason is to take photos for the weekly 52Frames photo challenge. I didn’t have high hopes for the photo challenge because the subject is “portrait” and I wasn’t in the mood to find a stranger to pose, and we didn’t come across anyone that looked like they might like to participate. So instead we just enjoyed the walk and I took photos of random things. We parked in our old neighborhood and walked the walk we took for thirteen years. The vegetable garden at the Library of Congress was growing tall already. It was very quiet at the Capitol - except at the visitor center entrance. There was barely anyone in sight in a panoramic shot. There was a large school group posing for photos. The ducks were out and about in the reflecting pool. Since it was getting quite warm we decided to make it a short excursion, stopping inside the US Botanic garden. There are always new orchids on display as well as other favorites throughout the outside gardens. There was what looked to be a pineapple plant at the Bartholdi fountain gardens, along with the vegetable garden with the Capitol building in the background. We trudged back to the car just in time to hit the two mile mark. We are never disappointed visiting the old neighborhood. 

Vegetable Gardens in the Most Unlikely Places

We lived on Capitol Hill for thirteen years. I worked at the Library of Congress for ten years. Since we moved to northern Virginia five years ago we visit our old neighborhood at least once a week. On Monday we found a place to park near our old condo and started our walk towards the Capitol. It always seems funny to run in to large vegetable gardens outside of the Library of Congress Madison Building. We saw it being planted a couple of weeks ago. Now it’s already sprouting. Another place that has a very large outdoor vegetable garden is Bartholdi Park - a part of the US Botanic Garden. For some reason it just looks odd to see greens and such growing with the US Capitol Building in the background. This year in front of the US Botanic Garden building are raised garden beds contributed by school and other groups. The crops are shared locally at a variety of places for the underserved and otherwise. It’s such a joy to see all of these gardens consistently doing well and cared for by the professional staffs of the architect of the Capitol. We always enjoy our morning walks in the city. And it’s all so familiar! 

Smithsonian Gardens and Ducks

It’s always a treat to walk through the gardens around the National Mall. We were visiting the Smithsonian Castle last week and things were starting to look very summery. I was surprised to see so many poppies. We planted poppies in our tiny Capitol Hill patio garden one year and they looked so pretty. It seems the predominant colors of the flowers now were orange, yellow and gold. On the way back to the car we walked around the Capitol reflecting pool. Now is the time to see all of the baby ducks that sometimes use the ramps that are put out by the grounds staff. We found several ducklings huddling together on the perimeter as their parents were swimming nearby. As we walked through the US Botanic garden there were remnants of the beautiful wisteria vine overhead. A bunch of school kids were visiting and taking a break on the lawn. It was a beautiful day for a morning walk. We like to head in to town at least once a month. There is always something to see. 

Smithsonian Castle Garden Magnolias

It feels like a century ago. It was a week or so before we tested positive for Covid for the first time. Spring is such a beautiful time of year here and the magnolias at the Smithsonian Castle are the first to bloom. The display is magnificent. So way back on March 13 we drove in to town for the express purpose of visiting the magnolias. It was a bit cloudy, but that usually makes for better photos. We parked by the Air and Space Museum - that finally has a new front entrance built after what seems like years under renovation. Then we walked over to the gardens and weren’t disappointed even though it seemed like the blooms were more sparse than usual. The tulips were also just starting to show buds and unfortunately we haven’t been able to get back to see the splendor of it all because we didn’t feel well for over two weeks, and now the monsoons have set in and it’s not good travel weather. The cherry blossom festival lasts until this weekend so the crowds are still around until then and then into the summer months. I rather liked having the city or myself over the last four years.  Hopefully we will be able to explore our favorite places soon enough. We do miss our weekly drives in to town - for so many reasons. 

Gardens in DC

This must be the best time of the year for flower gardens. It’s in between the rainy spring and scorching summer heat. We hadn’t been to the US Botanic Garden for about a month. And things have changed! So we drove in yesterday and parked in our old Capitol Hill neighborhood and started walking on the path we took for thirteen years. Whenever we are in our old neighborhood we are surprised that we actually lived there for thirteen years and I walked to work at the Library of Congress barely two blocks away. By Capitol South metro were beautiful orange lilies. The gardens all along the way were filled with all different varieties and colors. By the house office buildings were lovely huge magnolia blossoms. I wasn’t sure if they were at the start or end of their blooms because the leaves were already yellowing and dry. The poppies and wild flowers at the US Botanic garden seemed out of place. You would never know we were in the urban jungle. After visiting the Hirshhorn, we strolled through the Mary Livingston garden. There were even more poppies and poppy pods. Some unusual greenery was growing along the concrete fence. Everything looked so stunning. There was a huge line of people waiting to get in to the Air and Space Museum. The city is looking like it did before the pandemic. Too many visitors for my taste. But my husband loves it.