Washington DC, May 11-17 2000
Here are a few pictures taken while in Washington DC with
my friends Dean Brown and Monica Bendiksen.
May 12, 2000
These are conservative Republicans protesting in front of the White
House as we emerge from our tour. I didn't necessarily agree with
their issues, but I took some of their buttons anyway ;-).
Our tour took us through the East Wing, then upstairs to the second floor of the main part of the house. The public is not allowed into the West Wing area so the tour ended here. There are lots of historical furnishings and portraits to see. On my way to the elevator which took me to the second floor, I got to pass through the kitchen area where the presidential meals are prepared. And I even got to pet Buddy the White House dog as he rode up with us in the elevator! Dean had to use a different elevator because of the size of his chair and completely missed this interesting part of the tour. Sorry Deano! (Able-bodied persons don't get to see these areas since they're forced to use the stairs :-))
I preferred the tour of the Capitol Building and found it much more
interesting than the White House. Could be because we had our own
private guide at the Capitol!
May 14, 2000
From left to right, here are myself, Dean, and Monica in front of
ol' Honest Abe at the Lincoln Memorial.
The memorial was being renovated at the time, but was still open to the
public. Engraved on the marble walls in the side chambers are
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (south wall) and his second inaugural address
(north wall). Lincoln looks out over the reflecting pool with the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the left and the Korean War Veterans Memorial on
the right. At the far end of the reflecting pool is the Washington
Monument (closed for renovation), and beyond that, the National Mall,
followed by the Capitol building. It's an impressive view at night
(when we were there), but didn't photograph well, so I don't have a
picture.
May 16, 2000
Here we are eating Brasilian food at the Grill From Ipanema restaurant
on Columbia Rd.
From left to right are Susana Verde, aka Susan Green, Wayne Landsman,
Dean, Monica, and myself. Susan and Wayne are members of an internet
discussion list about Brasilian music called Saudades do Brasil, of which
I am also a member. Before leaving on our trip, I posted a message
to the list asking about Brasilian restaurants in DC, and Wayne replied
and offered to meet us for dinner. We had intended to meet at another
restaurant down the street called Tom Brasil where they had live music,
but the duo which usually plays there wasn't that night, so we opted for
Grill From Ipanema instead.
Susan had Tubarão (shark), Wayne had ???, Dean had Peixe Moqueca
"À Capixaba" (fish stew), Monica had Fejoada (a kind of Brasilian
pork and beans made with black beans, beef, pork, sausage, and smoked meat),
and I had Picanha Grelhada (grilled steak slices). Only Wayne and
I had the traditional Brasilian drink, Caipirinha (made with a sugar cane
liquor called cachaça, crushed limes and sugar).