From our house here in New York City to your house wherever you may be. MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE SPORTS DIVA !
Month: December 2019
WAITING IN THE RENAISSANCE WASHINGTON HOTEL FOR MY BUS
It was my last day in Washington DC after having a great time visiting my family for Thanksgiving weekend .
My Flixbus back to New York City was leaving at 1:30pm and due to arrive at 5:45pm.
Because of the Winter Storm Advisory issued for New York City , I was going to try to get on an earlier bus, say like the 12:30pm one.
No such luck.
It was full and unlike my bus, it was stopping in Baltimore.
My bus was going non stop back to the city.
We ended up getting in at 6pm which wasn’t bad seeing that the weather was awful .
As it was raining cats and dogs while waiting for the bus, one of the valet parking people suggested that I do what other people were doing , waiting in the lobby of the Renaissance Washington DC Hotel, which is where the bus picks you up, 904 9th Street NW.
I had never stayed in this hotel, either in Washington DC or anywhere else.
But I knew that it was one of those fancy, smantzy hotels.
They’re so fancy that if you want to use the bathroom in the lobby, you have to go up to the Front Desk and get a room key , which you have to give back, of course .
As I couldn’t get on the earlier bus, I had some time to kill.
So I did what a few people who were either waiting for the bus or hotel guests did .
I went into Starbucks and got a Cheese Danish and one of my favorite coffees whenever I go to Starbucks , a small Vanilla Latte.
I went back to the entrance with the revolving door and listened to the music that was coming out of the loud speaker.
It wasn’t Christmas music , thank God , but something you wouldn’t expect from such a fancy place.
Try Alternative Rock.
By this time it was 1:15pm and I was ready to leave rainy Washington DC and take my bus to snow, sleet, and just gosh awful weather in New York City .
AN EMBASSY TOUR OF WASHINGTON DC PART 2
Since I was in town for the Thanksgiving holiday with my family , I did a little bit of sightseeing in the Dupont Circle area of town.
The last time I was there, in October, I saw some of the embassies on Embassy Row .
This time, even though it was raining, I decided to go see some of the embassies in the Dupont Circle area .
It was raining so hard that I was about to turn back and just take the Metro back to my neice’s house in the Petworth section if tiwn.
But then I saw what I was looking for , New Hampshire Avenue, a place that I couldn’t find on my embassy tour the last time.
Because of the rain, some of the pictures aren’t that clear and some of the flags are wrapped around the flag pole.
Also, there aren’t as many embassies on this part, so God willing , the next time I come to town, hopefully the weather will be better and there’ll be more embassies to see .
The Embassy of Equitorial Guinea
The Embassy of Namibia
Embassy of Jamaica
Sorry the flag is wrapped around the flag pole but its the Embassy of Montenegro
Embassy of Zimbabwe
Embassy of Angola
VISITING THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
It’s the world’s largest library with as of now, more than 167 million items .
That’s millions with an M , people .
It was number 134 on my bucket list and it’s the Library of Congress .
It was established in 1800 when the country was in its infancy .
During the War of 1812, like many buildings in what was the capital of the new country of the United States, the Library of Congress was burnt down by the British, destroying everything .
Enter former President Thomas Jefferson, who was in retirement down in Virginia.
He donated his personal library of books, which totaled 6, 487 books.
To say that the former president did a lot of reading would be an understatement.
If you happen to be in Washington taking a tour of the Capitol Building , which is right next door, here’s a tip for you .
You can enter the Library of Congress right through a tunnel which connects the two buildings .
If you went through security at the Capitol Building, you don’t have to do it again once you get to the Library of Congress .
Once you get inside , the building that you’re in is, what else , the Thomas Jefferson Building .
You’ll get to see many of those books that he donated in a small area called, Thomas Jefferson’s Library.
There are technically three floors of the library , but the second floor is the one that most tourists go into with the marble staircase and the statue of the goddess Minerva.
There’s also exhibits at the library.
The day I went, there was an exhibit on women getting the right to vote.
I don’t care what your party affiliation is, this is an exhibit that one should see if you happen to be doing your own 30 Plus Teams Tour of Washington or if you happen to live close by.
I was told by one of the information people that coming up there’s going to be an exhibit on Rosa Parks .
As with most of the museums in town, visiting the Library of Congress is free and easily accessible by the Washington Metro .
Use your Smart Card and get off at the Capitol South Metro station on the Blue, Silver or Orange lines.
You can also get off here for the Supreme Court Building and the Capitol Building .
Trust me, visiting all three of these places is worth the trip.
Even if they aren’t on your bucket list.
MY VISIT TO THE SUPREME COURT BUILDING IN PICTURES
It was stop number 3 on my visit to Washington DC for the day after Thanksgiving day.
It’s also number 81 on my 30 Plus Teams Tour bucket list .
It’s the United States Supreme Court Building and I am presenting my visit in pictures .
There are roughly 2 floors at the Supreme Court Building , one of which you can reach by walking up a spiral staircase .
If you don’t want to walk up all those stairs, you can take the elevator .
Or just do what I did.
Look at the pictures of the former Supreme Court justices that line the wall and take up most of the first floor like the statue of the first Supreme Court Justice John Marshall .
You’ll see all the justices and their pictures on the wall, except 9 of them.
I was told by a security guard that they only put portraits of the Supreme Court justices once they have died .
I never knew this and after I went back to another section of the city , I wanted to know one thing:
What is it with this city’s obsession with dead public figures?
So, here in pictures is a visit to Number 81, the Supreme Court Building .
UNITED STATES CAPITOL BUILDING IN PICTURES
It’s number 137 on my bucket list and I finally got to take a tour of the seat of the United States government , the Capitol Building ,
The tour is free and you don’t have to take it, but I would advise definitely do it because you see so much and learn so much.
Shoutout to the tour guide that I had on my tour, Elizabeth .
She was very knowledgeable and I learned so much, such as the statues that dominate the halls of the buildings are donated by each state, and the only way a presidential statue is at the Capitol Building is because the President is deceased .
So don’t expect to find a statue of George Bush or Barack Obama .
They’re still alive and a little something called separation of the branches of government .
As with the presidents, the only way you get a statue is if you’re deceased.
You also learn that the crypt of George Washington is right underneath the Capitol Building.
A star with a velvet rope marks the spot .
It also marks the spot of where Washington DC was founded .
Most people who take the tour want to see the Capitol rotunda.
You can see it from the outside , but if you take the tour you’ll see what’s underneath the rotunda.
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