Virginia Adventures: Part Deux

Ah yes - moving right along to day two. If you know me at all, you have to know that the first thing I did when I got up was go make coffee and head...for the back deck! Since my Dad was off on Friday, he joined me on the deck; we drank coffee and listened to some music (my Game of Thrones soundtrack) while we enjoyed the view. Once my Mom finally woke up..hahaha...we went inside to have waffles for breakfast, because Dad is the king of the waffle maker.

Another gorgeous day - the always gorgeous view.

I was still feeling extra patriotic and it also tasted delicious.

Yum!

Dad got creative.

We all got ready and while the end point for the day was DC, we decided to take the back roads in and see what all we could see on the way. We stopped in a couple small towns along the way - Upperville and Middleburg (right, is that right parents? I can't remember...) and saw some neat houses, shops and sights.

Hydrangeas in Upperville.

There was a shop that had Civil War (and older) era weaponry. I was fascinated; the sword made me feel very Game of Thrones like, hahaha.

CHARGE!

A cool house...I think this was in Upperville also.

A fox in Middleburg

I should note - foxes are significant to Middleburg because every year they have a fox hunt. I mean, the whole deal: men in riding outfits with red jackets, jodhpurs, on horses with the hounds. Hopefully I'll get to see it in the future!

Custard on the way to DC - with chocolate flakes and black cherries.

The Capitol!!!

Union Station

The Supreme Court - aka SCOTUS

The main thing we wanted to do while in DC was check out the Library of Congress. I've heard it is one of the prettiest buildings in DC and they aren't kidding. I think every inch of the place is painted, tiled and gilded - it is absolutely gorgeous. I'm not sure what possessed me to wear skinny jeans when it was 92 degrees outside with a heat index of 103 but hey...you get sweaty and keep right on trucking!

This is my "OMG - it's hot!" face...

The Reading Room in the Library of Congress

The dome of the Reading Room

A quote that I thought you could see but apparently is hard to read in this photo....boo.

Another look at the Reading Room - they only recently started allowing pictures in here.

The Main Hall of the LoC

House Lannister anyone? They even got the colors right; crimson & gold!

On the ceiling - I took this for my friend David.

A last look at the Reading Room!

In DC!

The fountain outside the LoC...so pretty...

I may have also been tempted to get in...it was HOT.

Capitol

A squirrel eating Chex Mix in the park...hahaha!

I found a high-powered fan in the Godiva store - HALLELUJAH!!

The always bustling Union Station...

Crumbs cupcakes - they are delicious!!

Feeds 10-12 people...whoosh!

Once we finished exploring, it was time to head to Nationals stadium for the American pastime - baseball! My parents had gotten us tickets to watch the Washington Nationals play the San Diego Padres and I'm always up for some baseball. Plus - I thought it was especially fun that the Nationals are called the Nats for short; if you have Nationals attitude, you have Natitude and everywhere you looked, Nat was on everything. Which - hello...I'm a Nat!! That was all it took to win me over! I bought a cap, read the roster and decided I'd happily cheer the Nationals to as many curly W's as I could. By the way, a curly W = a win! And win they did, 8-2! Yahoo!! Once the game was said and done, we headed home to catch some Zzz's before day three!

Obviously this is the team for me!

Panoramic shot of the stadium...

Getting the field ready to play ball!

Hey batter, batter!

I liked Bryce Harper - he's basically a 20 year old whiz kid at baseball. Seriously, he's been playing pro ball for over a year and he won't be 21 till October. Whoa.

Leaving the stadium after a win for the Nats!