Day #4 in DC: Brunch, Zoo, and Musical
[Photos from 02 August 2015, text from, ahem, 01-02 October 2015. How’d that happen?!?!]
It was a warm Sunday, and me and the kids followed the other Icelanders down to the Adams Morgan neighborhood to have brunch at a trendy cafe. Our hosts and us then walked/hiked (it was hilly!) to the National Zoo (free entry!), where we walked around in the crowds for a bit before giving in to the moaning children, and walking back.
I went on an emergency shoe trip, since we were going to see a musical at the Kennedy Center that night, and I only had sneakers. The only drawback: my feet grew a size last winter, and I’m now a US 12/European 43. This means I can walk into most shoe stores, ask if they have anything in my size, and generally walk right back out again.
Happily, I did score some nice silver sandals at one store, so all was not lost. But, we ate dinner outside at a restaurant by the Kennedy Center where, as I would discover a few hours later, some flies took advantage of my uncovered feet and went to biting town. Grrr!
The Book of Mormon musical was a lot of fun, probably made even funner by the fact that we got to know quite a few Mormons when we lived in California: Lovely people all of them, but just ever so slightly different. (37 images total)
A street in the Adams Morgan neighborhood.
Our brunch took a while to arrive (we were super lucky to score such a big table!) but it was excellent!
Yeah, baby!
The walkers starting the hike to the zoo. Since it was a hot Sunday, and the zoo is free, we didn’t even try to park any closer.
The first thing we did at the zoo was to buy hats for the family. Here the kids are looking lionesses.
They even moved a bit for us! I’ve rarely seen the big cats move a muscle on warms days like this one.
Emma was not thrilled with her hat, and kept taking it off, much to my consternation.
We then wandered into a house where there were small monkeys monkeying about.
Next up: The Gorilla House. It was PACKED with people. This was in sharp contrast to a visit our hosts had made earlier during past winter when there was nobody there, and the whole thing looked very grim somehow.
Surprised!
As we slowly exited the building in a sea of people, we passed this orangutan who was coming over to say hello.
Trying to plan our walking path.
Kids starting to get tired, and asking for piggy-back rides.
Where’s my segway?!
A pit-stop in the shade.
Bjarki playing His Highness.
Tired Anna.
This is where the elephants often hang out (kind of looks like a set-painting!) but they weren’t there that day for some reason. I vaguely recall one of them being sick?
Happy times!
Anna took this photo.
We managed to take a wrong turn and basically walked out the same way we came in, and missed some animals. But we were all tired so it didn’t matter very much. This water-mist by the exit was a big hit though.
Þráinn about to enter the mist.
On the way back to the cars, we stopped at a playground we’d promised to stop at while on the way to the zoo. The tall people enjoyed resting their feet, and the small people weren’t so tired all of a sudden.
The not-so-tired-anymore kids.
Wearing indoor clothes outside.
Our car was still where we left it.
Shortly before dinner time we drove into DC, and parked in the (a?) Watergate building!
Ominous?
Eating dinner. This is where my feet/toes got bitten by gnats quite a few times.
Not wearing sneakers! That’s the Kennedy Center by the way.
Inside is a big hallway, where they were hosting a free concert while guests waited for the main event to begin.
We went outside to the patio for a bit. My phone camera has issues!
Selfie in the setting sun.
I feel like the name of the speechwriter is missing.
Finnur on the back patio, before we headed back inside.
The stage! It was a great show, but I did have one complaint. Since it’s a traveling show, the sound system is transportable (see the black column by the stage), and not very awesome. I sometimes had a bit of trouble understanding what was being said, because we weren’t sitting in a sound-focal-point.
Last photo of the evening. Finnur then had the misfortune of dropping his wallet on the floor, where it got kicked about. He discovered the wallet was missing during intermission, and we spent the whole break wondering if we should call and cancel the credit cards etc. Just as we were heading back inside, the ushers found the wallet lying on the floor, contents intact, and we breathed a sigh of relief!