The Second Day on a Trip to DC

Check out Day 1 here!

I started my second day with a relaxing morning at home, working on school.

My family and I left for the city around noon, only to find it was even COLDER than the day before. I swear, the 20-degree actual temperature had to feel like the single digits with wind chill. It wasn’t fun.

We parked along the Mall, and walked toward the Capitol. The wind was really strong across the reflecting pond, so we grabbed some pics before quickly continuing on.

We took shelter from the blistering cold in the National Gallery of Art (there definitely could be worse places).

Every visit I discover a new room full of new paintings and find a new favorite. This portrait of Daniel in the Lions Den was the pick of the visit!

Others to note were the impressionist portraits of the Seine in Paris.

I mean just look at those brush strokes!

We made our way past the Washington Monument

…and down to the World War II memorial.

It was SO cold, as I’ve already said, and we were starting to falter, but we had to continue the grand circle tour!

We completed our loop with a stop at the White House. I was shocked to see the gates closer to the house than at any other point in the recent past!

I do love the view of the Washington Monument from the Ellipse, perfectly framed in view.

The cold eventually overcame my cousins’ need to sightsee, so we left the city behind a gorgeous sunset.

The horizon-backed mountains were exceptionally pretty from I-66!

Back at home, I took the opportunity to take some pictures of stars.

One thing I love about living in Northern Virginia is the seclusion. My house is in the middle of the woods, giving just enough darkness to see the sky in all its glory.

And that brings us to the end of my second day at home. We were all pretty worn out from the previous long day, so we took it easy. The cold didn’t help either, as we all ended up on the couch watching a movie!