Labor Day Weekend

This weekend the in-laws drove in from Cincinnati to spend the weekend with the Mr & I. On Saturday we drove down to Annapolis and walked around downtown and visited the William Paca House & Garden. We decided to skip the home tour and take a walk through the garden. After the garden tour we had lunch at Middleton Tavern, along the waterfront in downtown Annapolis. Lunch was okay, nothing special, just some sandwiches. After lunch we walked down Main Street and decided to head to the mall for a quick shopping trip. After the mall it was back to Baltimore to have dinner at Salt.

Sunday took us to DC for a visit to the Newseum, one of the newest museums in DC. This was a fascinating museum! I loved it and would go back again to get a closer look at all the exhibits. There was so much to see, read and watch. After 2 and a half hours we still could have spent more time there. I particularly enjoyed the exhibit on Pulitzer Prize winning photographs. After the museum we were back at the Nationals game vs. Atlanta. I even got my photo with George! Only one President left to get...Thomas! The Mr & I have decided that the food there isn't that good...and very expensive! $9.50 for deluxe nachos or chicken strips and fries. Not to mention the $4.50 for a bottle of pop or water! After the game we headed back to Baltimore for a relaxing sushi dinner at Chiu's Sushi.

The in-laws left on Monday morning and the Mr & I took a nap to recover from all our activities. We each had to work a few hours too and do some major grocery shopping for next week's RV trip to State College, PA!

A quick trip to DC

On a whim, Mr_BTM and I decided to go to DC for the weekend. We already knew we wanted to go to one of the Nationals vs. Reds games but a quick search on Priceline and Stubhub and we were set for Saturday and Sunday. Saturday we got to DC around 1:00 PM and after checking into the Hyatt Regency Hotel we walked over to the National Building Museum. The museum, created by an act of Congress in 1980, was free and featured exhibits on building materials, architect Eero Saarinenand (he designed the Arch in St. Louis), and the urban planning of DC. We spent about 2 hours here, a bit longer than expected for such a small museum, but the building itself was also an attraction! Our next stop was the National Portrait Gallery & Museum of American Art. The two museums are housed in the same building with a courtyard in the middle. We mostly walked through the Portrait Gallery and sat in the courtyard.

After our afternoon of museums we took the Metro to the Nationals game vs the Reds. Got to have my picture taken with Teddy! Highlight of the day :) The Reds lost and we got rained on a bit, but it was a nice night to be out for a game. After the game we stayed for the movie they were showing until the crowds to the Metro died down a bit. On our way back to the hotel, we detoured to the Capitol to take pictures at night when it's all lit up. We were disappointed you couldn't get on the steps to get a better view of the mall. But Mr_BTM got some great photos.

Sunday started with brunch at Georgia Brown's, a southern style brunch place on McPherson Square. The buffet selections were okay but our entrees were much better. I tried the Carolina Shrimp & Grits and Mr_BTM had the Carolina Gumbo. Both were pretty good but we weren't all that impressed.

After brunch we were back to the ball park for the afternoon game with the Reds and Nats again. We were fortunate to have seats that were shaded so we enjoyed the game in relative comfort. This time I got my picture taken with Abe! Another highlight! Again, the Reds lost, but the game was fun.

I'm sure we'll be back to DC for another overnight stay sometime soon. We want to visit the monuments at night next time!