Washington DC - Part IV

Eastern Market, National Museum of Natural History, Pentagon City

After leaving the Air and Space Museum we headed back to the Metro as people were getting hungry.  We thought we'd head to the Eastern Market and see what we could find there.  It sounded like a pretty neat place, and Amy and I had certainly enjoyed exploring Cincinnati's Findlay Market in the past, so we thought it was definitely worth checking out.

Welcome to Eastern Market, Washington DC's original and premier food & arts market. Located in the heart of the historic Capitol Hill neighborhood, Eastern Market is DC's destination for fresh food, community events, and on weekends, local farm-fresh produce and handmade arts and crafts.... For over 136 years, Eastern Market has served as a community hub, connecting neighbors, families and visitors. Eastern Market is located at 225 7th Street SE, Washington, DC 20003.--Eastern Market website

We took the Metro over to the Eastern Market stop and got our bearings.  It didn't take us too long to find the right direction and we started walking to the market.  I saw this neat stain/pattern on the sidewalk at one point.

The market is certainly an impressive structure that dates back to the late 1800s, though the market itself is older (it was originally located elsewhere).

We passed by this interesting outdoor store as we walked closer.

Apparently the covered area out front is only occupied on weekends.  We did wonder at the many empty parking spaces though.

Then we saw the door.  The market is closed only one day a week--and of course that day is the one day we visited: Monday.  I guess we'll just have to come back another time (not on a Monday) so that we can experience everything that the market has to offer.

The trip wasn't a waste however, we decided to stop for dessert before heading back to the Mall and found a small gelato shop.

We shared a bowl of crema gelato and pomegranate sorbet.

Poor Abigail had to content herself with sucking on her fist (this is one of her favorite pastimes when she isn't sleeping or eating).

Once back at the Mall we headed up the escalator.  Most of the elevators were down the entire time we travelled the Metro.  I was used to carrying up Abigail--Joanna or Amy usually grabbed the stroller.

We headed into the Museum of Natural History for a few minutes.  The front of the building is quite iconic--with the columns and the banners.

 I would have taken more pictures of the facade, but there was netting (anti-bird I presume) getting in the way of clear photographs.

It isn't a dinosaur skeleton, but the elephant makes for quite a dramatic impression when you first enter the museum.

Joanna had never seen the Hope Diamond, so we headed for the gem gallery first.

The setting was different from the last one we saw two years ago.

We looked into the oceanic hall from above but didn't walk through

We did go through the Insect Zoo, I really liked the artwork at the start.

We saw plenty of live insects as well as these catalogued specimens.

What's not to like about quoting Lewis Carroll in a Smithsonian exhibit?

As we left the museum we saw this Olmec head on the lawn (I believe it is a reconstruction).

Instead of heading back to our car at the end of the line we got off at Pentagon City and headed into the nearby mall.  There was a very large food court.

We ended up going to Johnny Rocket's to eat--though Abigail didn't get anything off the menu--she got her usual fare.

Our french fries arrived first, served with ketchup smiles.

The hamburgers were hot and delicious!

It was a long day (especially when we encountered construction traffic on the way home), but it was a great day as well.

~Matt