Planes, Trains, and No Automobiles

S. and I are back in Atlanta and the kitties are very happy to have us home (even though they have a wonderful cat sitter and they get extra food when we're gone). S. was going to present a paper at a conference in Washington, DC and I went along for a little vacation.
(I wonder how many photos have been taken of the Washington monument?)

We left Tuesday night and took the train to DC. I had never taken a long train trip before and liked our little sleeper compartment. The next morning we arrived at Union Station, a fabulous historic building.

This building was almost demolished like so many other great American train stations during urban renewal. It's almost unimaginable that someone would want to tear it down.
Look at this fabulous interior! I see some great quilt motifs in this room--patchwork and applique.
Wednesday night, there was a state dinner at the White House. My invitation must have gotten lost in the mail...

because this is the closest view I saw.
I love Washington because you can either walk or take the Metro just about anywhere you want to go in the city and I became pretty adept at taking the Metro here and there from our hotel near Georgetown and walking all over the Mall area to the museums. It was really nice not using a car for several days.

Walking everywhere also means you can have a treat for doing all that exercise. I recommend Firehook Bakery on Dupont Circle for coffee and cookies the size of salad plates (huge cookies!!!). I had the Presidential Sweet cookie (oatmeal, chocolate chips, pecans, dried cherries, and coconut). Across the circle, take a side trip to Kramerbooks for some great book browsing. I love finding really great independent bookstores and this one is way cool.

Coming up next post--Georgetown, my new favorite places, and the perfect house for Stella.