DC-Part 2

A continuation of our trip in February...

When we went for a walk around the lawn at the Capitol, shortly before our tour, we saw one of the most "American" sights... children sledding on the Capitol lawn. You could hear the laughter and squealing blocks away.
It really had snowed!
Seriously... we were about to the point of being frozen between museums. Brett was such a good sport. We wanted to document how deep the snow was, so Brett volunteered!
Inside the Museum of American History/Smithsonian...
Dumbo... one of the original cars from the ride. My parents have a picture of me in one of these with my mom when I was eight and we were on our Make-A-Wish trip. Brings back good memories!
Yes... Mr. President. I told Brett to look really serious and official... 2 seconds later he started laughing. Couldn't hold it for long!
That night we went to the most amazing restaurant! It had a whole wall of windows overlooking the waterway. The light fixtures were absolutely beautiful, so I apologize for the poor quality of this picture... but you get the point.
Enjoying a romantic Valentine's Day dinner.
Unfortunately this did not taste as good as it looked, but it was beautiful! Probably the problem was that I am not a huge dark chocolate fan (sorry to disappoint, dad). However, the dinner was fantastic!
The next day we started by going to the hollocost museum. This gave us a new understanding of the trials and corruption that occurred years ago. I won't go into more details as it was an emotionally overwhelming experience. However, I think everyone should go (as an adult) to learn about this part of history.
For lunch we went to an outstanding mexican restaurant. One of their signature items... incredible guacamole. They had rolling carts with the freshest ingredients and they would make it right beside your table. Yum! We really enjoyed eating here!
Next we went to my favorite museum, Natural History!
oh no... watch out... JAWS!!! (well at least Jaw's dentures)
Reason #1 that I am so glad that I did not live during the era of dinosaurs.
This is the Hope Diamond. It is 42 karats. We had to stand in line for several minutes just to be able to see it! Now that is an expensive rock!
In honor of "Night at the Museum"... dum dum...
That night we went to a fun cooking class at Culinaire. It was just a short walk from our hotel. This was one of the best surprises of the whole trip. I have always wanted to take a class together and this was the perfect opportunity!
The meal started with Clam Chowder. Brett prepared the raw clams. No way I was going to do that. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it! (the way it turned out... not the raw clams)
The main part of our meal, braised lamb shanks, was already prepared. We were responsible for the soup and the dessert. I was working with the flakiest phyllo dough ever... and laughing because I kept tearing it. The solution? ADD MORE BUTTER!!! (it was a theme in this class)
Funny story. The couple working beside us allowed us to borrow the finished product (in Brett's hands). It is chocolate ganache with raspberries on top of a shortbread cookie wrapped in phyllo dough and toasted in the oven. AMAZING. Brett and I worked so hard, but ours turned into a blog that leaked everywhere... the one in my hand. No shape. Fortunately, they tasted just the same, ours just looked funnier!
It was such a great trip!