Friday after work we drove west then south, over one of the many Susquehanna bridges in Harrisburg and then over one of the relatively few Potomac bridges into Washington. Our stop for the evening was Georgetown, where we wandered the crowded streets before settling on a very chic, very late in the evening tapas dinner. As we were enjoying the last drops of wine and the last nibbles of manchego, the phone buzzed and Anthony and Elizabetta were on their way. We rendezvoused on a busy corner and they led the way to hip Clyde's, where we had a nightcap.

In the AM, as I like to say, we got to the Metro and rode all the way to Union Station, where we took advantage of the foodcourt for brunch. Then we ventured into the heat of the day to circumnavigate the Capital, see the Supreme Court, take some photos, and eventually get to the National Building Museum. The Building Museum has several things going for it, not the least of which is an enormous, Italian-ornate lobby. We hit several great exhibits - on Wright's skyscraper and green/sustainable housing and DC's civic engineering history and the role of architecture in rebuilding New Orleans - before browsing a great museum shop and being on our way. From NBM we began the circuitous Tour of Monuments, walking the length of the mall, around the Tidal Basin, and back to Smithsonian Metro for the ride back to Anthony's place in McLean.

Sunday was meant to be a museum tour, but instead we toured a museum - Smithsonian's American History - and were fine with that. When we'd seen about wars and cars, Julia Child and children's fascination with the Muppets, Jenelle and I said goodbye to Anthony and the District and drove home, to Macungie, with weary legs and two MemorySticks full of pictures.