Washington, D.C. - Day 3 August 24, 2016

Today was planned to be a busy day. My older daughter took the day off work to spend with us, which was really great of her considering just how busy she is at work in August.
My younger daughter and I were up and down to breakfast by 9:05. When we finished breakfast at 9:30, we went down the street to the Corner Bakery that we'd been passing every day. I wanted to find something to take home to my husband. We found that they had a lot of breakfast food, but not as many pastries as we'd thought. We chose a package of rather large pecan biscotti, that he really enjoyed.
We went back to the hotel to get washed up and ready for the day. I'd looked online and found out we couldn't take a backpack to the ballgame, nor could we take the water bottles we'd been using. We found that my travel shopping bags seemed to be the right size, so they'd have to do. My older daughter arrived at 10:17 and we headed out at 10:35.
Although we could have walked, there was no sense wearing me out and setting off the fibromyalgia this early in the day. So, at 10:45, we were at Gallery Place waiting for the Red Line.  We were on board 3 minutes later and the trip to Metro Center took only a minute. Within 2 minutes, we boarded the Blue Line at that station. Another 2 minutes later, we were off at Federal Triangle, paying $1.75 on our passes.
The Federal Triangle station puts you out at the Ronald Reagan Center and you go out by the William Jefferson Clinton EPA building on your way to the Mall. It was bright and sunny and we walked through the curving arcade in the shade. We were soon standing in front of my favorite museum in the entire world: Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. I first visited the museum, when I was in sixth grade and I still love it.

Things are different there than when I was in sixth grade. It is not a stagnant museum, but it does maintain some exhibits that I love.
You have to go through a bag check and metal detector, when you visit there now, which is rather depressing. We were through that at 11:05 and could head for the exhibits we were interested in, since we did not plan to see everything there on this visit.
The first thing you pass on the ground floor is an exhibit of posters from the upcoming presidential election. There was even one for our feckless junior Senator, who'd run a losing race, while hardly showing up at his real job.

Our first destination was Julia Child's kitchen, because my younger daughter has been a fan of hers since seeing the film Julie and Julia. I even bought her Julia Child's cookbook as a Christmas gift several years ago. The kitchen is included in the exhibit Food, which looks at American eating habits over the years 1950- 2000 and the items we use to prepare food and wine.

 I notice something new every time I see this kitchen. This time, I saw that even with all the fancy pots and such, she still had a toaster oven. I like that they give you several spots all around the kitchen to be able to peer in and enjoy this kitchen. This was my younger daughter's first time seeing it and she really liked it. We enjoyed the rest of the exhibit, too.
Then, we were off to see my favorite exhibit, but we had to search for it, ask where it was and search some more. This item has been in the museum since my first visit, but they keep moving it. Now, it is near a children's exploration center. I suppose that makes some sense, as this is a dollhouse. It was made by Faith Bradford and presented to the museum in 1951. It is behind glass and there is a riser for little ones-and shorter adults like me- to be able to peer into the upper floors. This was the dollhouse that made me fall in love with miniatures, which is now witnessed by all the roomboxes in my house and my presidency in the local miniatures club. Even today, I love looking in this dollhouse. I had to post a picture of the dollhouse on Facebook, of course.

It was after 12, but we had to visit the shop, of course. I was very happy to see a display of items saluting the National Park Service's 100th birthday.

You would think that after all the times we've been to this museum, that we wouldn't buy anything in the shop, but that would mean you don't know us very well. We all found things we wanted, many of which will wind up being gifts to the girls. I am a contributing member of the Smithsonian, so I get a nice discount in the shop, which makes me even more willing to pick up items, like the Orioles shirt for my younger daughter, who already owns several.
The history museum and the National Museum of the American Indian are as far apart on the Mall as you can get with Smithsonian Museums, especially considering where the Indian museum's entrance it. So at 12:55, we headed back to the Federal Triangle station and were waiting for a train 9 minutes later. On the way, we passed a band playing in the plaza area outside of the station and folks enjoying lunch. At 1:06, we boarded the Orange Line and got out at L'Enfant 4 minutes later, paying $1.75 again.
On our way to the museum, we passed quite an array of food trucks just outside the station. My older daughter sometimes gets lunch from these, but not today. We were headed for our favorite lunch destination- the Mitsitam Cafe in the museum. We went through security again, and were on our way to lunch at 1:24. What we really like here is the ability to pick different foods from different regions. What we love here is the Indian fry bread. I chose the turkey meal and my daughters chose spicier meals, the chicken taco, which is like no taco you get elsewhere. They both picked up a fry bread with honey for the three of us to split and I got a fantastic chocolate tart for us to split. Once again, my Smithsonian membership came in handy, saving us -or, rather, me- 10% on all this food, which is good, since my meal alone was $19.50.

My younger daughter and I split our main courses again. We took our time and enjoyed the food and good conversation.
We left at 2:45 and went back to the L'Enfant station, where we arrived at 2:58, walking in 84 degree weather that felt hotter. At 3:01, we were on a brand new Orange Line train. We got out at Capitol South at 3:04, paying $1.75 for the privilege. It was an uphill walk to the Capitol and then pretty flat. We arrived at the Folger Shakespeare Library at 3:20 and took pictures of the building.

We were here, because my older daughter knew we were all fans of both Shakespeare and Jane Austen. Plus, there was The Shirt. More on that in a bit.
The museum was blessedly cooler than the out-of-doors. Admission was free, which is very nice.
We were told we could take pictures, but to use no flash. No problem, except that they decided they did not like the red light my camera used to focus on items. I assured the guard that I was not using the flash, but he was told to not let me use the camera. So, I had to switch to the phone.
The exhibit was interesting, making many comparisons between how the two authors and their works were handled by the public. Evidently, when Jane was alive, there was quite an interest in Shakespeare. They showed various products that have been produced in more modern times to make money off of one or both of them.

One or the other of us actually owns several of these items!
The main reason we were there was to make our pilgrimage to see The Shirt. Seriously, it is referred to that way. Of course, any woman who has seen the Colin Firth version of Pride and Prejudice immediately knows what it is. Besides my younger daughter, several women made sure they posed with it. I was just happy to take a photo of Mr. Firth in The Shirt from the video playing on a loop and The Shirt itself. (The identification tag on the case really says, The Shirt.) It was a lot longer than I'd expected.

After the exhibit, I painfully went down the stairs to the restroom. Seriously, no elevator was in sight. Very frustrating.
When I came back up, the girls weren't interested in peeking in on the rehearsal in progress, but we did take advantage of the chance to go see the First Folio. Since a docent was back there with visitors, they sent us back. It is in a large case in a room that appears to be a library with  a huge wooden table and chairs in the center. It is impressive to see something that old and that important.
The shop was not large, but that didn't mean we did not find things to buy, including items the daughters will receive as gifts in the future. That is our thing.
When we left at 4:38, we were a bit at loose ends, as it was too early to go to the game. Since it was right there, we thought we'd pop in the Library of Congress. Unfortunately, it was closing at 5 and they were sending people out, rather than letting them in. So, at 4:45, we found a seat in a bit of shade at the lower entrance and ate the chocolate I'd bought at the history museum. It was so pleasant, with a nice breeze and little hoppy birds, as we call them, enjoying themselves. It was a relaxing interlude.

At 5:11, we decided to head to the park for the Orioles vs Nationals game, which was our main reason for coming to town. Plus, The Shirt, of course. In just over 10 minutes, we were back in the Capitol South station and immediately got on a train. We got off at L'Enfant at 5:25. There were way too many people there waiting for the Green Line to Navy Yard/Ballpark. We got on finally at 5:33 and were off with everyone else at 5:35, paying $2.15.
At the top of the crowded escalator, we immediately in game-related activity. There seemed to be some entertainment setting up. As we headed down the street, we passed vendors selling hats, t-shirts and water. The water sellers kept saying they were cheaper than inside the park. That may be true, but I knew from the website, that you could take in only empty, clear bottles. So, these were a no-go.

There was not a huge crowd at security and the guards did not seem concerned by our bags of museum souvenirs. Just inside the gate on the left is a huge fan store. I particularly liked a shirt in the window, although I did not purchase it. I texted it to my husband and he liked it, too.

The store was a destination, not just because it is a souvenir shop, but because my younger daughter collects miniature bats from every ballpark she visits. While she decided which of several to choose, I found pins of the Racing Presidents, which are a fixture of Nationals Park. I already knew about these guys having seen them at AwesomeCon a couple of years ago in D.C. I managed to find a pin for each of them. The line at the registers was quite long, but moved well.
It was actually a bit quieter, when we left the store. We walked to the concourse nearest us and started scoping out the food. I knew what I was looking for, but was afraid to say, lest it would jinx it. We headed up the ramp to the level above and soon found a place selling crab cakes. Hurrah! My younger daughter and I wanted these, while my older daughter wanted something else. They paid for my dinner to make up for some of the meals I'd been buying. We all opted for the soda in a souvenir cup, because refills were free.
My younger daughter and I had chosen our seats using the map online, when we made our plane reservations. It is always iffy doing that, when you are not familiar with a place. However, this time it worked. I knew that climbing to seats would not be good for me. It turned out that we'd been right- our seats were just a step or two down from this concourse. We were all the way at the end of the row and I took the seat next to the glass. We'd chosen the third base side to be closer to the Orioles dugout. The seats also turned out to be in the shade looking onto the sunny field. Perfect.

We settled in to eat our meals and watch the pregame activity. The crab cakes were fine, not restaurant quality, but more Maryland-style than anything that claims to be Maryland-style where we live.

My younger daughter asked, if I'd brought my needlework with me. Of course! I don't go to a ballgame without doing counted cross stitch, if I can help it. There is a lot of down time in a baseball game or a football game and I can't just sit there and expect to stay awake.  So, as the game began at 7:05, after Katie Ledecky, local girl and Olympic phenom threw out the first pitch, I settled in to work on my Irish Santa on perforated paper.
The Orioles scored early and often. It was terrific! If you fly all that way for a game, you want your team to do well. The Presidents raced and it was fun to watch.

As the evening went on, however, time became a concern. I could tell my older daughter was beginning to stress, because the Metro shuts down at midnight, plus she had to work the next day. After 10 pm, the park started putting up signs about watching one's time for the Metro. People started leaving around the 7th inning, with the O's well in the lead. We did not, of course.
When it seemed obvious that the Orioles' lead was insurmountable, I packed up the needlework to be ready to leave when the game was over. My younger daughter and I felt that if they won, we could never again attribute their loss to our presence. If they lost, we were definitely a problem. And, suddenly, it seemed we were! The Nationals were scoring! The score was tightening. We were dying.

Finally, after 3 hours and 28 minutes of play, the Orioles made the final out. Relief! Although, maybe I should not pack up the needlework before a game is totally over. People started rushing to make the Metro connections.
There were a lot of Orioles' fans and the signs had been directed at them to make sure they knew when they had to leave to make the connections out of the city. We stuck together in the crowd, moving as fast as it would allow. At 10:50, we reached the incredibly crowded station. You could hardly get down the escalator. My older daughter led us around the back of the escalator to have some place to stand to wait. I was amazed that in this mix of fans from both teams, there was no animosity, no taunting, just folks trying to make a train. A train that was a long time in coming.
We got incredibly lucky and got on that next train  at 10:56. It was very crowded, but I got a seat. Folks got off at each station and we got off at Gallery Place at 11:05 and paid $1.75. We all walked to the hotel, arriving at 11:11. My older daughter said good-bye to us for the last time and took an Uber home. It was tough to say good-bye to her, knowing we won't see her again until Christmas, but this was a great visit.