Washington, D.C. day 3

Not many pictures today, since we went to the Smithsonian and I wasn't quite sure what the rules for picture-taking are.

The day started with me sleeping through my alarm clock and then getting to work an hour late and having the snotty receptionist who hates me make fun of me all day. We ate lunch at a Lebanese restaurant called Me Jana, where I had the best fries I've probably ever eaten. I told my co-workers that I was surprised by how few people we are seeing in the city, considering that it's supposed to be the most crowded time of the year in D.C. I asked them if this is normal? They said no, this is a sign of how bad the economy is.

Left work around 4pm, dodging barbs from the receptionist. That's when I met Mike at the Smithsonian. So he had been there most of the day already and had visited the Museum of Natural History and the Folk Life Festival, which is an annual event this time of year that the Smithsonian hosts on the lawn.

We went to the Freer Art Museum, where evidently all the contents were donated by someone named Freer. There were paintings and pottery and Asian artifacts. Among the Asian pottery was a collection of white plates and bowls dating back several hundred years. I swear they looked like modern plates and bowls that you might find at a garage sale. I haven't learned a thing from Antiques Roadshow, apparently.

After the Freer, we walked over to the Museum of Aircraft or whatever it's called. Air and Space. Something like that. I don't really have an interest in air or space. But Mike got a kick out of all the little kid exhibits.

Here I am looking at a 3-D aerial photo. You had to put your face in these little goggles in order to get the View Master effect.

My favorite "exhibit" was actually the collection box. It was fun seeing the donations in currency from all over the world.

this next paragraph was really good, but blogger ate it and I'm too tired to re-create it.

Then we had dinner at the restaurant in our hotel. It's called Dish, and it was reviewed in our guidebook as being good, so we thought we'd check it out. The manager decided that Mike was his new best friend. Me, not so much. The receptionist from my office must have gotten to him. Anyway, the restaurant manager brought Mike a plate of mussels, then came over later and whispered that Mike was eating them wrong. You're not supposed to use a fork, in case you didn't know. You use one of the shells like a spoon.