Metro Journey #5

Hi! Welcome back to my blog. This journey had less people than normal, making me the only girl. I never want to hear anything about sports or video games ever again. It was still fun for the most part...other than the walking. I think it's clear for everyone that I am not a fan of walking. This journey was eventful and consisted of interviewing artists and visiting a few other sights. We interviewed a photographer, printmaker, a painter, and we were supposed to interview a jewelry maker but she wasn't there that day. The day felt unusually short but let's begin. 

We started with the Torpedo Factory, was previously the U.S. Naval Torpedo Station in Alexandria that was changed to an art center in 1969 by Marian Van Lingdingham (who we got to meet!), the president of the Art League. The station was transformed into 140+ studios for artists. The factory was purchased from the Federal Government soon after approval. It opened in 1974, stayed open until 1882 for renovation, then opened again in 1983. It has been open since.  

We started interviewing a photographer named James D. Steele. He started doing photography at age 12, practically all his life. He is now 76.  A librarian gave Steele an old camera when he was young and he enjoyed using it. He now uses a digital camera; Nikon D100E 35mp. 

Next up was a printmaking studio. There are 12 printmakers in the studio. We interviewed Judith Coadey, who makes monotypes. Monotypes are multilayer art that are always original. There are no copies. She told us about wood, zinc, and copper etching, which was super cool. The group has been at the factory for 40 years. 

Then there was Marian Vin Lindigham, a painter. Her art was amazing. She had an  entire studio full of paintings that she all did herself. She again, was the one who pitched the idea of the factory and has been there since the very beginning. She always has been interested in art. 

Lastly we were ordered to interview an artist named Dawn Bendetto (Poppi). She wasn't there, but her partner was and talked about her being at the factory since 1997. 

Next we walked to Waterfront Park and spent a while there, then went to our final destination, the Freedom House. Slaves were held the basement. The bars in the windows were actually the original bars. We watched a string of videos talking about the lives of the slaves. It was sad, but informing. I learned a lot here. 

Overall, it was a good day. Sorry about the lack of pictures and the short post! Byeee

    

Metro Journey #4

This journey was a lot of fun, though a bit of an emergency happened (everyone's fine). This was a GPS free Georgetown journey.  We had to draw maps freehand (mine was horrible so we didn't use it, but some other people had really good maps that were way more reliable, so we used those). 

We started the journey by getting on a bus to get to our first stop, Safeway. Some grabbed something to eat. 

Next we walked over to Guy Mason Recreation Center, which had an awesome playground. 

On the way there, we saw Pearson's Wine and Liquor, a well, wine and liquor shop. 

Next stop was the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and  Collection.  Which is an "institute of Harvard University dedicated to supporting scholarship internationally in Byzantine, Garden and Landscape, and Pre-Columbian studies through fellowships, meetings, exhibitions, and publications."

After a short stop here, we walked to the Alexander Graham Bell Association, which took a minute to figure out if we were going in or not, but we decided to get a group picture in front of the building. 

Next up was Café Bonaparte, a French café. 

We went to one of our stops, Jean Pierre Antiques. An antique shop...obviously. I keep stating the obvious. 

After, we went to our first Kennedy house of the day (we went to two). 

A really cool stop was the Old Stone House. We went into the place and looked around for a while. It was fun. 

Next up, the C&O Canal (Chesapeake and Ohio Canal). Here's an excerpt from the website.
"Preserving America's early transportation history, the C&O Canal began as a dream of passage to Western wealth. Operating for nearly 100 years the canal was a lifeline for communities along the Potomac River as coal, lumber and agricultural products floated down the waterway to market. Today it endures as a pathway for discovering historical, natural and recreational treasures!"

We headed to a very well known hotel...The Ritz-Carlton! 

There were so many stops on this trip, my legs were starting to hurt around here, yet we had places left to go. 

I was personally excited to head to our next stop, since I'm a bit of a fashion lover...

URBAN OUTFITTERS!

 

I also liked our next stop, since I'm a fan of the show...

Georgetown Cupcake! I love the show DC Cupcakes, so this was cool. I didn't get any cupcakes though, the line was super long :(

Another awesome stop was the Exorcist Steps! 

The stairs are almost kind of scary to walk up!

I most likely forgot some things but this journey had so many locations to hit. This week's journey was most definitely an adventure. I hope you'll come back next time! Byeeee :D.

Journey #3

Hello and welcome to my blog! 

This Journey was called Speedway to the Presidents. This journey consisted of a lot of memorials and horrible weather. 

We started off by meeting at the Smithsonian Metro Station, after 20 minutes of looking fo each other, we found each other and headed to our first stop, the BEP (Bureau of Engraving and Printing). We went into the place, went through some security, then sat down and watched a video about the BEP and the process of making money (super cool) before going up a small escalator for the tour. The tour was interesting. We got to see in person, what we learned about in the video.

After the BEP we headed to the Jefferson Memorial, created in 1943 to honor Thomas Jefferson (founding father, president, and author of the Declaration of Independence). 

In the Memorial, there are quotes, my favorite is: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men. We...solemnly publish and declare, that these colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states...And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." - The Declaration of Independence

After the Jefferson Memorial, we went to the MLK Memorial. That was an unpleasant walk, considering the weather. My new sneakers were drenched in water :(.

We then arrived to the MLK Memorial. Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights leader that is very, very well known, to this day. He gave the legendary "I have a dream" speech in 1963. He was assassinated 1968 :(.

Next we went to a series of steps between the Lincoln Memorial and the Potomac River (Watergate steps). Some ran up and down the steps, but knowing me, I would slip and fall. 

After a bit of fun here, we went to the Lincoln Memorial. It was built in 1922 to honor president Abraham Lincoln. 

We spent a while here, reading the quotes on the wall and hanging out in the bookstore inside of the memorial.

Next was the Reflecting Pool. We walked alongside it and...well...reflected on it. 

We walked all the way up to the Washington Monument. Here's a closer look at that. 

Last was the Mall. We didn't get to spend as much time as we would've like to there, due to the awful weather.

We decided to eat lunch after we were done, since we finished so early. Everything seemed to go smoothly. I'd say that it was a good day. 

Metro Journey #2!

Hi! Welcome back! And for those who haven't been here before, welcome!

The journey started off with me worrying about being late. My mom dropped me off at the Metro station, and we waited for David to show up. When he arrived, my mom kissed me goodbye and sent us off on the adventure. We got on the Metro 20 minutes before we were supposed to be there, and it wasn't a very short trip. It was supposed to be 30 minutes, but turned into 40. We arrived at 8:25, 25 minutes late. I was sure that we were going to be  the latest. We saw another one of our classmates, so we met up with her and talked. It was 8:30 and 3 out of 11 people were there. One said they weren't coming so 7 people weren't there yet. We waited and waited and waited. But finally, at 9:45, everyone was finally there. They all seemed to show up at the same time. 

We started our journey with lots and lots of walking, which I wasn't too fond off, but I wasn't going to complain. We walked to a beautiful location, that we never found the name of, I don't think. But again, it was beautiful.

           














Next up, we walked along a long bike trail, and again, I don't like walking, so this wasn't the most pleasant of things, especially because of this steep hill that was wet from rain. I fell about 4-5 times in the first journey, and that was when I was on dry land! I carefully went up the hill, somehow not falling or dying.

We had to stay close the the right side of the bike trail because of bikers almost running over us...yeah, that would've been bad.




After 30 minutes of just walking, we made it near Gravelly Point Park. We were in a really good spot to see airplanes taking off. It was really cool, but loud.

The planes were awesome to watch, and there were so many! We also were supposed to take a selfie, which we did, but people's heads were cut off in the photo, and you could only see my hair in the picture. So much fun being the shortest...





Next up was Foggy Bottom. It was so cool to see the George Washington University Hospital.

After that, we headed to the Kennedy Center. On the way there, we saw The Watergate Hotel, which was nice.

Then we got to my favorite location. It was so beautiful. I got a lot of pictures of the flowers outside of the place too! The Kennedy Center was awesome!! I loved the Hall of Nations :D

We were getting pretty hungry. We walked all the way back to the Metro station and saw a food court to eat in (I think, we might've done this before the Kennedy Center). I ate what I packed and only bought a water because I somehow lost the one I brought.












The only stop after this was the World Bank, which we couldn't go into, but we got a pretty good look at the front of it. 

I'd say the trip was good. And even though there were some....problems that occurred, everything and everyone was okay by the end of the journey. I hope you all tune in next time to Kendra's Great DC Adventures! :D

Metro Journey #1

Welcome to a Kendra's Great DC Adventures. A blog about...Kendra's DC Adventures (I guess it's obvious at this point). I had this whole elaborate, planned out intro for this blog, but it wasn't...well...very...interesting.  So I'm just going to get right into the adventure!

We started with a quick look inside of the Rock Creek Park Nature Center and waited for more classmates to join us.

 After a bit of waiting, our friends arrived and we ventured onto our nature hike.  We decided to take the Rapids Bridge Hike, which was 2 miles. So if you were to take this hike, I would suggest wearing very comfortable shoes. I'd also suggest that you dress according to the weather. It was 87 degrees that day so I made sure to dress in lighter layers, with a flannel tied around my waist, just in case it got cold. Also make sure to bring water. 

The hike was tiring, but fun. We maybe got lost a couple times, but we found our way fast, thanks to the hike map. My feet were hurting by the end of the hike, but it was totally worth it!

We also came across the Fort DeRussy.

After completing the hike, we we back to the Nature Center, where we took a closer look.

Once we finished this visit, it was time to take the bus to a Metro station, our way to get to DuPont Circle, a historical neighborhood, park, and more. After getting off of the Metro, we stopped at Panera for lunch and just a small break. We were tired.

< A picture of the circle which was created in 1871. A statue of Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont  was there for 37 years, from 1884 until 1921, when it was replaced with this fountain.















After spending a bit of time here, just enjoying the sight, we headed off to our 6 shops we were supposed to check out.

We started with Fantom Comics, an awesome comic book store.

Next we spent some time in Bedazzled, a bead/beading supply/jewelry making shop. It was beautiful.

The next stop was a bookstore and cafe/grill called Kramerbooks. I sadly don't have any pictures of us at this shop for some reason, but it was a lot of fun.

Then we went on the stop #4: Filmore and 5th, a consignment shop.

We then headed to Secondi Inc, another consignment shop.

Finally we headed to our last destination, which was an amazing shop called Pansaari. We loved it there.

My phone was dead at this point, and I can't find any pictures (which is really sad) but it's a beautiful shop who really welcomed our group.