Tree Day

Hello, Today I took my tree loving husband to the National Arboretum. We actually DROVE there. This is the first time I have gone anywhere by car in the DC area. My little trip out of the city doesn't really count because I didn't have to navigate DC traffic. He drove--I followed the map. We make a pretty good team :) Anyway, I told him that no trees were allowed to "accidentally" follow him home. He was a good boy and left all the trees in the park. I didn't tell him this, but there were so many there that he probably could have brought one home and they wouldn't have noticed. This place covers a lot of ground. There is an Asian garden and Bonsai museum which is really cool. They have one Bonsai that is almost 400 years old. There is an Azalea collection, another one for Dogwoods, Fern Valley, Friendship Garden, Holly and Magnolia Collection, Boxwood Collection, herb garden, perennial garden (with lots of different varieties of lilly which are my favorites) and a children's garden. We saw them all (whew!) It was a full day in the heat and humidity. To celebrate we went to Ben's Chili Bowl for dinner. This is one of THE places to eat in DC. There are a lot of pictures on the walls of famous people who have eaten at Ben's--Hilary Clinton, Bill Cosby, President Obama. We didn't recognize anyone while we were there, but that isn't saying a whole lot. The food is really good, though.

After dinner we were going to listen to the Navy band on the steps of the Capitol, but they canceled because of the weather--it looked like it was really going to storm, but then we got just a light rain. Oh well, it was nice to come home and relax.

Tami