Sunday, April 26, 2026

17 April 2026 Washington DC: Evan's Day a Big Brazilian and the Washington Monument

 


We also wanted the kids to experience another style of eating and what better than the Brazilian restaurant?  They have a excellent salad bar but the wise patron knows not to fill up on the salad.  We had three kinds of steak, chicken, sausages and it was all terrific.  We then ubered over to the Washington Monument.  It was the tallest building in the world for almost 50 years until the Eiffel Tower eclipsed it.  It is still the tallest obelisk and the tallest free standing stone structure.  Standing at the base and realizing that the only thing holding it together was gravity and friction.


Some sort of super antenna


Another painted building


Time to climb


Go Evan go!


Down into the metro again


We got to wondering if these metro stations also work as bomb shelters


Nice decorated building


Flowers!


The Waldorf Astoria is closed...for now


Fancy lighting outside


Ben Franklin is stoned


Are these folks training  on these fance cameras?


Ben again


More flowers


Fogo for lunch


We are early and have to wait a bit


Salad salad salad


and more salad


Leslie is getting her finger awfully close to the knife


Nice and rare


Not too close with this finger


They brought out only one dessert for the two of them


This photo spurred us on to the monument


There it is, the largest freestanding stone structure in the world


Ringed by flags


It is also the tallest obelisk


No no no no no no no no and no pictures at the entrance


Fine tile work in front of the elevator doors


A cardboard cutout


big numbers on the elevator


Peeking out the windows


The capital


500 feet and facing east


The white house minus the west wing


Lincoln memorial


The Pentagon


Tomas Jefferson


Repaired portion of the monument after the 2011 earthquake


The lightning rods


A ceremonial topper


How the interior is laid out


Escorted to the elevator and instructed on the descent


490 feet and going down


The elevator slows down twice too allow us to see the memorial stones on the inside 


Lots of detail on this one


The lady wearing these socks talked non stop so the socks were very appropriate





 It has been 3 years and 312 days since we began our Migration

16 April 2026 Washington DC: Raelyn's Day Dinner at Beloved BBQ

 


We always try to make the dining experience something to remember.  This time we went to Love Makoto to the Beloved BBQ restaurant.  There are different restaurants under the same roof at Love Makoto and the Beloved BBQ is a Japanese style BBQ place where the grill in in the center of the table.  First we ordered edamame and Japanese pickles.  Then we ordered the meats to cook on the grill.  There were seven or so different cuts of meat and we decided that everyone should cook the same cut at the same time.  We worked our way through the American Wagyu and up to the Japanese Wagyu.  Each cut was delicious and the freshly off the grill flavor was superb.   With birthday cake at the end this meal was certainly memorable.


A huge mural on this building


With a pro-education message


We loved this place 


Snappy dressed folks


And another fancy lady


Excitement builds for the meal


The obligatory beef diagram.  Does it matter if we now where on the cow the meat came from?


Glowing red with hot meat cooking power


Always time for a smooch


Evan is taking the pictures for me


Bring on the goodies


Three sauces each, edamame and pickled things


A mocktail


A dirty martini


Buttering up the grill with some beef tallow


Infinity in a mirror


Two layers of meat to cook


We were given tongs to grab our slices


We all cooked the same cut of meat so that everyone would have some of each cut


Shishito peppers and beef


Evan is not shy


A low growl could be heard as Evan embraces his  inner carnivore


The peppers are getting a good char as we work through our cuts of beef


The pretend birthday works again!


A very sweet card


After such a dinner we had to work off some energy

The blanket monster awaits my return home



 It has been 3 years and 311 days since we began our Migration