Some Holiday Excursion Suggestions in DC

     I have enjoyed gardens and gardening for many years. In fact, gardening has probably been my favorite hobby since I began raising children and staying home and homeschooling them (17 years).  But I also enjoy art museums, like the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk (beautiful architecture and collection of glass, especially Tiffany), so I’ve trucked the kids to a fair number of those too over the years. Recently, my husband and I visited the Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery of Art, but in the past we've liked the Hirshhorn  Museum and Sculpture Garden (more modern works),  the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur Sackler Galleries (great ceramics) and the Phillips Collection (modern painters, plus others).

     Along with the art museums, traditional and contemporary, here in DC there are many beautiful gardens like the US Botanical Gardens near the Capitol (inside) and the US National Arboretum, Mount Vernon’s gardens and some more obscure ones that I’ve discovered from friends and colleagues like the Keniworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, which features a great selection of water lilies though seasonal.  I’m a sucker for new parks and museums, too, so please let me know your favorites!

     Anyways, I’m sure you native DCers know all this, but perhaps we have newcomers to Truro that might enjoy some of these suggestions. And with relatives who like to go places when they come for the holidays and you run out of the usual Smithsonians, I thought this short list might come in handy.