Thanksgiving on the National Mall

November 26, 2009: After our turkey dinner, we headed to the Mall to see a special exhibition on Imperial Spanish Armor at the National Gallery and then the Christmas displays at the U.S. Botanic Garden.

There is no photography in the special exhibition. This means that the guards hassle Bill though his camera hangs from his shoulder with the lens cap on. Yet numerous persons inside the exhibition are unmolested as they take photographs with their cell phones! One only wonders when museums will enter the 21st century?























A Sugarloaf pineapple and an orchid:









The Garden Court features a Christmas tree with miniatures of prominent buildings along the Mall:

The Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial:












The Capitol:
The Jefferson Memorial and the National Indian Museum:









An elaborate display of toy trains operating amidst "fairy" villages occupies the East Gallery:




























The bromeliad Tillandsia cyanea in bloom (upper left) and Neoreglia laevis "Rafael":
Hairy balls in a holiday planting: