Presidents' Day in Pompeii

With a week to go before the end of "Just the Two of Us", Julie and I headed across the Potomac today, into the District, for an afternoon at the National Gallery.  Planning to head to the Pompeii exhibit, or what remained after the volcano, we stopped off in the West Wing to a) see the Lincoln Memorial Exhibit (it is Presidents' Day!) and b) see the historical landmark where we got engaged.  The Pompeii exhibit, despite celebrating artwork older than our Republic, is located in the modern East Wing of the National Gallery.  The two wings are connected underground by a very fun tunnel, illuminated with 41K LED lights sequenced by a Mac Mini. (Shot at left).  An artist named Leo Villareal made it happen. Those who have traveled from Terminal A to B at DTW will find a similar experience, sans sound.  We saw parts of Pompeii before the big explosion-Julie enjoyed the artwork; Jack was mesmerized by the sculpture. We topped off the day, and our stomachs, with coffee and gelato and headed back to the Commonwealth for another night in anticipation of the Cheez-it. (more pictures of today's mini-expedition are below.)

The central area of the West Wing of the National Gallery always has fresh flowers surrounding the fountain.  Today there were these beautiful pink orchids.

Out the windows at the entrance to the Pompeii Exhibit in the East Wing.
Jack captured this great detail of the waterfall that touches the wall of the National Gallery concourse cafe.

View of the National Gallery's East Wing as we left the Pompeii Exhibit (a bit of a shift after looking at things from 79 AD).