Capitol Christmas

Christmas is a magical time of year. In DC.. it is a time filled with lights and trees! I decided to make my rounds and get in the spirit.

I started with ZooLights a few weeks ago and then moved on to the White House Christmas tree. Last year, we were lucky enough to get tickets to the Lighting Ceremony. This year... no tickets, but I just went to see the tree. It was a night of freezing rain... which meant no crowds. I loved it! 

Florida tree

The White House Christmas tree is one large tree surrounded by at least 50 others. Each state has their own tree represented on the White House Ellipse. Each state tree has ornaments made by children from schools in the state. 

The lobby of the Willard Hotel is decorated wonderfully. The night we went, they had a children's choir singing. It even smelled like Christmas inside, it was fun. (Fun Fact: I learned the other day.. the term "lobbying" comes from the Willard hotel lobby where people would wait for important government officials, who were staying at the Willard, to come down so that they could chat.)

The Capitol Tree is awesome... it is brought in each year from a different National Park. This year it came from Colorado. It is very awesome...however, they have already started setting up for Obama's 2nd Inauguration so the lawn is already blocked off with bleachers and stuff... this was the closest we could get. But it is still beautiful!

Can you spot Erin?

 

The last stop on my tour of Christmas, Arlington National Cemetery. Each year volunteers lay thousands of wreaths of the graves at the cemetery. As spectacular as the cemetery is on any given day, adding the wreaths just makes it even more amazing.

From our Nation's Capitol to you:

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight.