Christmas at the Botanic Garden

The last time I went to the Botanic Garden in DC was around this same time of year in 2011. I didn't have a job yet, but I had an interview in the city that morning, and then my mom and I went to the garden in the afternoon. I have this terrible picture of me (no, I will not share it publicly!) standing next to a plant with huge leaves; I look very tiny next to it, since I had lost 20lbs and I look emaciated in my baggy clothes.

So anyway...Now it is a happier time (I have a job I love and no longer look like a skeleton), and I got to experience the garden all over again. It is absolutely beautiful, especially this time of year. The decorations for the holidays are lovely, and because it's cold outside and all the trees have lost their leaves, it's nice to go to a place where the plants are in full bloom!

Here are some pictures I took when I visited earlier this week. Enjoy!

Poinsettias were everywhere!

This is the gorgeous chandelier you see when you first walk in!

Another bear had some sort of plant on its head that made it look like it had hair!

There are also miniatures of famous buildings in DC (which I naively thought were built anew every year...). They are so cute, AND they're made from nature materials, like leaves, sticks, and acorn caps!

The Smithsonian Institution Building (or "The Castle")

The Jefferson Memorial. You can see T.J. in there!

And you can see Honest Abe in the Lincoln Memorial, too!

The White House, of course! Too bad we couldn't see the other side of it...

The Supreme Court Building

Library of Congress

And of course the Botanic Garden needs a replica of itself!

There was even a miniature of the Albert Einstein Memorial Statue!

The garden also had a room dedicated to pollinators, which was a lot of fun! They have train sets running in there, so this room is most popular for kids! (Sorry for the weird lighting!)

A hummingbird!

And bats!

It's Stellaluna!

The metamorphosis of a butterfly! How amazing!

They're lightning bugs, see?

And of course the pollinators need to have little cute houses, too!

Look at the intricate detail!

These are amazing!

There were several "rooms" you could peak in. This one is home to bats (see them handing from the ceiling?).

Of course we couldn't leave without seeing the orchids! There is a whole room dedicated to them!

 Afterward, we took a look at the Christmas tree in front of the Capitol Building:

The replica first...

And the real thing. Restoration is still going on, hence the fuzzy haze over the Capitol.

It doesn't seem quite as big as the one in Rockefeller Center...

PS: I recommend going to the Botanic Garden after work during the week. This place can get hectic on the weekends, but it was very pleasant on Tuesday night! My friends and I had a great time! (as recorded by these photos)

My friends as flowers!

Getting in the holiday spirit!