Christmas Trees of Washington, DC: A Panoramic Sampler
Mon 15 Dec 2008 13:18:08
We went out on a Washington Christmas Tree Walk on Saturday afternoon, visiting various public Christmas trees around the touristy parts of DC, where I made good use of Stitch Assist to make some panoramas. Amy guest-stars in some of these.
Capitol
This year's Capitol Christmas Tree is a tall, thin subalpine fir from Montana, decorated with crafts from just about every 4-H club in the state.
Botanic Garden
The USBG's Christmas Tree is part of a larger "Wonderland" exhibit, featuring fantastical scenes and replicas of DC landmarks made from plant materials, with detailed model train sets crisscrossing the miniature landscapes.
Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian
I was surprised that the NMAI even had a Christmas tree, since that might be a sensitive topic, but there it was, a somewhat sparse fir tucked into an outside corner behind a pillar, decorated with native American crafts.
Smithsonian Castle
Not sure what kind of tree that is, but wow, it's wide, nicely lit with LEDs and decorated with silvery pine cones and glitter-frosted glass balls. We couldn't stay long, though, as the Castle was being set up for a reception of some sort.
Smithsonian National Museum of American History
Hey look, they set up a tree in the central hall! It's, well, a tree. With Christmas tree balls and white frosted sticky-outy-twig things. It hadn't been lit yet, though.
The National Christmas Tree
I hadn't expected that the National Tree (on the Ellipse behind the White House) would have so much stuff around it -- a smaller tree for each state and territory, a stage for performances, an open fire pit, and a cute little Santa's Workshop (where I got yelled at for taking photos). The DC-themed tree had been decorated by Children of the American Revolution.
Norwegian Christmas at Union Station
And finally, the Union Station tree, decorated with flags as part of their annual "Norwegian Christmas" program, which also features model trains winding their way through a miniature Norwegian landscape in the West Hall.
Full photoset from Saturday's Christmas Tree walkabout here.
Tags: capitol christmas christmastree dc panorama photos smithsonian trees unionstation whitehouse