U.S. Army Band Concert

What could be better than sitting at the base of the Washington Monument listening to music performed by the U.S. Army Band on a beautiful summer night while enjoying a picnic? Not much I can think of! After work on Tuesday I went to a farmer's market held weekly just outside my building. I picked up some tasty things and then rode the metro into DC for this concert. I was there pretty early, so I took a further metro stop and enjoyed the walk. I sat on the national mall next to the carousel and watched some kids ride it. It said the carousel was manufactured in the 1940's and erected on the national mall in 1967. I thought how cool it was that it has been there so long. In a way, it's kind of a national landmark too I suppose. It was fun to sit and think about all the time that has passed and how many people have been on the national mall during that time.

April Lyman, Me, and Emma Ransom

About 6:30 I met April Lyman at the base of the monument. We staked out a place on the lawn for watching the concert and enjoyed a fabulous picnic. A few more people arrived and joined us for the evening as well. They had a great program and played a variety of music from Indiana Jones to Phantom of the Opera, to Sousa marches, and finally the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky. That was impressive. The performance was complete with cannons. It was the second coolest playing of the song I've ever heard. (I'm afraid that hearing it in Florence with fireworks has a slight edge on this performance.) I love how powerful music can be!