To most visitors Washington DC is the city of marble. Greek temple of Zeus-like Lincoln. Gleaming white facade of the Supreme Court. Cherry blossom-framed dome of the Jefferson Memorial. But before marble, there was sandstone. Virginia sandstone, to be exact.

My first extended stay in DC was during a college internship. I spent the summer working at the State Department (in the good old pre-9/11 days when non-citizens were allowed to do that). The internship was 10 weeks long and at that point I had no idea if I would ever make it back here again so I was on a mission. Each Thursday I picked up the City Paper and frantically circled events and venues I should visit on the weekend – preferably with free admission given that the internship was unpaid =) One of the places it brought me to was the National Arboretum. Read the rest of this entry →