The day after Christmas we took advantage of the beautiful sunny weather to chase down I tip I heard that the Smithsonian’s National Arboretum had a fun Christmas train display.
TRAIN DISPLAY FROM NORWEGIAN EMBASSY AT UNION STATION
Parking at Union Station, we walked through the lobby to find…trains! Galore! Wow!
It was a major train display gifted by the Norwegian Embassy!
Many thanks to the Norwegian Embassy for this, because this surprise turned out to be my favorite part of the day!
I can stand for hours watching various trains clickety clack back and forth on different tracks through vintage towns.
The scenery on this side was of the fjords and majestic snowy mountains of Norway.
The train tracks wrapped around to the other side of the display, to the 1950’s town set against the mountains…
As we left, we saw a sign from the Embassy apologizing that they couldn’t do their typical huge display complete with Christmas tree, due to renovations.
Indeed, renovations had taken over Union Station, complete with scaffolding and netting.
Once home I searched the internet for pictures of the usual Norwegian display, causing us all to exclaim: WOW!
The Norwegian Embassy promised, via their sign, that the full display would return in 2012. Yea! So will we! That is most definitely our kind of train display.
CHRISTMAS TRAINS AT SMITHSONIAN’S NATIONAL ARBORTEUM
Our next stop was the National Arboretum where we waited in line for about 30 minutes to enter and then we worked with the crowds and lines inside.
Using natural elements blended into their gardens to create their displays, the arboretum had a massive dispaly of trains running throughout the gardens and over our heads on various tracks.
While the trains totally blended in with the natural elements, my favorites were the little cars that ran by themselves, like this cute bumble bee.
The homes of several of the presidents were interestingly more true to shape than appearance, and set in quite different surroundings than they are actually located.
For example, here is Mount Vernon next to a waterfall.
From the other side you can see Mount Vernon, Monticello, the home of John Adams and more.
Here is my other favorite train…the adorable little ladybug near Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace.
In the other room there was a lot more color and simple elegance with the poinsettias, which gently framed the national monuments made of natural elements.
Supreme Court…
US Capitol…
Washington Monument…
Jefferson Memorial…
Lincoln Memorial…
White House…
As we walked back towards Union Station, we passed by the Canadian Embassy which had the best Christmas tree that we saw in Washington DC.
The other Christmas trees in town, like at the Capitol and White House, were sadly pathetic.
Even San Antonio does better than that!
