Smithsonian Folklife Festival: Basque & Sounds of California
I try to make it a point every year to make it to the Smithsonian's Folklife Festival, which is an annual celebration of two different World heritages; this year it was Basque Country and Sounds of California. Adrianna and I grabbed some tacos, and checked out this year's exhibits - it was her first time to the festival.
Freer / Sackler Gallery
After exploring the festival, which seemed a bit smaller this year because of the National Mall's ongoing renovation project, we popped into the Freer / Sackler Gallery to see the Turquoise Mountain: Artists Transforming Afghanistan exhibit; I highly encourage you to go - it's some of the most beautiful, ornate, hand-crafted woodworking you'll ever see.
National Museum of Natural History
Moving along, we dropped into the National Museum of Natural History, mostly to get out of the heat. We didn't stay long because we were both feeling overwhelmed by the outrageous crowd visiting in the height of DC Summer tourism.