Washington DC: The World is Yours

This cute little girl was learning to twirl in her dress in the most perfect backdrop that the World is Yours - yours to dance in wearing purple dresses!  

Washington DC: Scooting with a coconut

Scooting through Northeast DC with a coconut in hand—an unexpectedly tropical way to explore the H Street festival.

Washington DC: Homeland Security

The Department of Homeland Security, aka DHS, is headquartered in Washington, DC.  Below is one of their trucks at the H Street Festival in NE DC today.

Washington DC: Cool People of H Street

Some of the cool faces and people from the H Street festival in North East DC today.  The colorful clothes were very different than what I usually see in North West DC.  

Washington DC: Dog Pouch

This teeny tiny dog looked at home and comfortable in a pouch across his owner's chest as he enjoyed the H Street festival and some music in NE DC.  

Washington DC: H Street Festival

The H Street Festival transforms one of DC’s most eclectic neighborhoods into a lively, pedestrian-only street party. Stretching for more than a dozen blocks, the festival brings together live music, local food, artists, makers, and neighborhood businesses, with something happening around every corner. It’s crowded, energetic, and a little chaotic in the best way—a great way to experience the creative, diverse character of H Street.

Below are some photos of the stalls and streets of the festival. 

Washington DC: H Street Festival Musicians

The festival features an eclectic mix of live musicians, bands, DJs, and performers across multiple stages along H Street. Lots of local and emerging artists! 

Washington DC: Duke Ellington School of the Arts at H Street

Students from Washington, DC’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts brought their talent to the H Street Festival, showcasing the school’s renowned focus on music, dance, theater, and visual arts. Their performance added a vibrant display of young local talent to the festival’s lineup of musicians and performers.

Cape Cod: Highland Light

Highland Light is the tallest lighthouse in Cape Cod and located in Truro in the outer Cape.  It had to be moved several times or else it would be too close to the water right now, with the receding cliffs, and now is surrounded by a golf course and gets hits with golf balls multiple times a day.  We climbed up to the top and scrambled up the stairs, including a large stuffed teddy bear, which got interesting to carry as we went up a ladder to the top.  But its a beautiful lighthouse!

Cape Cod: Breaching Whales

Whales breach - aka jump out of the water - for apparently no known reason.  Its pretty random.  And really hard to photograph bc you have to be ready all the time!  On our epic whale watching trip, I caught a few humpback whales breaching and snapped as fast as I could!

Cape Cod: Fins and P-Town

Whale fins of a humpback whale with the Pilgrim Monument of Provincetown in the background. 

Cape Cod: Common Dolphins

This was my first time seeing dolphins in Cape Cod, and even the crew of the Dolphin Fleet was shocked to see dolphins.  They are common dolphins, different from the bottlenose dolphins we've seen many times in Florida.  They seemed to chase the boat and ride alongside it.  They were so fast - was hard to snap photos of them quick enough.

Common dolphins are small, highly social marine mammals known for their striking hourglass-like coloring, curved dorsal fins, and energetic behavior. 

Cape Cod: Insane amount of whales

Supposedly, the best time to see whales off of Cape Cod is June through August.  But in my experience having been 7-8 times, the best time for seeing whales always ends up being late August and early September.  Maybe thats just my luck, but here we are in late August, seeing whales like we've never seen them before.  Non-stop three hours of seeing whales.  

They were so close.  Around us constantly.  Humpback whales.  We even saw common dolphins as well, will post on that next.  And 12 very active humpback whales.  

Well worth a trip on the Dolphin Fleet from Provincetown - simply amazing.  The people that we were with called and asked if we were guaranteed to see whales.  They were stunned by how many we saw and felt very silly asking at the start if we'd see any!