What do Downton Abbey, Segways, and Theodore Roosevelt Have in Common?

What those three things have in common is those are all part of the activities we did in September this year. 

First was a daytrip I took to Wilmington, Delaware to Winterthur, a mansion formerly owned by the Duponts. It's now a museum that was having an exhibit of actual costumes used in the show, "Downton Abbey".

 They mostly showed clothing from the wealthy family members, but below is an apron worn by the one of the maids. I thought the lace on it was very pretty.

 The clothing below was worn by Cora's mother, played by Shirley MacLaine.

 The two costumes on the right were worn by Maggie Smith. I don't remember which actress wore the green dress, but it's definitely more stylish than the dresses worn by Mrs. Crawley.

 This dress was worn by Cora, played by Elizabeth McGovern. The details on all the costumes on display were very elegant and intricate.

 This is Edith's wedding dress.

 These are the outfits that were worn when Matthew proposed to Mary. In the background they were showing the proposal scene over and over on a loop.

This flapper style dress was worn by Rose.It was very cool to see the actual costumes used in the show. It sure would be fun to wear clothes like these.

Later in the month we took a two-hour Segway tour of DC. We had so much fun on the Segways in Annapolis last year that we were anxious to have another chance to ride a Segway. I saw a groupon offer for a tour of DC and gave it to Kent for a Father's day gift, but we didn't use it until September.

 We rode past, and posed in front of, most the famous DC landmarks. (We didn't go past the Jefferson Memorial, since it's more out of the way than the other monuments.)

We even rode in the bike lane down Pennsylvania Avenue.

 It was pretty warm as the day went by, so we ditched our jackets.

Below you can see the Korean War Veteran's Memorial.

I was surprised to see this small field of corn growing next to the Department of Agriculture Building, right in downtown DC.

We also rode past the Smithsonian Castle, the original museum before it grew to be soooo huge.

After the Segway tour was over, we went to Theodore Roosevelt Island, which is in the Potomac River in the heart of DC. I've been wanting to go there for years, but this was the first time we fit it into our schedule.

 The island is run by the National Park Service, and is mostly full of walking and jogging paths. Here's a picture of the monument on the island.

I really like the quote on the bottom of the monument below: "If I must choose between righteousness and peace, I choose righteousness." Do politicians today make statements like that??

September was a fun-filled month, seeing some new things and having some new experiences!