The last two days have been mind-blowing in terms of what we have seen and done. Yesterday, we went to the Air and Space Museum, and the Museum of Natural History, and finished the day with dinner in the Pavillion, which is a mall that has been built inside the old post office in DC, and seeing Night at the Museum 2 in the IMAX theater of the Museum of Natural History – Extra cool, since several of the Smithsonians and the Capitol Mall are featured in the film.
Above: Air and Space, and Natural History
We saw the Wright Brothers’ plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, the plane Amelia Earhart flew on two of her record-setting flights, and some amazing pieces of space and flight history.
Above: Entrance to Air and Space, and Earhart’s Lockheed Vega
Following that, we walked across the mall and saw a giant squid (real, dead, and preserved – all good things in this case), dinosaur skeletons unlike anything I have seen, and walked through a butterfly exhibit that surrounded us with them like we had stepped into some kind of Disney movie.
Above: Two dead things I’m glad to never meet alive.
Believe it or not, today topped even that. We got up, had breakfast (the bfast at the hotel has been great every day), and walked 4 blocks down the street to Ford’s Theater. We didn’t go in because of the crowds, but it was neat to see it, and fun that it’s so close to us.
Above: Ford’s Theater and the Peterson house where Lincoln died (across the street)
We went to the American History Museum and saw some great pieces of American History – Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers were a must-see, and we enjoyed the Lincoln exhibit which had personal items of his, including the hat he wore to Ford’s Theater the night he was shot, and a suit of his. There was a gallery of African-American photography that was stunning, and exhibits on transportation and the development of light/electricity. Another photo gallery of innaugural shots was very cool to see.
Above: Lincoln’s Hat and a photo of Gettysburg post-battle.
The highlight of my day today was the visit to the Art Museums. We saw pieces by DaVinci (very, very cool), Cesanne, Monet, Manet, Mondrian, Calder, Warhol, Picaso, and Van Gogh.
Above: Van Gogh and DaVinci
My favorite piece, though (hands-down), was Lavender Mist by Jackson Pollock, my favorite painter. It was like an art history lesson, except that if I’d wanted to I could have walked right up and touched any of them. It is amazing to stand close enough to a Monet to see the individual brush strokes. The Pollock piece is very big – I knew that but seeing it in person is different, and the variation in color and pattern can’t be done justice by any photograph.
Above: Lavender Mist by Jackson Pollock
As we were walking away from the Art Museum, it started to pour. Not like in Bakersfield, where a rain starts off with drip…….drip, drip…… drip, drip, drip…..
This was like “Oh NO! ….. Run!”
So run we did. We ran up past the J Edgar Hoover Building, right into the Hard Rock Cafe, where we had a great dinner and waited for the downpour to slow to a drizzle. We ran back to the hotel and got into the pool before the rain started again, this time with strong winds. It’s still going strong outside, with some thunder and lightning thrown in.
Stanzi’s period of “taking it easy on vacation” is over. I briefly left the pool to start some laundry tonight, and when I came back she was wearing a cap and racing goggles, swimming laps and doing p ush-ups. I guess she just couldn’t handle it any longer.
