This and That

I'm going to condense a few days' worth of sightseeing here, because there were a few places where I didn't spend a whole lot of time but were still enjoyable.

One was the Museum of Natural History. To be honest, this one didn't hold a whole lot of appeal for me. It is mostly animals (dead) and fossils. I know there's a lot of cool stuff in there, but it's just not up my alley. I did stop in long enough to see the gem and mineral section, and of course the Hope diamond. It is a huge museum and I think it would be fun for kids who are interested in dinosaurs, fossils, etc.

The Hope Diamond is in a rotating case so that all of the visitors can get a good view and a good photo. It really is that big, and it's quite beautiful. It has it's own room, and then you can go see several other spectacular gems.

An amazing sapphire:

A diamond necklace given by Napoleon to his second wife:

Marie Antoinette's earrings:

And the fantastic Hope Diamond. It's said to be cursed, so I'd settle for just one of those "little" diamonds on the chain.

Another quick visit we took was to the National Botanical Garden. This was a really beautiful space, indoors and out. The outdoor is of course, gardens, and the indoor space is a huge greenhouse, or conservatory, with sections for different kinds of plants. It's like a plant zoo I guess. We especially enjoyed the orchids, but there were also interesting sections on medicinal plants, desert plants, endangered species, Hawaii, and more. A very pleasant stop.

This is a cacao pod growing. It's the beginning of chocolate!

I'm Just a Bill...

That song was permanently looping through my head on Thursday as I made my trek over to Capitol Hill. I had scheduled a tour through my Senator's office, and that included a meet 'n' greet with Mr. Kit Bond himself to start things off. I was one of about 30 Missourians who met that morning for open house (doughnut holes and coffee), and we all got our photos taken with the Senator as well. He was friendly and asked our names and what brought us to Washington. All of the other groups were from KC or STL, so I was pretty much the only small town gal there. He acted like he knew where Republic was, though! :)

After the photo op, we were divided into groups for a tour led by a Mizzou intern. Zach was very friendly and knowledgeable, and only made me feel a little bit old. Sen. Bond's office is in one of the two Senate office buildings outside of the Capital building. As we left for the tour, we walked by several offices of Senators that I recognized, including Sen. McCain. We headed down to the basement where there was a little trolley that takes the senators underground to the capital for votes and such. We got to ride on that very trolley and arrived in the brand new Capital Visitors' Center, which is also underground. It was packed, but we bypassed the crowds and were led on our very own private tour.

We watched an introductory film and then went into the rotunda. It was very impressive! The dome itself is painted with a Renaissance style painting of Washington ascending into heaven, surrounded by angels. There is a painting that looks remarkably like sculpture that goes around the whole dome, telling the story of American history. There are eight large paintings on the walls around the circular room with scenes from American history, beginning with Columbus and DeSoto, then the conversion of Pocahontas to Christianity, and several scenes of Washington as a general at Valley Forge and the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. There are also several life-sized sculptures of past presidents and other notable figures around the room. Overall it was a very impressive place. On a side note, during our time in the rotunda the guide had to find a restroom for one of the little children on our tour, so we had some downtime. I had mentioned to one of the other ladies on the tour that I was a teacher, and so during this time two of the other people in our group started asking me questions about various things--first about Pocahontas (who was she, really--which I actually knew from my eighth grade independent study and also from teaching 5th grade) and questions about how much homework a third grader should have. I was laughing to myself about never really being able to escape my "work".

After the rotunda we made our way to the old Senate and House chambers, which were outgrown quickly as the country added more states and therefore many more Senators and Representatives. The Senate chamber is preserved, but the House chamber is now called Statuary Hall and holds more of those life-sized statues of famous Americans. Each state is invited to provide two statues, and there is not room for all to be displayed in this room, but they are found throughout the building as well. I saw Thomas Hart Benton, a famous Senator from Missouri, as one of ours--but failed to learn who the other one was, or where it is. We also saw the old Supreme Court room, which was quite drafty and dark. I can see why they wanted a new building.

This is Statuary Hall:


This was the old Senate chamber. Much too small now.

In the basement of the building is the very center of all of Washington, D.C. This star marks the center of the building, therefore the center of the city, and all points radiate from it. That's the way the city was designed and therefore the radiating streets, which cross the grid of other streets, make for such terrible traffic. It was a symbolic move, not a practical one. The original plan was to make this floor glass and to have a vault underneath to hold the bodies of George and Martha Washington, so that the public could see them. Mr. Washington was adamantly opposed to this idea, so the took the glass floor out and made it stone and buried him at Mt. Vernon according to his wishes.

We could have been staring down at some moldy old bodies, but alas, the Father of our Country had more dignity than to allow that.

At the end of the tour, we were guided to the Senate gallery to observe the Senate in session. We of course went through all kinds of additional security including checking all of our electronic items, etc. etc. Then you have to wait in line for an usher to seat you in the gallery, which is like a balcony up above the senate floor. Once you are in you can stay as long as you wish, and I stayed and listened for quite a while. The first speech was by Sen. Brownback from KS, presenting a resolution to apologize for slavery. There was another speech from another senator agreeing with him, and then all the senators present (which was about 6) voted unanimously to pass the resolution. (I thought, well duh.) Then there was a speech by a Texas senator regarding his concerns about the confirmation of the nominated new Supreme Court justice. Then we moved into more speeches about slavery, at which time I decided to leave. It was very interesting, but I was getting very hungry and ready to move on.

One interesting thing I learned was that the Senate pages are high school juniors who are in the Senate during the school day. They attend early morning school in the attic of the Library of Congress and then the rest of their day is on the floor of the Senate. What an opportunity!

I had lunch in the new Visitors' Center cafeteria and then took the tunnel to the Library of Congress. This little trip was sort of an afterthought, but turned out to be well worth it. I had read that the great hall of the library is supposed to be the most beautiful building in Washington, and I really think that might be right. The Library of Congress was begun at the very beginning of our country's congress, when the congressmen needed a law library for reference when making and debating laws. During the War of 1812, the British burned the capital building along with the White House, and all of the library within it. (In fact, it was said that they started with the books to get a really good fire going. Ironically, the only Washington building they were persuaded to spare was the patent office because that would be the destruction of knowledge. Geez.) So when Washington was being rebuilt, former President Jefferson (apparently deep in debt) saw the need for a new library to be begun and offered his own vast library as a starting place. At first Congress wanted to buy only his law books, but he insisted that the leaders of the country should have a broad knowledge of all subjects and would only sell the library intact. Thus began the widely collected works of the Library of Congress.

The Library now requires two copies of every work (not just books!) submitted for copyright in the US to be submitted for possible inclusion in its collection. Not all works are included, but it is the job of the many librarians to sort out what needs to be kept and what doesn't. There are three buildings, plus several other storage facilities, to house all of this great knowledge.

When the first Library of Congress building was built, it was to be a showpiece of American artistry. All American artists decorated the inside and outside of the building. It is literally covered with murals, sculpture, frescoes, mosaics, and all other sorts of art. Definitely worth seeing, for anyone who has the chance. All of the art is symbolic and mostly related to literature, knowledge, history, etc. The reading room is only open to cardholders--but anyone can be a cardholder, as long as they apply and give a reason for using the library. We went into a glass-paneled area of the reading room to see the art and architecture, and there were quite a few people using the library. The librarians will bring any work you want to you, because regular patrons aren't allowed into the stacks. Another highlight of the library is its copy of one of only three perfect Gutenberg Bibles in the whole world. It is worth millions and you can't take pictures, of course, but it was pretty neat to see.

I would say that if a person only has a few days in DC, these two places should definitely be at the top of the list. It was a great experience and there's a lot of new learning to be had, even for adults who know a little bit about government. And the Library of Congress was kind of a hidden treasure in my opinion. Not a place you might think of as a tourist destination, but really worthwhile.

The White House and more

Our weekends are precious because they are the only daytime hours we have to run around and explore together. Last Saturday we started out early with our scheduled White House tour. The tour was booked through our Senator last February so we could have security checks, etc. It was scheduled for noon, but at the last minute we had it changed to 9 am. We zipped on over there and got in "line", which was actually a big crowd of people gathered around the visitors' gate. The entire area surrounding the White House is fenced now, and it's difficult to get very close even for a picture. I remember when we visited in 1998 we lined up right next to the East Wing and went through security--which was about the only place that had much security, then. As we were waiting I noticed a lot of people were wearing purple shirts and stickers saying something about wanting nationalized health care. Well that ticked me a little bit because I had worn my purple tank top, not knowing I would be making a statement that I probably didn't agree with. (I just wanted to wear a tank top so I could show off my awesome arms, just like Michelle's! Ha ha!) We finally formed into a line and had our names checked on the list with our photo ID's. We went through further security, metal detectors, etc., up ahead. We couldn't take anything in except for wallets and phones, turned off. Sadly, no cameras.

Finally, we made it in to the actual White House. I was expecting a tour, but it was really just a walk through a path of certain rooms. We started out on the lower level walking though a long hallway with photo displays of various presidents and first families doing different things throughout history. We also looked out the windows onto the south lawn and saw many beautiful flowers, as well as a bounce house--presumably for the kiddos. We overheard a little ways down the path that our tour had been moved from noon to 9 at the last minute to accommodate Sasha Obama's birthday party that day!

We enjoyed seeing a selection of presidential china and crystal, peeking into the library, and looking into the Vermeil room on the lower level. I learned that vermeil is a kind of silver plate that many of the furnishings in that room have. Upstairs we walked through the red room, the blue room, and the green room, as well as the East Room and the State Dining Room. All of these rooms are used for public events routinely, and you could see that the rugs were rolled up away from the visitor walkway and velvet ropes were put up on Saturdays for the tours. In fact, yesterday we saw an interview with the President (the one where he killed the fly) that was in the East Room.

The rooms are all, of course, elegantly decorated with antiques and artwork, even though they are still used. We learned that these rooms' decor is decided by the White House Historical Committee, which is a private organization. The First Lady will sit on the committee, but she is not personally responsible for decorating or re-decorating these rooms. Although we could not take pictures, I cheated---I stopped by the White House Visitors' Center and bought postcards, and took pictures of the postcards! Here is a glimpse:

The Green Room

The East Room

The Red Room

We exited and realized we were right on the North Portico, which I took a picture of later. There were lots of security out here as well, including officers with dogs. Directly north of the White House is a park and street where protesters often gather. There is a woman who has been living in that park for years as a peace protest. Later in the week I walked by and saw some protesters chanting about Sri Lanka, and others wearing "movable sculptures that play music", with the "music" being recordings of people screaming into microphones with rage about the economy. No joke. And it really was just screaming. So...hence the security.

We walked from the White House to the Mall area, where we planned to take in a few of the museums that Adam was more interested in during his free time. We stopped first at the Air and Space museum. We looked around a little bit, saw the Wright Brothers exhibit including the very first airplane, and then headed over to the planetarium. There we took in two shows. They play movies in the planetarium so that it is kind of like an IMAX over your head. We watched a film about black holes in this way, which was interesting--but I guess we were both tired because we both almost fell asleep! The second show was a night sky presentation with a live speaker, which really held our attention. Even though it was mostly basic astronomy that we already knew (having been to elementary school--yet again, I was struck by how much basic knowledge is forgotten by adults if they're not using it to teach) but the computer technology was still really neat. I enjoyed that one a lot, and guess what--it was the free one!

At that point we were getting hungry, so we went next door to the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian. This is the newest museum on the Mall, and was new to both of us. I had heard that it had a good cafeteria for lunch, and we weren't disappointed. The Mitsiam Cafe has foods from Native Americans ranging from Northeast woodlands, the Plains, Southwest, Northwest, and South America. Unfortunately it was all quite pricey, or we would have tried more different items. There were some really good looking foods! We both chose from the Plains area in the end. I had an Indian Taco, which was fry bread with buffalo chili and other taco salad ingredients on top. It was very good! Adam had a pulled buffalo sandwich, which was also good. Again, expensive, but a very good lunch stop as museum restaurants go.

The other surprise from this museum was that they were celebrating a Hawaiian Heritage Festival that weekend. What a treat! There were exhibits on all sorts of crafts, including weaving, cloth making, and lei-making. We watched a beautiful performance of the hula, which was really nothing like what I expected. For one thing, it was mostly men and two women. An older man sang and beat on a drum, which was the only musical accompaniment. The dancers were graceful and did many other movements than what you might expect from the hula, and they also chanted in response to the leader while they danced. Unfortunately none of it was in English, but it was still lovely to watch. They also all wore cloth--no grass or leaves, but they did wear leis. That was the other highlight for me. I went to the "advanced lei-making" workshop (no, I have never made a lei before, and therefore was probably not qualified to jump straight to advanced--but I actually did ok!). There was an instructor who, well, let's just say he seemed like the kind of guy who would enjoy playing with flowers all day. He showed us how to begin with a raffia base (although real hula dancers cannot use raffia leis because they cut into your skin, so they use banana leaves) and build onto it with ferns and flowers. It was a little difficult at first, but I got the hang of it and was really pleased with what turned out. We only made wristlets because of the time involved, and also they were running out of materials, but it was a great experience. I also learned that leis are meant to be ephemeral--they won't last, because they are a gift of beauty and the maker's spirit. That's what I read anyway. But I was still sad that mine won't dry nearly as beautiful as it was to start out with

We also toured the rest of the museum's regular exhibits. I knew it would be difficult to incorporate the huge diversity of the Native American populations into one museum, but they did a pretty good job. There were only three main exhibits: Our Spirit (on the many different religions and philosophies), Our People (on the history and culture of various groups) and Our Lives (on the modern lives of native people). It was all very interesting, and not quite as depressing as you might think. Some of these peoples are thriving quite nicely--although it's hard to forget the injustices that were done. There weren't as many artifacts as you might expect from a museum. It was really more exhibits and displays of pictures, video, etc. The museum itself is beautifully designed inside and out, too, all curves and natural substances.

As you might imagine, at this point we were pretty tired. We headed back to Arlington to rest for a bit, and then took the train to RFK stadium for a DC United soccer game. It was quite an experience! You know soccer hooligans can be a whole different breed, and they certainly were. We happened to be on the opposite side of the stadium from the truly rabid fans, who were waving huge flags, chanting nonstop, and bouncing the entire lower level of stadium seating with their jumping. I really thought it was going to collapse at any moment. In any case, the game was lots of fun--and DC won against the Chicago Fire. Since there's very little parking at the stadium, almost all of the crowd took the Metro home, including us. That was an experience, and not totally pleasant. It was hot, stuffy, cramped... I'm just glad I got squished up to Adam and nobody else! Thankfully we made it out in one piece. The funny moment of the ride occurred when some men who were quite visibly wearing their "pride" (our other entertainment option for the night would have been the DC Pride parade...use your imagination) managed to squish into our train car. They took a look around at all the sweaty soccer fans riled up about their win, had a whispered conference, and were off at the next stop. We were in pretty close quarters, but Adam and I both discussed later how that could have been a dicey situation! Maybe we're just Midwestern...

As you can see, we crammed a whole lot of culture into one very fun day!

Where the Wild Things Are

We had a beautiful Sunday afternoon visit to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park. It was sunny, lovely, and we saw some really neat animals.


These sea lions reminded us of our Truman dog, especially the one on the left. And look, they're holding hands! They stayed that way for a long time.
This little meerkat was just so cute. He was on the lookout while his buddy was digging in the dirt.

Now here you have a beautiful animal. I kept encouraging the tiger to go for a swim, but he wasn't in the mood.

There were two beautiful lionesses lounging in the sun.

This little Asian otter was so playful and cute, but it was hard to catch a good shot of him because he was swimming and playing so fast. I just love those little critters.

And of course, the famous Pandas. This one was playing with his toys for a long time.

This was a burrowing owl, just like in Cactus Hotel (a third grade book). And as I was standing there watching him and his buddy--who was up on the cactus--the woman next to me said to her son, "Look, just like in Cactus Hotel."

These flamingos were pretty amazing in person. They were more orange than pink, and seemed to be in a turf war with some mallard ducks that were nesting in their area. Those hills they are sitting on are their nests, each one with a large egg on it!

As we concluded, not half bad for a completely free trip to the zoo! :)

Art-tastic!

Another of my most anticipated sites was the National Gallery of Art. I was not disappointed! I planned to spend the afternoon, rented and audio tour, and soaked up some art. I started with the Italian Renaissance and worked my way forward in history, ending with the early 20th century. There is an entirely separate building for modern art, which I will have to do another day. I saw some very famous works of art, I got some extra insights from the audio tour, and just had a very pleasant afternoon. It would take forever to post all of the pictures I took, but here are some of my favorites.

The museums only DaVinci, a portrait of a young noblewoman known as Ginevra de Benci. It also has a painting on the back.

I've forgotten the details on this one, but it's very beautiful. And by someone famous, I promise.

One of many Dutch still lifes in the collection. I just love the detail in these flower paintings, and I learned that they often contain symbolism too. It may be hard to see from the picture, but the white poppy at the very top represents Christ, and the morning glories below represent how life can open and blossom in His light. There is a reflection of the cross in the glass vase, and the tulips in various states of blooming represent life stages, from just blossoming to old age. Plus, it's beautiful!

One of the more attractive Rembrandt paintings in the collection.

A couple of my favorite Monet paintings. This first one is of his wife and son. The second is one of many studies of his Japanese Footbridge.

Lots and Lots of American History

This was one of my most anticipated destinations. I didn't get to spend hardly any time here last time we visited, and I was really looking forward to it. I made a plan to visit all of the areas of the museum and spent a whole afternoon there. As it turned out, I didn't go to every single exhibit--there were a couple of special exhibits that just really didn't interest me at all. For the most part, though, I went through the whole thing and saw some really interesting things. Also on that level is Julia Child's kitchen, with an exhibit about her cooking and contributions to cuisine.

The bottom floor of the museum is dedicated to American developments in science and transportation. The science exhibit takes you from the beginnings of laboratory science, through the nuclear and chemical developments of the past century, and into the present. The transportation section was similar, taking you on a journey from rail to early cars, through the present.

On the main floor of the museum you can see the newly restored Star Spangled Banner. It is a huge flag, and has its very own room with low UV light and all sorts of historical displays around it. It's heavily guarded and there's no photography allowed, but I did get a picture of the outside of the exhibit. There are quite a few holes in the flag were keepsakes portions were cut out during the 19th century. When it was first acquired by the Smithsonian, they hung it outside the castle for the public to view. Now it's all locked up and completely transparent in parts, but will probably last a while in that condition.

Also on the main floor was the famous First Ladies exhibit, with a long line to get in. Almost all of the first ladies have donated a dress and other items to the museum to commemorate the time they spent in the White House. Only selected items are on display, but it is very interesting to see the changing fashions and special personal items though our country's history. My pictures of that section didn't turn out very well, either, due to the crowds. It has been one of the museum's most popular exhibits since it opened many years ago.

I thought the third floor was the most interesting section of the museum. It held the pop culture items, just a small exhibit of the many, many items in the collection. I saw my beloved Kermie, as well as the ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz. Other highlights for me included Oscar the Grouch right next to Seinfeld's puffy shirt, and Stephen Colbert's portrait (yes, it's already in there!).

There was also a very interesting exhibit on Lincoln's life in honor of his 200th birthday this year. I saw his tall top hat, his suit and one of Mary's dresses, and many other items.

Finally, there was a large section dedicated to the many wars in our country's history. There were artifacts from all of the wars beginning with the Revolution, with items like George Washington's uniform, a Redcoat uniform, the desk used at Appomattox Courthouse, and more. Very interesting.

After this visit, Adam met me and we headed over to the National Archives to round out the day in American history. We had to wait in a very long, but at least moving, line. I happened to see my principal, Tracey, as we were waiting in line. Small world! We went through security and then made our way to the rotunda where the original founding documents of our country are safely housed. There were crowds of people around and we didn't' get much more than a quick glance, but I tried to get a few photos. These documents definitely look their ages! They are faded and difficult to read, but it was still neat to get to see them. There are also some other exhibits in the building from the archives, which house many important records and documents from our history. I especially enjoyed the display of letters to the Presidents throughout history. Some of them are really funny!

We rounded out the day with a dinner at the District Chophouse, an excellent steakhouse and brewery near Capitol Hill. It was a little pricey, but very tasty. Notice the glass...