Summer of 76: The Trip, Part Four: Tourist Torture
Day Three
When Miriam had finished her work we set out for the Smithsonian, to finish our survey of the National Museum of American History that we started the day before. It was noticeably more crowded on Saturday than it had been Friday, but we were determined to see it all.
We went straight upstairs when we arrived and toured an exhibit about the military history of the United States. Every war was represented along with its technology of battle. They had more guns than I could count, including one used by John Brown’s men at Harper’s Ferry. I was impressed by George Washington’s sword, Andrew Jackson’s sword and coat, and William Tecumseh Sherman’s sword and hat. Most amazing of all were the table and two chairs used by Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House. In effect, the Civil War ended on that small oval-shaped table.
I was similarly thrilled to behold three Medals of Honor in a small glass case. I had never seen one in person before.
Being the Summer of Baseball, I found myself jealous of President Warren Harding’s free pass to all National League ballparks.
There was a great deal of interest in a small exhibit of American pop culture items upstairs, and understandably so. In separate glass cases near one another were the Ruby Slippers and Kermit the Frog. The younger visitors seemed less interested in Fonzie’s jacket and Archie Bunker’s chair.
Still, the most memorable artifact in the entire Smithsonian Institution wasn’t the most popular. Indeed, Julia Child’s kitchen and the exhibit of first ladies’ gowns were far and away more crowded. In the middle of the museum is a doorway to a dark hallway. Dim lights on the floor lead you around the corner, where, behind thick glass, spread out across a raked platform, lay the Star Spangled Banner. The real one. The one Francis Scott Key saw when he wrote the poem that, when set to music, later became our national anthem. Miriam and I sat for quite a while staring at the enormous flag. It was simply awesome. (Photos were not allowed. Sorry.)
Satisfied that we’d seen just about everything, we set out. It was still light outside, so we walked down Constitution Avenue, past the National Archives and the Newseum, to the entrance to the National Gallery of Art. I really wanted to see the Calder mobile and David’s portrait of Napoleon, but, alas, the museum was closed for the day. (I reassure myself that the museum will always be there, and we are sure to visit Washington again in our lifetimes.) We walked briefly along the Mall, then turned north, and enjoyed the amazing architecture of the city as we made our way back to the hotel. I love old buildings, and Washington has lots of them. Along our route back we ran across a shop Miriam wanted to explore, so I left her and went on to do more sight-seeing of my own. The sun was setting, and I took a walk past our hotel and a fancy statue, down to see the White House again. Though I think the north side is handsomer, the south lawn is impressive.
We rested in our room for a while before heading downstairs where the doorman hailed us a taxi that drove us to the FDR Memorial. It was night, and some of the inscriptions on the memorial’s walls were difficult to read in the dim light. But it was a large and suitably noble tribute to the man who led this country through the Depression and Second World War. Unlike other memorials, this one attempts to place Roosevelt’s presidency in context. Visitors move through the site–which is expansive–along a chronologically-oriented path. The president is depicted in a wheelchair.
The night air was cool, and there were plenty of people around, so we elected to walk toward the other monuments along the western portion of the National Mall. We arrived shortly at the Lincoln Memorial, which I suppose is busy any time of the day or night. We sat for quite some time at the top of the steps, looking out over the reflecting pool to the Washington Monument and Capitol in the distance. The moon was full or nearly full, and was just coming up over the line of trees to the southeast. We walked down through the Korean War Veterans Memorial and the World War II Memorial, then across the Elipse to the northwest.
We had walked approximately six billion miles since the start of our trip, so Miriam was understandably fatigued. Given my tendency to say things like, “oh, it’s not too far; we can walk”, and her tendency to wear stylish, yet impractical shoes, she had reason to complain. She joked that I was subjecting her to “tourist torture”. She felt better, though, when we made a return visit to the Old Ebbitt Grill. It was late, and we had no reservation, but they still seated us at a lovely table within view of my new favorite painting. I was still full from eating Five Guys (for the first time) eight hours before, so I just had ice cream and a Sprite.
We got back to our hotel room well after midnight and I slept like a baby. In the morning we were leaving Washington.
Filed under: Dana Heritage Project, History, Travel on August 31st, 2010 | No Comments »












