Musée National de l'histoire Américaine

Another weekend, another museum. Washington is chock full of 'em, and it seems as if we've set out to check out as many as we can before we're off to Asia early next year. And why not? The museums in D.C. are huge, informative and, best of all, FREE (at least the ones we've been to, so far). Today (Saturday), it was the National Museum of American History's turn to receive the Kaminoge family's attention. The building itself is an ugly box dating from the 1950's, but once inside, it quickly becomes apparent why this is one of the most popular museums in the United States. The following pictures are just a few of the highlights of our six-hour visit...

The first floor showcases American scientific and technological achievements. The best part, without a doubt, had to be "America on the Move", dedicated to virtually all forms of transportation in the U.S. going back to the 19th century. Here you can see the John Bull, one of the earliest steam locomotives:

My daughter and wife take a ride on a Chicago El train:

Getting our kicks on you-know-where:

Amber poses in front of a huge Southern Railways train. There were also extensive exhibitions on the Interstate Highway System and shipping, but the photos I took of those didn't turn out so well:

The first floor also had a mockup of Julia Child's kitchen. She learned the art of French cooking while serving as an EFM in the Foreign Service:

On to the second floor, and the Star-Spangled Banner Gallery. Here you can see the actual flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write The Star-Spangled Banner following the bombardment of Fort McHenry. Unfortunately, photography wasn't allowed, so the best I could do was to take a snap of this:

The prohibition against taking pictures apparently hasn't deterred others, if this photo of the actual display I copped from Google Images is any indication:

http://joshrmoore.wordpress.com/category/d-c/

Other things that stood out on this floor included the actual lunch counter from the Woolworth's sit-in in Greensboro, NC. I would like to think the U.S.A. has made remarkable progress since then, and in many respects it has. But in this day and age of the Tea Party, Chick-fil-A, Michele Bachmann, Rush Limbaugh and the GOP drive to combat non-existent "voter fraud", there is still so much that needs to be done before this nation finally starts living up to its ideals. Far too many people are still on the wrong side of history, even in 2012:

There was a lot to see on the third floor, as well. Here are Dorothy's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz:

Archie Bunker's chair, Bob Dylan's leather jacket and Muhammad Ali's boxing gloves:

Roberto Clemente's jersey and batting helmet (there were also baseballs signed by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig):

One of the first PC's:

"Slavery at Monticello: Paradox of Liberty" explored how Thomas Jefferson could be both the author of The Declaration of Independence and the owner of 600 slaves (and father to some of them). This statue of the third president had a wall with the names of his "property" listed on it:

My daughter, fortunately, is still too young to understand, but one day I'm going to have to explain to her why some human beings treated other human beings in such a manner as this in the so-called Land of the Free:

On a less serious note, there were exhibits on the presidents and their wives. Several inaugural gowns worn by First Ladies were on display, including Jacqueline Kennedy's...:

...and Michele Obama's, designed by Taiwanese-Canadian Jason Wu:

In the presidential section, Amber gave her inaugural address:

The last exhibit we checked out concerned the many wars this country has been involved in, from the American Revolution...:

...to the Civil War (go, Sherman, go!)...:

up to the Second World War...:

...and beyond, through Korea and Vietnam, and all the way to the present day. In addition to slavery, I'm going to have to explain 9/11 to my little one. She did, in fact, ask about these actual pieces of wreckage from Ground Zero and the photograph of the World Trade Center:

Outside, and across the street from the massive Greco-inspired building currently housing the EPA, my daughter enjoyed a Pink Panther ice cream, while contemplating her introduction to the history of one of her two passport issuers:

Three months in the District of Columbia, and we've yet to visit a museum that failed to impress. Like the hometown Washington Nationals, D.C. is on a winning streak.

The sunset reflects off an office building somewhere in Arlington, VA.

Praise be

I'm not a religious person, but I do have a strong interest in spiritual matters. Though as a child I was baptized into the Anglican Church, I do not consider myself a follower of the Christian faith, nor do I use the Bible as a guide for living life. Basically, I don't believe in the existence of deities - period. If I had to choose a religion, I would probably opt for Buddhism, at least in its Mahayana form. If I was, say, forced at gunpoint to pick Christianity, I would most likely return to the Anglican fold, for the Church of England, along with its non-Commonwealth Episcopalian branches, represents an almost sane practice of Christian values that is sadly absent in American-style conservative fundamentalism. 

The above paragraph is pretty much a convoluted way of getting to the point that this afternoon (Sunday), the family and I visited the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, the Washington National Cathedral. But the cathedral isn't just a Protestant church, for it hold services for other denominations, as well as memorial services for deceased presidents. From the outside, the building brought back memories of past trips to great cathedrals in London and Vienna:

Inside, the scale is immense. Here is the view looking toward the front of the cathedral:

Both sides of the nave are lined with statues and stained glass windows. The first bay we looked at salutes George Washington with a marble statue:

Here Amber poses in front of the sarcophagus of Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president. Though leaders such as Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford have had memorial services held in the National Cathedral, Wilson is the only Commander-in-Chief whose body is actually interned here:

Speaking of my daughter, she really enjoyed the afternoon. She was given a children's guide to the cathedral, and eagerly sought out all the highlighted attractions. Amber was particularly interested in locating the Space Window, which commemorates the accomplishments of Apollo 11 (and if I have to provide a Wikipedia link for you to look this up, I feel really, really sorry for you):

The stained glass windows were impressive. These two below covered the Lewis and Clark expeditions (and for this one, I will include a link):

Across the nave from George Washington stands a bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln, along with some pennies set into the floor (the Cheerios box is not part of the display, but is actually part of a food drive going on at the cathedral. If only more Christians did things like this, instead of lining up to buy fundamentalist fried chicken, this country would be a much better place for all of its citizens):

Martin Luther King, Jr. is also commemorated in the nave, but my camera didn't do his likeness much justice. My dream is that I'll one day have a truly top-of-the-line digital camera:

We eventually made our way to the High Altar at the rear of the cathedral. The altar is dominated by Jesus giving benedictions while surrounded by 110 figures:

Here is the view looking back toward the nave from the High Altar:

We next ventured down into the Crypt, where there were some small chapels, plus the gift shop. Having a history that dates back to only 1907, the Washington National Cathedral lacks a suitably atmospheric crypt such as you would find in the great European churches. However, the view from the Pilgrim Observation Gallery, which we reached by elevator, was impressive. The Capitol and the Washington Monument could be seen in the distance, though the smeared glass made photography a challenge:

Looking down to the plaza in front of the cathedral:

While in the observatory, we broke out the fudge that we had purchased downstairs in the gift shop. Nothing says "Christianity" more than chocolate and peanut butter fudge - take that Judaism and Islam!:

Back outside, Amber insisted on checking out the gargoyle statues on the side of the cathedral. The frog was truly fearsome:

The last thing that my daughter and I did before getting back in the car (my wife decided to sit on a bench and eat some dried noodles her brother had sent from Taiwan) was to take a stroll through the Bishop's Garden:

The Washington National Cathedral makes for a pleasant visit. It's a long walk from the nearest Metro station, but in our case we drove, as my wife hates walking, the sun and walking in the sunshine. As it turned out, parking was a breeze, with plenty of free spots next to the building. And for that, we felt blessed.

Amen.

Between a highway and a wet place

One of the things I used to enjoy doing with my daughter while we were living in Taiwan was to go on walks in the local hills. Amber would huff and puff her way up the hillside trails, stopping to look at bugs and flowers and generally enjoying the great outdoors. Now I'm determined to replicate those experiences as much as possible in our new (albeit temporary) home. Last week we battled the thorny plants and sticky spider webs of the Patuxent River State Park in Maryland. This morning (Saturday), sans Mom who was attending a seminar introducing Washington, D.C. to foreign-born spouses, my little one and I took a stroll along the Potomac River across from Theodore Roosevelt Island and Georgetown.

Our reference guide for our excursion today was AMC's Best Day Hikes Near Washington, D.C., which Amber is holding while posing on the footbridge that crosses the Potomac from the Virginia side to Theodore Roosevelt Island:

We had already walked around the island a few weeks ago, so the only reason my daughter and I strolled over the bridge again was to make use of the restroom there before moving back to old Virginia. There was a nice view of the Key Bridge and Georgetown:

Back in Virginia, the two of us headed from the parking lot along the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail:

Amber pauses just before the Key Bridge:

Continuing on under and past the arches of the bridge, the Three Sisters soon came into view. The siblings are a group of stones protruding out of the Potomac River. Various forms of water transport were out and about on the river this morning:

At one point we found ourselves walking right next to the busy George Washington Parkway, but for the most part we were tromping through meadows and past trees. Soon after the Three Sisters, we reached the place where Sprout Run flows into the Potomac, at which point we turned around and started back to the car. But not before marking the spot with a picture:

With the exception of a few joggers, we had the trail to ourselves this morning:

The views looking toward Georgetown, especially as we got closer to the Key Bridge, were even better on the return leg. Perhaps one day we might rent a boat from the opposite side of the Potomac and do a different kind of circuit around Theodore Roosevelt Island:

The only disconcerting moment of our morning walk happened as we stopped for a break of granola bars and Gatorade under the Key Bridge. I went looking for a spot to take a bio break, only to discover a pair of hands moving in the bushes. For some very odd reason, someone was sitting cross-legged in an extremely dense area of foliage, and appeared to be eating something. Not wanting to urinate on a potential psychopath, I mumbled a quick apology and got my daughter and myself quickly back on the path toward the parking lot.

Amber had a great time this morning. Granted, this trail was an easy walk for a six year-old, but she kept herself busy picking up interesting rocks and quizzing me about the animal knowledge she's picked up from watching shows like Dora the Explorer, Go, Diego, Go! and Wild Kratts. She even stopped to take pictures of berries:

There are some walks in the Best Day Hikes books that aren't suitable for small children (or exercise-averse spouses), and I will attempt those ones solo. But there are plenty of other hikes in Maryland, the District and Virginia that I look forward to doing my little girl in the weeks and months ahead (weather permitting). Whether or not we can persuade Mom to come along is a question that will probably have to be addressed on a case-by-case basis.