Travels in the USA: Washington DC Part 2

Today was the first day of our visits to a few of the many museums located on the National Mall; first up, the National Gallery of Art.

We entered the West Building, full of paintings and sculptures from the Reniassance to Victorian era. There are paintings from every major painter one could name; here are a few of my favorites:

There were even a few paintings of the Annunciation!

There is also a good-sized sculpture gallery with many, many by Degas and Rodin and a couple rooms with fancy furniture, here’s Jessica in front of one display:

Note there are two buildings, and many (including us) only visit the West Building; all the Modern and Contemporary Art is in the East Building (which we meant to visit, but didn’t this trip).

After a couple hours at the museum we were hungry, and ate lunch at China Chilcano by José Andrés, which is a Peruvian/Asian/Spanish fusion restaurant, and we split the three course meal in Peru (and we did note the similarities to Peruvian dishes that we had tried when we visited Lima last November, and Jessica ordered the classic Pisco Sour). We chose different courses and shared it all; the food was great, and the desserts were some of the best I’ve ever had!

It was not a far walk from the National Mall, and after we were full, we went on to the African American History Museum. It is an interesting museum and there is a lot to learn, especially beginning on the lowest levels and progressing upward. It was a somber experience but also exciting and uplifting on the higher floors. We ran into the massive crowds of school kids here as well and that effected the experience for sure. Here is Jessica in front:

It began to drizzle a bit, so we returned and relaxed at the hotel; later we split a salad and pizza and called it an early night.

Our last full day began at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial; Jessica’s father is a Vietnam Veteran and there was a large group of Veterans and volunteers visiting that morning as well. It was a sunny day, however as we walked through the monument, seeing all the names listed led to more emotion that I had expected. It is a powerful thing to see.

Next we walked through paths on the Mall, taking a break in the shade to enjoy some of the cool breeze under the hot sun, on our way to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

There is so much to see in the museum, and the pop culture exhibit was a highlight, with R2D2 and C3PO and the Muppets and Julia Childs’ kitchen and so much more. There were a lot of other exhibits as well, and many for kids. Highly recommended for the pop culture, its really fun.

Next was a visit to the National Museum of Asian American Art; I had read that it was a fun visit and there would be much fewer people, and that was correct on both fronts. The Peacock Room is a highlight, as is the story behind it. It is so cool, but it is not a huge room, and is the starring attraction, so hard to get goof pictures. Here are some I borrowed courtesy of Kaushik Patowary(link to story).

The courtyard was quiet and peaceful for sitting:

There were artifacts from many Asian countries and there were multiple lower level floors that we couldn’t see it all, and our feet needed a rest. So on we went, for an early dinner before a night at the Kennedy Center to see the Symphony!

Dinner was at an Afghani restaurant appropriately named Afghania, near-ish to our hotel. The food was so flavorful, fresh, and tasty, not overly spicy (there were some spicy sauces) and the bread had a panini-like quality, but softer.

Highly recommended for the kind and informative service as well; we sat outside at one of two two-top tables; about half-way through our meal a couple sat at the table beside us, we listened to them speak Spanish and eventually found out they were from Argentina but had lived in DC for 35+ years; the wife’s family were originally from Italy, the same region as my own! It was a funny coincidence and made the experience even better.

Jessica and I usually look for a band concert to see when visiting a place; often times we will drive to nearby cities to see a show. None of our favorite groups were performing while we were in DC, but I did see the National Symphony was performing at the Kennedy Center. I figured any seats would be good, but for some reason, the seats were 2/3 the face value price. Not one to argue with a good deal, we bought a pair and dressed up for our Kennedy Center experience.

The Kennedy Center is very large, and we walked around amongst tourists, fellow symphony attendees, and even some kids taking prom photos. We noticed a lot of people were dressed to the 9s, tuxedos and gowns. We knew people like to get dressed up for the Symphony, but didn’t realize it was so fancy (we thought we looked pretty nice).

Come to find out, there is also a big fancy Gala going on the same evening, and many of the same Gala attendees also (most likely) have tickets for the Symphony as well, so that may be why the tickets were very reasonable. It certainly worked out well for us. We had time before the show, so strolled outside the Kennedy Center, taking in the view on this overcast evening.

We headed back inside, found a big comfy couch, and waited for the theater to open.

Once inside it was surprising to see how many people are a part of the symphony as they filled the entire stage. We were going to see two pieces, Schnittke’s Violin Concerto #1 with violinist Lisa Batiashvili performing, and Shostakovich’s Symphony #4 in C Major, Op. 43. I don’t know much, if anything, about Symphonies, as this is only the second time I’ve seen one; but it was so fun and impressive to watch. They didn’t allow pictures during the performance, so this one is from before, but it gives a good sense of how large the Symphony is, how close we were, and the theater itself. Definitely a highlight of our visit!

The Symphony ended at 10:30pm, so we ended the night once we were able to get a rideshare back to the hotel, ready to depart the next day.

Instead of trying to fit in more things to do before our 1pm train, we had a late breakfast and walked to pick up more Kebab wraps to take on the train. It drizzled just a little, we had been lucky enough to avoid May showers the whole trip, and luckily that held up as we made our way back to Union Station under cloudy skies.

The train was a little late, but they have a decent waiting area at the station, so we boarded once we could, and eight hours-or-so later, we were back in Southern Pines, and a five minute drive home. We had a great time in DC and I highly recommend a visit. Until next time!