Today’s schedule: Law Enforcement Memorial, then a quick hop two blocks over to their shop to buy t-shirts for Mickey (it’s a tradition)…
Then it was on and off trains to get to the Mall where we spent a bit more time at the National Gallery…
I needed a little more quality time with my home boys - Wyeth, Homer, Vermeer, Pissarro, Manet, and the gang.
Yep, thaaaaat’s my husband on the floor taking a picture. Minutes before that he was squatting behind a bench taking shots of a waterfall. I usually just keep walking. This time I made him buy me a muffin at the cafe. Then we went through the tunnel to look at a collection of contemporary art. I fell in love with this one..
The canvas was about 8 feet tall by 6 feet wide - quite large. It’s titled “Fanny” and was created by an artist named Chuck Close. He uses an inkpad and his own fingerprints to produce pieces like this. If you looked closely you could see each fingerprint, but step away and it’s just a fantastic portrait. I admired Fanny for quite a while and then…
…it was on to the National Archives.
If you want it, they’ve got it. They’re America’s record keepers. Historic documents of all sorts, census records, patents, historic photographs, presidential speeches, military records, business conducted by the federal government, anything you can think of to research your genealogy, court cases, and so much more. The depth if information here boggles the mind. I would have loved to pull up a chair and spend a few days there.
From there we hiked up to the Capitol building. I think we spent more time there today than the average congressman. No pictures, I was too busy trying to chug up the hill. My ankles are screaming from all the miles we’ve put in lately and I’ve been using my Oregon Trail daydreams a lot this week. ”If I can just make it another mile, we’ll reach the promised land…” Anyway, we took the tour, up and down and all over. Just shoot me. We popped into the new Visitor’s Center (well, new to us) and then took the underground tunnel (sounds creepy but it’s pretty and well lit) to….
The Library of Congress. Easily the prettiest building in the city and the only one where they search you on your way out instead of on the way in. According to the information I have handy, it’s “the world’s largest collection of knowledge, culture, and creativity”. I agree, and my opinion is based solely on the art and the quotes carved into the walls. My brochure tells me that “The Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. It is also the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings,photographs, maps, and manuscripts.” It’s still the prettiest.
Ohmyword, look at the reading room! Here you’ll see the hardest working folks in Congress - aides and assistants sitting at desks doing the research that makes their bosses look good.
Mickey has much, much better photos than I do - I’m sure he’ll post them on his SmugMug site (http://mickeypix.smugmug.com/) tonight.
After staying at the Library of Congress ‘til closing time we decided to head back to our hotel. Mickey walked and I limped to the nearest Metro station and after a five minute jaunt we emerged a half block from our hotel. Hallelujah Jesus! The end was in sight! My husband, being a man who picks up on subtle behavior like dirty looks and cursing, suggested ordering Chinese food for dinner and eating in our jammies. That’s why I married him. He has keen self-preservation instincts.
I buried my pain in a heaping plate of broccoli and chicken and then took a hot bath. As God is my witness my next vacation will be a cruise.
Tomorrow is our last day and I’m sure I’ll wake up with my sunny disposition restored, ready to conquer more of D.C. Assuming my feet don’t rot off in the middle of the night. I do love this city (admittedly, I love it more when things are blooming) and it never disappoints, but I may need a spa day when this is over.
I’ll end this sniveling, sorry post with something nice - because there’s always something nice to appreciate. Our window faces a beautiful old church and I have enjoyed so much hearing the chimes and bells on the hour and half hour. It’s just beautiful.
Although I confess to hearing the sounds after a particularly long day and saying to Mickey, “Do not ask for whom the bell tolls…..” But he ain’t skeered.
