We have had very little sun since arriving last Thursday. The rain stopped on Sunday, but it looks wintery and overcast. The temps have cooled a bit, but highs in the high 40s are not bad and the forecast for the weekend is high 50s to low 60s. We don't have snow and it's above freezing and that is a good December.
On Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday; we walked around the neighborhoods. Sometimes Thom and I walked together with Porter; sometimes we go off on our own. It is great to walk in different areas. I walked to go to the post office, stores, and even to get my hair cut. Most places are within a mile or two. But with exploring along the way, I am averaging around 5 miles a day of walking.
On Monday, we took the local bus to the nearest subway station and took the subway to DC. We got out at the Federal Triangle stop. As you leave the underground and walk onto the plaza. the neo-classical architecture of the Federal office buildings has a European feel. The buildings are large and stately. This is an area that I don't remember from our visit back in 2002. During that trip, we stayed in Alexandria and we also took the subway into the city, but our first stop, I believe, was Senator Feingold's office and the Capitol building before we made our way to the National Mall and the Smithsonian Museum. We never walked through this area during that trip.
Monday our goal was to go to the Museum of American History as we did not see this museum in 2002, because it was under renovation. This museum has an exhibit with the flag the flew over Fort McHenry as Francis Scott Key waited and wrote the "Star Spangled Banner" as a captive on a British ship. We walked out of the plaza and almost immediately see the Washington Monument and new building that was not there from our previous visit. We later found out that it was the Museum of African American History and that it opened in 2016.
We arrived at the museum at around 10:30 am and at the information booth they recommend starting at the third floor and then work our way down. The flag is located on the second floor. On the third floor, we start by viewing the Philadelphia Gunboat, which was a flat wooden cannon boat used during the Revolutionary War. The boat did not even make it through a whole day of combat before it was hit by a British cannonball and sank in Lake Champlain. The wooden gunboat was recovered in 1935 using the best techniques of preservation of the day. The boat is now on display in the museum where they continue to work to preserve the gunboat.
We next walked through the Price of Freedom exhibit (America at War) where it goes through different wars since the beginning of the U.S. There was so much information. Next I spent time in the First Ladies Exhibit. Not only does the exhibition have clothing worn by the first ladies including a number of inaugural gowns, it also talked about how they first ladies added to the presidency. There were displays of China and other memorabilia. I really liked Nancy Reagan's gown and loved the fact that Rosalyn Carter wore the same gown to Jimmy's inaugurations as both governor and as president. We then did Entertainment Nation before heading down a floor. This exhibit houses movie and TV memorabilia as well as entertainment technology. There are clips from entertainment and it was very nostalgic.
We did not head right to the flag exhibit, but instead when to an exhibit called "Within the Walls" which I found fascinating. The exhibits follows the life of a house (a real house) that was built on 6 Elm Street in Ipswich, Massachusetts (30 miles north of Boston). and the stories of five of the families that lived there until the house was donated to the museum in the 1960s. The house was built in 1757 by a prominent family and over the years the area gradually became less popular and the house was turned into a multi-family building. It was fascinating to read about the various families that lived in the home and the additional rooms and wings that were added on to the house over time. Parts of the walls have been taken out, so that you can see the wood bean and lathe construction.
Believe it or not, I was about halfway through the exhibit, when the fire alarm went off. The electronic sign I was reading, flash off and then came back on with a message that said "Fire Alarm" and "Please exit the building". And so we did, and we still had not made it to the flag exhibit. We saw several fire trucks eventually head toward the museum.
View from the National Mall after Fire Alarm
In the meantime, we headed to the Museum of Natural History, but it was much more crowded and when I stopped to read the exhibit, kids kept running in front of me. We decided to leave and headed toward the Museum of Science and Technology. But we didn't go far when we noticed the fire trucks leaving the American History Museum. We headed back to that museum building and sure enough they were letting people back in.
My first stop, this time, was at the "Star-Spangled Banner " exhibit. The flag (also known as the Great Garrison flag) was incredibly large at 30' x 34'; smaller than its original size (30' x 42') as pieces of the flag were cut off and given away as souvenirs. It is now housed in a climate controlled chamber. The flag was made of dyed cotton and wool bunting and weighed about 50 pounds. Each of the 15 stars measured 2 feet across (one is also missing, possibly a souvenir as well) and each of the 15 strips are 2 feet wide. Major George Armistead commissioned "a flag so large that the British would have no difficulty seeing it from a distance", when he knew that a British attach was eminent.
Flag maker, Mary Pickersgill made the flag with the assistance of her daughter, two nieces, and an African American indentured servant, Grace Wisher. Pickersgill received $405.90 for her efforts. So after the third try, I finally got to see the Star-Spangled Banner. My last exhibit of the day was called Food -- Transforming America' Table Exhibition. It was interesting to follow the food revolution from small farms, to mass production, processed food, and then the movements to get back to healthier foods.
Although, it was a little more crowded taking the subway back to Arlington, we caught both the subway and the bus with little waiting.
Our house here is quite nice and I have included a few pictures. Porter is mostly a good dog, likes to bark while we eat dinner (very loudly). She always wants to be the center of attention.
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