Washington, D.C.
I drive to Washington, D.C., to spend a day at the museums: the National Museum of American History and the National Gallery of Art, along with several other iconic sights on the National Mall.
Our United Airlines flight from San Francisco two days earlier had been exceptionally chilly. I had dressed comfortably, wearing shorts and a polo shirt, ready for the warm and humid east coast. But I had forgotten that airlines maintain their own private weather systems, with air that ranges from “too many humans in one place” to “arctic blast.” I wrapped myself in a thin blanket but still shivered. Sitting next to me, Dad did not seem bothered.
Now, before a big sightseeing itinerary in the nation’s capital, Dad woke up in our hotel room with a bad cold. He needed to stay in bed for the day, and likely the night. I went out and got some medicine and a sandwich for him, made sure he was settled, and then struck out to see D.C.
Museum of American History
I made my first stop at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, three floors of exhibits covering the nation’s social, political, cultural, scientific, and military history — everything from the Founding Fathers and the exercise of free speech to locomotives, early computers, movie icons, and pop stars.One of the centerpieces of the museum is the original Star-Spangled Banner, the flag that flew over Fort McHenry in the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812, inspiring Francis Scott Key to write the poem that would become the national anthem of the United States.
The progression of history through the museum eventually intersected with my own timeline. I was particularly delighted to see a Radio Shack TRS-80, the first computer Dad ever owned.
Around the Mall
The National Mall in Washington, D.C. is enormous in both size and scope. Aside from the many world-famous monuments that sit along this two-mile stretch, there are 11 museums — most of them huge — operated by the Smithsonian Institution on the mall. I had seen a number of them on previous visits to the city. Now, on foot on a hot summer day, I had to pick my spots.I stepped next into the dramatic foyer of the National Museum of Natural History and climbed to the second story to get views of its dinosaurs and rare gems.
Back outside, a line of about 30 food trucks had formed, nose to nose, along Constitution Ave.
I stepped onto the lawn in the middle of the Mall to see the Smithsonian Castle, the original Smithsonian museum built in 1855. Left and right, I could see Congress and the Washington Monument, respectively.
As I continued east on Constitution Ave., I passed a demonstration in favor of the Equal Rights Amendment, written 100 years earlier as a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. Its ratification in the 1970s seemed certain until conservative Phyllis Schlafly mobilized opposition on the grounds that it could remove protections from women such as exemption from the military draft. It has been effectively dead ever since.
A woman with a megaphone paced back and forth on the street in front of me, shouting, “Show me what democracy looks like!” Fellow protestors, holding up a long banner, responded, “This is what democracy looks like!”
National Gallery of Art
I crossed into the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden, next to the main museum. It is a relative newcomer to the Mall, opening in 1999 and now featuring about two dozen works of contemporary sculpture.Sol LeWitt, Four-Sided Pyramid, 1965
Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, Typewriter Eraser, Scale X, 1999
Barry Flanagan, Thinker on a Rock, 1997
I walked into the neighboring National Gallery of Art, the most visited art museum in the United States, with more than 3.25 million visitors in 2022. The museum contains a collection of more than 150,000 works of Western art — paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, photographs, prints, and drawings. You could spend days here.
Peter Paul Rubens, Daniel in the Lions’ Den, c. 1614/1616
Rembrandt van Rijn, Portrait of a Gentleman with a Tall Hat and Gloves, 1656
Rembrandt van Rijn, Lucretia, 1664
Aert van der Neer, Moonlit Landscape with Bridge, c. 1650.
Camille Pissarro, Boulevard des italiens, Morning, Sunlight, 1897
Claude Monet, Woman with a Parasol — Madame Monet and Her Son, 1875
Claude Monet, The Artist's Garden at Vétheuil, 1881
Claude Monet, Jerusalem Artichoke Flowers, 1880
Claude Monet, Rouen Cathedral, West Façade, Sunlight, 1894
Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait, 1889
Vincent van Gogh, Farmhouse in Provence, 1888
Vincent van Gogh, Green Wheat Fields, Auvers, 1890
In one gallery, an artist had set up shop in the corner of the room, copying The Dance Lesson by Edward Degas.
The museum not only contains an extravagant wealth of stunning paintings, but it is also architecturally pleasing, with a gentle fountain statue of Mercury at its entrance and leafy garden courts at each end. These elements work to bring a peaceful, calming influence to the visitor’s mind after so much overwhelming creative input.
I finished my relatively zippy tour of the museum and hustled to the car to see how Dad was faring back at the hotel.