October 22
After a free, belt-bustin' buffet breakfast, we took the Metro from Alexandria to Union Station to catch our hop-on-hop off bus: Here's Pam pointing out the obvious to Norm. "We actually made it!"
Union Station, THE surface transportation hub for the nation's capital.
Union Station exterior - pretty impressive, but it has to be to hold all of those food courts.
Cricket isn't to sure what to make of this: Settling in on the open top deck of the bus with a picture postcard day EXCEPT for a wickedly blustery wind that was really chilly.
Finally, the Capitol building of all Capitol buildings. One Capitol to rule them all.
James Garfield snags a prime spot to impress posterity.
National Air and Space Museum - long line to get in - so we waited until the next day, Sunday, when it seemed the ranks of competitor tourists had been severely diminished.
By law, no building in D.C. can be taller than the tippy-top of the Capitol and certainly no buildings of any significance are going to ever abut it. So, it will continue to loom over all in perpetuity.
To heck with spies - hackers RULE.
The Phillips Collection continues to be housed in the boyhood home of Duncan Phillips (1886-1966) a couple of blocks from Dupont Circle. A really rich guy, he sought out art which combined tradition, idiosyncrasy and daring. All works housed together in happy coexistence. Full of surprises.
"People on the Move", that's us
Norm seems befuddled by idiosyncrasy. Actually, he's wondering which room has paintings of naked women like he ogled in the museums of Europe (all the while condemning their depravity, of course).
If you knew the title of this piece would it really make a difference!
Okay, now you know the name. The museum is successfully keeping the spirit of Duncan's artistic tastes alive as of 2016.
A room full of Rothkos and we are >this< close to them. Beads of sweat. It's a small room.
Like being in the money room of the Philadelphia mint. Even Cricket's ear is standing on end.
A Rothko on your wall will impress the heck out of friends who are impressionable.
It was considered a major coup in 1923 when Duncan Phillips purchased Renoir's "Luncheon of the Boating Party". You can buy a print of it, a copy of it, you can buy it in a bigger size or a smaller size - but here you stand inches from the McCoy. Yes, this would really impress friends, as it did Duncan's, no doubt about it.
As was said, Duncan was really rich.
"The Road Menders" front and center.
Outside The Phillips on a corner of the property. Renoir and Van Gogh are so yesterday!
While waiting for the hop-on at DuPont Circle. Not sure what kind of book store this is: But Cricket was interested.
We had the bus almost to ourselves until the end of the day when it was standing room only.
Finally, we get to see a REAL cathedral, one to rival Europe's - the Washington National Cathedral.
An earthquake in 2011, the same one that damaged the Washington Monument, caused $34 million in damage here. The interior is fully restored, but lots of donations are needed to fix the exterior.
A wedding was in progress. A three year wait to be married here.Time to have a couple of kids before the big day. Wherever any of us got married, this puts you up one notch further on the social ladder by doing the deed here.
Looking rearward to more beauty.
Stained glass tribute to Apollo 11.
This cathedral is for all faiths, sort of, and there is a noticeable dearth of statues of saints, angels or human effigies in the entire, enormous nave. The stained glass is mostly abstract. However, there are two exceptions to this lack of human effigy......
Look to the left as you enter the nave and there, in the corner, is a bronze statue of Lincoln in a pose perhaps reminiscent of St. Francis. Inscribed on the wall is his departing words to the residents of Springfield upon heading to Washington as President-elect.
Before there was a Washington, D.C., there was a Georgetown. We passed through this historic area and went by Georgetown University where Norm's brother, Chris, received his undergraduate degree from the School of Foreign Service before moving on to Columbia University for his Masters.
The building with the gold dome is a bank.
What a postcard day (did we mention it was chilly?) showing here the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial and the Tidal Basin around which those famous cherry blossoms bloom in springtime.
The (St.) Lincoln Memorial. The edifices of the Roman, Greek, Egyptian etc. empires of antiquity are today most shabby bits and remnants yet we fawn and drool over them often forgetting that in the American empire of the here and now the monuments and buildings are pristine and can be every bit as magnificent as those of yore. So revel in the present because one day all of this will succumb to time and history.
The residents were holding a walk-a-thon with the mounted police riding alongside.
The Martin Luther King Memorial - enter into the "mountain" and come upon his statue.
The brand spanking new National Museum of African American History and Culture.
The Archives of the United States of America.
Political posters - only for a few more days....This building is The Newseum. Filled with modern American historical events as they were first reported in various forms of media.
The Smithsonium, or at least part of it with its handsome red brick facade.
The red building is the first firehouse in Washington DC:
Heading back to Union station at twilight. Whew!
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