Mr. Rogers/Mr. Mann Go To Washington

[JWBear]

Day 4:

We decided to go back to the Museum of American History to see if we could catch some of the exhibits we missed on Saturday due to the crowds. We got to see the Star Spangled Banner and the First Ladies exhibit. I was disappointed by the First ladies. They had about 6 dresses in plain display cases crammed in one tiny room. I remember them having something from just about all the First Ladies; set up in displays that recreated historic White House interiors. What happened? And why would they give such a crappy presentation for something that is one of the Smithsonian’s most popular exhibits?

Note: If you are planning on visiting DC, try and avoid eating at the Smithsonian Museum cafes. While they are very convenient, they are rather pricey and overrun with screaming children. My eardrums are still ringing from lunch today.

Next, we walked over to the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. There was a line, but it was moving fairly quickly… that is, until we got about 20 feet from the door. It stopped. We stood there, in the cold, in the shade for almost an hour. No one ever came out to tell us why they weren’t letting anyone in. (We found out later that it was due to fire codes; too many people in the building. They couldn’t let any more in until some left.) Why we didn’t give up and leave, I don’t know; but we didn’t. Finally, we were let in; only to get in another line to see the famous documents! Fortunately, this line was only about 15 minutes; and was INSIDE.

After we had our fill of old parchment, we headed across the street to the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden. There is a café there, and we needed some fortification. It’s a very pretty little park, and it has a very European feeling to it. There were people ice skating in the fountain in the center. After a light refreshment, we headed into the museum itself, only to find it was closing in 40 minutes! Bill rushed off to see the Impressionists, and I took a quick walk through of that, and some of the other galleries. We met back at the lobby just as the closing bell rang. We could have spent an entire day there!

We’re back in the room now, and about to head out for dinner.