D.C Days

WWII vets (yellow shirts) at the WWII Memorial

You never know what Washington D.C. will offer. There aren't many chances to see a memorial's namesakes out in great numbers, especially when most are nonagenarians. Dozens of them, many in wheelchairs, descended upon their memorial. Who they were could not be mistaken, not at the World War II Memorial.

Nancy and I arrived in the early afternoon, just as a tour bus full of World War II veterans and their families filled the wide plaza at the Reflecting Pools’ west end. It was downright tear-inducing to watch so many WWII vets see their memorial. For most of them, it might be the only time or the last time they will see the carved tribute to their sacrifice.

 I’ve gotten ahead of myself. I have only taken the DC Metro on two trips, with 13 years between them. As usual, we stayed just long enough to appreciate its convenience and learn the ropes. Just finding the station involved a walk around the block. Our train emerged to cross the Potomac near the Jefferson Memorial and when we left the station, we emerged to see the U.S. Capitol covered in an attractive scaffolding. When D.C. renovates its hallmark facilities, at least the construction materials look aesthetically pleasing.

Capitol renovations

We kicked off our D.C. day with a visit to one of the Smithsonian’s newest, the National Museum of the American Indian. Its Southwest look broke with the classical look of other Smithsonian building. Each tribe designed its own space Traditional attire, weapons, home goods, and other elements were displayed, as were modern tribal flags and depictions of their mythologies.

The stylish NMAI

 Treaties receive a heavy spotlight – given the government’s shoddy record of keeping them, it could be seen as a contentious display. The National Archives has a rotating exhibition of the actual treaty documents. We got to see one of the oldest, 1794’s Treat of Canandaigua, signed up Thomas Pickering and chiefs of the Iroquois tribes from Upstate New York. Don’t get me wrong, the collections are exquisite.

Bison robe

The bottom floor NMAI has one cannot-miss feature – the Mitsitam Café, which features foods based on ingredients in regional Indian cooking – the Northern Woodlands, Mesoamerica, South America, Northwest Coast and the Great Plains. Nancy got ceviche and one look at the bison skirt steak with huckleberry reduction made up my mind. We each added several sides and fry bread. We spent $30 and could have easily spent more; it was wonderful cuisine.

Walking west on the mall, we visited a couple of the less-visited Smithsonian buildings, the Sackler and Freer Galleries. A courtyard outside their entrance hosted black stone statues of extinct birds, including the great auk, the Carolina parakeet and the passenger pigeon.

The galleries' scope extended far beyond the capital or one nation. In the span of an hour, we journeyed through pages of brilliant Persian nasta‛liq calligraphy to archaeological digs in Yemen to African royalty in Benin. On a day of sightseeing, the calligraphy exhibit still stod out. The galleries provided magnifying glasses for the calligraphy pieces. Ranging from the 1400s to the 1600s, the intricate designs turned short poems into luxurious art. In their time, these calligraphy pieces were commissioned by kings and caliphs. Five centuries later, the craftsmanship still shines.

 With a walk through a butterfly garden we resumed course for the monuments. A solid crowd huddled around the base of the Washington Monument; we decided early that we would not fight for tickets to the top.

Our first stop was the tear-jerking moment with the WWII vets. A moment like that will set the tone for trip through the memorials. The reflecting pool was fully of people but not crowded like the monuments. From the WWII Memorial, it was easy to see a clutch of tourists seated atop the Lincoln Memorial’s step.

Despite the people, a sense of serenity enveloped the area. Horse neighing as its police mount led it from the Lincoln Memorial along the Reflecting Pool. Tourists, joggers, cyclists and government workers buzzed along the stone paths.

The Lincoln Memorial draws too many visitors to expect solemnity. That takes nothing away from the august monument. The unsmiling Lincoln statue forever stares down the Washington Memorial. Few statuses so eloquently capture the serious mood required of their subjects. Lincoln dealt with slavery and a country torn apart by war, issues that demanded a serious mind.

 After Lincoln, we followed the Vietnam Memorial wall and its solemn chronicling of the American lives the war claimed. I’d been there in 1987 and again in 2001. It’s an simple, unvarnished memorial to a complicated war.

We tossed in coins then walked up to the White House to see what passes for views of the White House in 2014. The barricades have grown ever thicker thanks to the new generation of fence-jumpers. As a kid we drove past the White House, not long before they closed the road to traffic. As we took the crowded Metro back to the Virginia suburbs, clouds darkened enough for us to abort a visit to Arlington National Cemetery.

Soon we met up with my longtime penpal Erin, a friend from Mercyhurst College. We went over to T.J. Stones in Alexandria. It was an evening of good beers, good food and good company. We took a quick tour of Alexandria’s Old Town on the way back, and immediately began plotting a next trip so we could spend some time in those historic blocks.

In the morning we braved the rain and headed to our trip’s D.C. capstone, a visit to the White House. White House tours can be requested up to six months in advance. We tried a month out and in three weeks, the office returned with a tour time. Brief aside: If you ever wonder why everyone hates Congress and everyone votes for their Congress member repeatedly, it’s because of services like this. Plus, I’ve seen him running in East Nashville many times. This doesn’t make us friends or anything, but it’s nice to have a Congressman who isn’t visible solely at photo ops.

 When we reached the White House gate as members of an earlier tour queued up, the rain had strengthened. A little rain would not deter us. We went through three ID checks and a body scan before entering a corridor decorated with photos of White House residents and their pets, our easy favorite being Grace Coolidge’s raccoon.

White House grounds

 
Despite the security to gain entrance, the White House tour was a relatively laidback affair. Secret Service agents stood in each room to answer questions and ensure that no one attempted to cross the velvet ropes.

Every room had unique flourishes. Official portraits of presidents and first ladies decorated the corridors in rooms. I recognized many of them from a book about presidents I had as a kid. A wide range of furniture from various presidencies also filled the rooms.

The East Room runs rich with history. All presidents who died in office (except James Garfield) have had a funeral here. In the East Room, LBJ signed the Civil Rights act, Alice Roosevelt was married and Gerald Ford took the oath of office after Richard Nixon’s resignation. The East Room is also home to the piece I anticipated the most, Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of George Washington, one of the oldest items in the White House. First hanged in the house in 1800, Dolly Madison famously ferried it from the White House when the British burned the residence during the War of 1812.

 After the 11 a.m. tour finishes, the velvet ropes come down, the carpets are rolled out and the White House becomes a residence again. The tour does not extend to the second and third floors, where the president's family lives. The Oval Office and Lincoln Bedroom are off-limits, but it's nice to see what we can.

Outside the exit, phones again became permissible, and we snapped a few rain-soaked pictures of ourselves outside the White House. On a trip loaded with photos, they would be the only ones we’d take that day. As we rolled up the carpet on Washington, we met Erin for a Thai lunch in Arlington, the fought some infamous D.C. traffic on the route to quieter country.