Welcome back!

This week has been a vast improvement from last week. It stopped snowing, although there are snow banks as big as buses, and my mum came to visit! So, finally getting back to work Friday was a nice change, but also fairly simple because I had to go in late and leave early. My mother came in by train, so I hopped on the Metro to Union Station, which is really easy because the Metro stop is right inside the station. Train stations in general are seemingly similar to navigate, and Union Station has plenty of stores and shops to visit regardless of whether you’re going to take a train.
          
So for the three day weekend, mum and I went NON STOP. After taking an expensive 4 minute taxi trip, we walked through my place of work, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. We walked through the Star Spangled-Banner exhibit, which is such a moving display, as well as through the Scurlock exhibit and the First Ladies exhibit. The Scurlock exhibit ends this month, but the actually materials are being held in the Archives Center and are accessible to researchers as well as to me. Addison Scurlock and his sons were black photographers in Washington D.C. that took images not only of prominent members of the black community like Booker T. Washington and Martin Luther King, but also images of just the black community in the area. The First Ladies exhibit is always so crowded on the weekend, but that day it was quite nice to be able to look at all the dresses and other objects dating back as far as the very first First Lady.
          
Saturday, I met Michelle and Barack Obama!

Ok, technically I met the wax Michelle and Barack Obama, and that’s probably as close as I’m going to get, especially wearing the hat, but Madame Tussaud’s is the famous wax museum that has multiple locations around the world. They have a huge President collection, and mum met Abraham Lincoln.

I really wanted to see the Kennedys; the JFK Library and Museum is in Boston and is one of my favorite places--but they were out at a function, and I will just have to go back again. Other than presidents there are also musicians, actors, and athletes from all through time, including Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Tiger Woods.
          

Next we went to the Museum of Crime and Punishment. It’s really big, and awesome! There is so much in there, starting in the early colonial years, to up to date unsolved cases. There’s even an opportunity to do a CSI lab. The museum alone took 2 hours to go through, and had some interactive moments.

We then made the LONG trek from 7th street to the National Mall, and then continued another mile and change over to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. The walk one way is about 45 minutes, and that’s without factoring in the mountains of snow around. We finally got there, fairly safely, and I got a few good images.

Now Sunday we were SORE! Walking in the cold on dangerous ground was stressful on the body. We went to the Ford’s Theatre, the place Lincoln was shot. “The Rivalry” was being performed and only partial view seats were available, so we saw the museum before the show, and the first half, but it was hard to get engaged and the theater was packed, so we left at intermission. I was, however, able to get two images of the stage and the box that Lincoln was sitting in when he was shot.

After leaving, we popped across the street to the Petersen House, which is where Lincoln actually died, and it was a very quick walk from the front to the back of the house, the first floor the only one open to the public.
           
Then we set out for the Newseum. This museum is MASSIVE!  And only open from 9-5. We got there at about 4:15, but the tickets are actually good for two consecutive days, so while mum left the next early afternoon, I was able to explore the museum Monday. It has so much going on, from the Berlin Wall and Watchtower, to a part of the fallen Twin Towers, to the Watergate Door, among a multitude of interactive programs and objects, aside from just the historical information.       
        
Wooo…

I hope that makes up for my utter lack of anything good last week.

Next week, I’ll be going on three different field trips!

Til then,

~K