eady and officially met the third member of Joe & Sandy's house - Hudson. Hudson is a male Husky with a mild, regal manner. Joe was sitting on the porch reading the paper when we emerged and Hudson was enjoying the view. Gotta love dogs.When we were ready, we struck out for the capital. Joe and Sandy's home is about five blocks due east of the Supreme Court building. We snuck between the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress, skirted the capital (feeling very underdressed for a Tuesday morning), and fought the throngs of kids in matching shirts who were obviously on their final week of school field trip -- Joe informed us that school around here gets out on Friday.
About 30 minutes after we started, we arrived at the Smithsonian Castle wherein lies Mr. Smithson -- the man who founded the Smithsonian -- an orientation video, and an encased miniature of the entire downtown area. The castle is also the only building open earlier than 10:00 a.m.
After a brief break, we headed out the back door for a short walk to the Holocaust museum and our reserved tickets. Before I go any further, I should say a big thank you to Jeanette Featherall in Senator Jerry Moran's office for hooking us up with some truly wonderful experiences. The Holocaust museum was the first of those.
I will not add to what has already been said about this museum. It is well presented and powerful. An exhibit targeted at younger children called "Daniel's Story" is located across from
the entrance to the permanent exhibit and is very well done. Tickets are not needed for this exhibit and it can be viewed at any time. We picked up our permanent exhibit tickets at the information booth and wandered our way through its three floors.It is difficult to describe the impact of this museum. Suffice it to say that you will leave feeling frustrated, perhaps a little angry, and definately ready to discuss what you have seen. Currently there is a special exhibition called "State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda" encouraging you to weigh carefully what you read, hear and see in popular culture.
"'Everything is permissible' -- but not everything is beneficial. 'Everything is permissible' -- but not everything is constructive." I Corinthians 10:23 Wise words from Paul to the Corinthians -- and to us.
On the way back to lunch and the mall, we popped in to the United States Department of
Agriculture's Department of Forestry building. Unwittingly, we stepped into a clever display and the "office" of none other than Smokey the Bear. A very fun little side discovery to our day. The exhibit is really geared for children much younger than our boys - but its worth 15-30 minutes if you have a little time.We grabbed a very quick lunch in the Air and Space museum and
then headed to the exhibits. I am now going to show a little stubborn Kansas pride -- you've been warned.Granted, the museum is wonderful and has many cool things to see. This was the site of the boys' "favorite" of the day -- an
interactive flight simulator. The Wright Brother exhibit is excellent (those boys got their mechanical skills from their mother). There was an exhibit on navy carrier planes that was really cool. A special exhibit of 4-5 different military unmanned aerial vehicles was another of Sam's favorite things to see. BUT.If you have been to Exploration Place in Wichita for the explanation of flight exhibit, and particularly if you have been to the Hutchinson Cosmosphere -- the Smithsonian Air and Space museum feels lacking. We in Kansas need to be very proud of the work the Hutchison folks do to make their exhibits impressive and educational. Take a full or half day in Hutch, you'll fight fewer crowds, learn more and have a great time.
We zipped through Air & Space in about 1.5 hours and then headed to the Hishhorn Museum of modern and contemporary art. This was mom's favorite stop of the day and the boys found the entire bottom floor exhibit ColorForms
visually exciting and fun. The guides hanging around in the rooms are fantastic and available to explain how to interact properly with some of the exhibits.A favorite of the boys was called Milkman's Run which was essentially a completely black room with special lighting that became more apparent and visible as your eyes adjusted to the dark. Round Rainbows was a mesmerizing, suspended, spinning prism that continually changed shape and design on the walls around it. In yet another room was a series of strings that, when you were positioned in the exhibit properly, gave the illusion of a glass hallway.
Cool museum, worth the short time we spent there, and provided quite a bit of dinner table conversation later that evening. The museum store was full of excellent "stuff" and gave the boys their first souvenier of the trip.
After this, we were all very tired. So, it was back to the apartment for a nap before dinner. We spent a little more time on the stoop chatting with Joe, Sandy and Hudson about our day and then headed to Barricks Row to eat excellently prepared pork, chicken and lamb at The Chesapeake Room.
Then, it was back to the apartment again with two boys, full of food, and singing camp renditions of "Bringing Home My Baby Bumblebee" and "Gray Squirrel" all the way home.
The first day was a nice warm up for the rest of the week. Our legs are tired and we retired early for the night. Tomorrow will be an early day.
