Sorry I’m late wrapping this up, the last half of the week was exhausting. I guess I wasn’t use to the heat, the work and resisting the urge to play Lego Batman. Actually, I kept passing out shortly after getting home. Let me wrap it up since this part will will have pictures.
Day Four Eatin’: Paul took the day off from work so we could socialize more plus the Silders wanted to take us to this impressive Mongolian BBQ chain in Bethesda. I hadn’t eaten such stuff in years. I’m sure there’s something in Austin but I’ve never made any effort to find a joint since I left Central IL 15 years ago. This place they liked was more unusual because the choices of meat were laid out in a raw state. Definitely not for the faint of heart and it would give the diehard vegetarians of Austin to have convulsions. On the way there, Helen showed us her high school which is next door to a Naval medical complex where the presidents get check-ups, treatment, etc. With lunch completed, the ladies did some browsing of some local flea market stuff. Paul and I checked out a sports equipment store; he coaches various teams for his sons and their friends. This Modell’s had only Washington Caps stuff for hockey, blech. They may have Ovechkin yet it’s no incentive to buy a jersey of lame team. Before TJ and Jack were picked up from camp, we all stopped to get more groceries and rentals from Blockbuster. My iPhone reminded me to buy tickets to the upcoming Elvira event at Alamo Drafthouse, forcing me to ditch everybody at the Giant to use Starbucks’ free wireless (I have AT&T). As evening began, the ladies (Somara and Helen) went to get their planned pedicures or as Jack calls it, lady time stuff. The night wound down early because Saturday would be the big push.
Day Five Tourin’: The main attraction was saved up for here, the city of DC. We took the subway/train/whatever in and it was packed for a Saturday. The damage from the recent accident had been resolved yet I don’t know if the ongoing maintenance was its aftermath or it happens during the Summer like road work everywhere else. Obviously, 90 percent of all the passengers unloaded at the same stop Paul told us to exit at. Then we walked a few blocks to the courtyard of the building Paul works in (see below).
Despite its “classic” appearance, I think it’s relatively new. Maybe Paul can post a comment to clarify why DHS is in a building dedicated to trade.
You can tell this building was named after Ronald Reagan due to the "No Left Turn" signs. Thus one is forced to the right which results with going in circles, much like his speeches and policies.
After seeing Paul’s workplace, we were a couple blocks from the National Mall and our first destination, the Museum of American History (Somara’s choice). The Smithsonian people due change up the exhibitions but how often was a question for Helen’s younger sister Susan to answer. Currently the museum is divided into sections about pop culture, Julia Childs, transportation, immigration, dresses of the First Ladies, Black Americans, Thomas Edison, electricity and the wars America fought. The main lobby had pieces of American culture (vacuum cleaners, the C-3PO costume from Return of the Jedi, vinyl records, old lunchboxes and etc.) which I felt they should’ve labeled America’s Yard Sale! The exhibition on transportation was ironic too. The primary sponsor was GM, the same corporation that destroyed many cities’ public rail systems to force people into cars. I did elicit some laughter from the adults by ridiculing the title of “GM Presents America on the Move” by saying I had the read book and it all goes badly around Chapter 11 thanks to General Motors.
The boys and me in front of an old bus line from recent Chicago's past.
Taking in the Julia Childs section was mandatory due to Somara’s culinary education. I didn’t know Julia was also a graduate of Cordon Bleu…or I didn’t pay attention when my wife told me when she read the biographer a few years ago. I already covered this in an earlier post though along with the pop culture. Maybe Somara can put together a photo page or something like my friends do through MobileMe. Below are a couple of choice pictures from the museum.
The gunboat Philadelphia which was sunk by the British very early in the Revolution. How fitting, the Philadelphia Flyers, Sixers and Eagles are often blown out of the water during the first round of the playoffs .
It's no wonder the South lost. The material this cap is made from was rather itchy compared to the North's less fashionable one.
With the history lesson concluded, we had to hike around the Tidal Basin to see the Franklin Roosevelt monument. Google Maps and my iPhone’s GPS were full of crap on its location. They both claimed it was was on the West end of the National Mall. Wrong! That’s where the visitor’s center for the Washington Monument resides. However, I thank everyone for enduring my quest to see it once a nice, helpful tour guide gave me an accurate map. Years ago I made a promise to Bob Adams (a wonderful person and well-loved security guard at University Towers) to see this after he died in 1996. FDR was someone Bob admired and had read much about. I have always felt he was the best president of the Twentieth Century, flaws, misjudgments and all. However, I’m in the camp of not naming anything after anybody for at least a century after that said person’s death. Then the legacy can be examined in a more detached fashion and more importantly, it would cut down on the current idiocy to dedicate things hastily to contentious figures who for all practical reasons really belong to the realm of Current Events, not History: Reagan, JFK, RFK, MLK and I’m sure there’s something for Michael Jackson in the works.
Still, FDR has a nice, minimalist layout. Unlike Lincoln and Jefferson with a building and a statue inside. FDR has a little park with multiple waterfalls broken into sections for each term he was elected. Various quotes he made are carved into the walls. There are a couple statues of him, one of Eleanor and a couple reflecting the period he governed.
This was one of my favorite quotes at the monument. Sadly, I'm sure Ron Paul and the Randroids can find a way to interpret this as "Socialism."
The day was now getting late plus the Metro would be nuts thanks to the Nationals v. the Cubs game that evening. We completed our circle around the Tidal Basin to head home and caught a couple more things.
Sweet! A monument for Led Zeppelin's bassist!
"Washington. Washington. Twelve stories tall made of radiation. The past beware. The future beware. He's coming. He's coming."
Good thing I bought a book at the FDR Monument, my iPhone had no bars on the Metro.
Tomorrow I’ll shoot for the conclusion. This one was rather heavy on the pictures.
